<p>Right.  The statement "Alice has 5 coins" could be more precisely phrased "Alice controls the private keys for some set of addresses, to which are directed some set of transaction outputs with a total value of 5".  But that's a lot more cumbersome.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-15T17:48:36.177Z
Actually that's not how I understand it.  To me, "Alice has 5 coins" would not convey any information about total value... it would mean: "There are 5 unspent outputs in the blockchain payable to private keys held by Alice".  Only if you would add up all the values of those 5 outputs would you know Alice's wealth.  You could say "Alice has 3 coins, totalling 10 BTC, consisting of a 3.5 BTC coin, a 5 BTC coin and a 1.5 BTC coin"
RentFree
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-15T17:04:44.280Z
2013-11-15T17:04:44.280Z
Nate Eldredge
<p>I have noticed that some people speak of "coins".  As far as I can tell, by "coin" they mean a <code>transaction output</code>.  Is this a correct understanding?  Is it helpful to use the word "coin"?</p>

<transactions><terminology>
Is the word "coin" a proper bitcoin term?
RentFree
# Is the word "coin" a proper bitcoin term?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-11-15)

I have noticed that some people speak of "coins". As far as I can tell, by "coin" they mean a `transaction output`. Is this a correct understanding? Is it helpful to use the word "coin"?

**Tags:** transactions, terminology


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2013-11-15. Score: 1

Right. The statement "Alice has 5 coins" could be more precisely phrased "Alice controls the private keys for some set of addresses, to which are directed some set of transaction outputs with a total value of 5". But that's a lot more cumbersome.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Actually that's not how I understand it.  To me, "Alice has 5 coins" would not convey any information about total value... it would mean: "There are 5 unspent outputs in the blockchain payable to private keys held by Alice".  Only if you would add up all the values of those 5 outputs would you know Alice's wealth.  You could say "Alice has 3 coins, totalling 10 BTC, consisting of a 3.5 BTC coin, a 5 BTC coin and a 1.5 BTC coin"  

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