specie

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Coined money; coin.
2. idiom. in specie In coin.
3. idiom. in specie In a similar manner; in kind: repaid the offense in specie.
4. idiom. in specie Law In the same kind or shape; as specified.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. As a Latin noun, used in the phrase in specie: In kind.
2. n. In coin. See def. 2. Hence, as an English noun
3. n. Coin; metallic money; a medium of exchange consisting of gold or silver (the precious metals) coined by sovereign authority in pieces of various standard weights and values, and of minor coins of copper, bronze, or some other cheap or base metal: often used attributively. The earliest coinage of specie is attributed to the Lydians, about the eighth century b. c. Previously, and long afterward in many countries, pieces of silver and gold (the latter only to a small extent) were passed by weight in payments, as lumps of silver are still in China. The use of specie as a measure of price is based upon the intrinsic value of the precious metals as commodities, which has diminished immensely since ancient times, but is comparatively stable for long periods under normal circumstances. In modern civilized communities specie or bullion is largely used by banks as a basis or security for circulating notes (bank-notes) representing it. In times of great financial disturbance this security sometimes becomes inadequate from depletion or through excessive issues of notes, and a general suspension of specie payments takes place, followed by great depreciation of the paper money. General suspensions of specie payments occurred in the United States in 1837, 1857, and 1861, the last, due to the civil war, continuing till 1879. Specie payments by British banks were suspended by law, in consequence of the French wars, from 1797 to 1823, but were actually resumed by the Bank of England in 1821. Similar interruptions of solvency have occurred in the other European countries, resulting in Austria and Russia in an apparently permanent substitution of depreciated paper money for specie in ordinary use and reckoning.

Wiktionary

1. n. Type or kind, in various uses of the phrase in specie.
2. n. Money, especially in the form of coins made from precious metal, that has an intrinsic value; coinage.
3. n. Singular form of species.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. abl. of L. species sort, kind. Used in the phrase in specie, that is, in sort, in kind, in (its own) form.
2. n. Coin; hard money.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. coins collectively