(pronounced KAH-fer)

This flexible word has a few meanings, two of which apply to our industry. First, a coffer is a chest in which to store items, especially valuable ones. For this reason, the term coffer also refers to funds or money that one used to find inside a coffer before there were banks, as in “the church’s coffers are empty”. Lastly, a coffer is a recessed panel in a ceiling, dome, soffit or vault. For this reason, you will often see the term “coffered ceiling.”