COIMBATORE, a district in the province of Madras, in lat. 10° 14' to 12° 19' n., and long. 76° 36' to 78°. 16' e., containing 7,432 sq.m. and (1871) 1,763,274 inhabitants. Lying to the n.e. of the state of Cochin, it is almost entirely beyond the Western Ghauts. Besides the capital above described, there are in the district the towns of Palaghat and Darrampoor.
CODStBRA, a city of Portugal, capital of the province of Beira, situated on the right bank of the river Mondego, here crossed by a stone bridge, 110 m. n.n.e. of Lisbon. Built round a conical hill, rising abruptly from the river, and surrounded by olive gardens and orange-groves, its appearance from a distance is as beautiful as it is pic turesque. Interiorly, however, it is not so attractive, its streets being steep, narrow, and dirty. Great historical interest attaches to C., which appears to have been origi nally built by the Goths. From them it passed to the Moors, from whom it was finally conquered in 1064, by Fernando the great, aided by the gallant Cid. On the erection of Portugal into a kingdom. in 1139, C. was made the capital, and continued so about two centuries and a half. Of the public buildings, the most noteworthy are the cathe dral, the churches of San Francisco and San Salvador, the convents of Santa Cruz and Santa Clara, and a fine aqueduct of 21 arches, dating from the 10th century. The uni versity of C., the only one in Portugal, was originally established in 1290, but perma nently transferred here in 1537. It has 46 chairs, and about 1000 students, many of the latter being Brazilians. Attached to the university are museums, an observatory, a botanical garden, and a library of 60,000 volumes. C. has manufactures of linen, woolen, earthenware, and combs. Pop. 13,200.
COIN (ante), money made of metal—in the United States, of gold, silver, nickel, and copper. In ante-revolutionary times, and before the adoption of the present constitution of the United States, the various colonies and states, so far as they found occasion, made their own coins, which afford interesting study for the numismatist. The coinage laws
of the United States have undergone a variety of changes since 1792, when the first code was adopted. In 1873, an act was passed by congress consolidating the regulations gov erning the coinage of the country, in conformity with the advice of John Jay Knox, comptroller of the currency. Gold and silver, on account of their softness, require, when used for coins, to be hardened by alloy. The gold coins are made of metal con sisting of 900 parts pure gold and 100 of alloy; the alloy being 1 part of silver and 9 of copper. Gold of this quality is called standard gold. Silver coins hrc hardened by the seine proportion of copper. The gold dollar contains 25.8 grs. pure metal (the alloy not reckoned); the quarter-eagle ($2.50), 64.5 grs.; the half-eagle ($5), 129 grs. ; the eagle ($10), 258 grs.; and the double eagle ($20), 516 grs. The gold coins are a legal tender to any amount. The silver coins are the "trade dollar" (coined especially for use in China and Japan, containing 420 grs. of silver); the dollar, 412i grs. ; the half-dollar (50c.), 121 grams, or 192.9 grs.; the quarter-dollar (25c.), the dime (10c.), the half-dime (5c.), each of proportionate weiglt according to its relative value. The silver coins are a legal tender to any amount not exceeding $5. The minor coins are composed of 95 per cent of copper and 5 per cent of tin and zinc. The five-cent nickel piece is 20 mill imeters in diameter, and weighs 5 grams. The three-cent piece weighs 30 grs. the cent 48 grs. These are a legal tender for any amount not exceeding $5. Individual citizens are permitted to coin money, but this coin must not be in "resemblance or verisimilitude" to those made by the government.