For every day use, modern coinage is based on non-precious metals such as copper, nickel, zinc, iron and aluminium, with a preference being given to copper alloys.
Despite enthusiasm for progress, changes in the coinage field take place only very slowly, even if considerations of cost favour the use of cheaper materials.

Most of the properties demanded of a coin must already be present in the initial coin blank when it is ready for striking. The very narrow tolerances in the chemical composition of previous metals must also be applied to coin blanks as a security against fraud. Moreover, the demand for minimum deviations from the legally