Type and Character of a Coin

With a sigh Kishara lays the Book of Numismatic Technical References that he got out of the library aside and wonders:

"Yeah, graphics I understand... And the type, that would mean: Is it a money coin, a medal or a souvenir coin, are they round or with edges, with hole or without...? - But what in Enlil's (Sumerian God) name is the "character" of a coin?"