A coin like Bitcoin, made by making variations in the original Bitcoin’s code like Litecoin, Namecoin etc. can be termed coins. These are also referred to as ‘altcoins‘ because they are an alternative to Bitcoin with an aim to have usecase similar to Bitcoin.
These coins are also sometimes referred to as cryptocoins or cryptocurrencies but when you fundamentally know the concept of tokens you will understand that not all the coins listed on CoinMarketCap are actually coins.
A token is a kind of cryptocurrency (without a currency usecase), that is usually issued on top of another blockchain. Generally, in any usecase, tokens represent utility or an asset, or sometimes both.
For example, consider Golem project which has GNT tokens. Golem or GNT tokens are hosted on Ethereum’s blockchain and Ether (ETH) is the primary currency (or fuel) for the entire Ethereum blockchain.
Source:
https://coinsutra.com/coin-vs-token-difference-cryptocurrency/In short, coins have their own blockchain while token is based on another blockchain. Like the ERC20 tokens. They are based on Ethereum network.