The place of work of the merchant was the office. This was located in the house, most often at or around ground level. Merchants were involved in commerce, and conducted monetary transactions, offered loans, kept books and undertook commercial correspondence. They also had to use instruments such as the money balance, which allowed coins in circulation to be identified. In the past, coins were very often counterfeited, and debased, with their precious metal content not always correct. They also had their edges clipped, reducing the overall weight.