Legal Definitions - mint

A mint primarily refers to an official facility, typically operated or authorized by a government, where coins are manufactured. This process involves designing, striking, and distributing physical currency. The term can also colloquially describe something in pristine condition or a very large quantity of something, especially money.

• Example 1: The national treasury announced that the country's mint would begin producing a new series of coins featuring updated security measures to combat counterfeiting.

  Explanation: This illustrates a mint as the government-sanctioned facility responsible for the actual creation and production of a nation's coinage, including implementing new design and security features.

• Example 2: Collectors often look for a specific mint-mark on older coins, which is a small letter or symbol indicating which particular mint facility originally produced that coin.

  Explanation: Here, mint refers to one of several potential government facilities where coins are made, and the "mint-mark" serves as its unique identifier on the currency it produces, helping to trace its origin.

• Example 3: After a significant economic downturn, the central bank decided to increase the volume of new currency in circulation, tasking the national mint with a substantial increase in production targets.

  Explanation: This example shows the mint as the operational entity that carries out the government's monetary policy by physically manufacturing the required amount of coins to meet economic demands.