diff --git a/decimal.go b/decimal.go
index 91f9f6c..40edfd3 100644
--- a/decimal.go
+++ b/decimal.go
@@ -332,6 +332,11 @@ func (d Decimal) Exponent() int32 {
 	return d.exp
 }
 
+// Coefficient returns the coefficient of the decimal.  It is scaled by 10^Exponent()
+func (d Decimal) Coefficient() *big.Int {
+	return d.value
+}
+
 // IntPart returns the integer component of the decimal.
 func (d Decimal) IntPart() int64 {
 	scaledD := d.rescale(0)
diff --git a/decimal_test.go b/decimal_test.go
index b0b2088..c5c9d2f 100644
--- a/decimal_test.go
+++ b/decimal_test.go
@@ -1044,6 +1044,14 @@ func didPanic(f func()) bool {
 
 }
 
+func TestDecimal_Coefficient(t *testing.T) {
+	d := New(123, 0)
+	co := d.Coefficient()
+	if co.Int64() != 123 {
+		t.Error("Coefficient should be 123; Got:", co)
+	}
+}
+
 type DecimalSlice []Decimal
 
 func (p DecimalSlice) Len() int           { return len(p) }