specie
/ˈspiːʃiː
/ /ˈspiːʃi/noun [mass noun]
Money in the form of coins rather than notes: the Bank of England in 1795 had held around £8 million in specie...
- The greenbacks were legal tender notes issued at par with notes backed by specie.
- It was the habit of using paper money that was driving the nation's specie abroad.
- The money supply was composed of bank notes and deposits, convertible into specie, and gold and silver coin.
Phrases
in specie
Origin
Mid 16th century: from Latin, ablative of species 'form, kind', in the phrase in specie 'in the actual form'.