specie

Etymology 1

Originally in the phrase in specie; from Latin speciē, ablative singular of species. Compare payment in kind.

noun

1. Type or kind, in various uses of the phrase in specie.
2. Money, especially in the form of coins made from precious metal, that has an intrinsic value; coinage.
   I received one month's pay in specie while on the march to Virginia, in the year 1781, and except that, I never received any pay worth the name while I belonged to the army. 1830, Joseph Plumb Martin, “Ch. IX”, in A Narrative of Some of the Adventures, Dangers and Sufferings of a Revolutionary Soldier
   ‘It was not money or specie he thought himself hunting!’ 1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 2004, page 805
   “Dick” Counterfly had absquatulated swiftly into the night, leaving his son with only a pocketful of specie and the tender admonition, “Got to ‘scram,’ kid — write if you get work.” 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 8

Etymology 2

Back-formation from species (plural), the final “s” being misinterpreted as a plural ending.

noun

1. (proscribed) singular of species