Is it permissible to pay zakah from the actual coins?

The questioner : Now, is it permissible to pay from the coins?

The Shaykh : The author says that the zakah of silver is obligatory in it. So one does not pay from it, just as one does not pay from trade goods; likewise, one does not pay from the coins. However, people’s practice is contrary to this. Since people did not have what they have today, they used to give zakah in the form of a qirsh or two qirshes. They would give the poor person a qirsh or two, and he would be happy with it. Would you not give the poor person a riyal? Yes, he would return it to you. In fact, some of them would return fifty thousand riyals to you. You would have to give him one hundred or two hundred, and he would still not accept it. But I have seen people give a single qirsh from their zakah, and the poor person accepts it. What? What?

The questioner : Understood. What are the coins?

The Shaykh : A thousand qirshes is this. A chair of gold and silver. Every currency that is not of gold and silver is considered coins. Listen. It is currency in the sense that people deal with it as they deal with the two currencies, according to the principles of jurisprudence and fiqh.