When discussing the coins, I made the assumption that they were being viewed from above. If, for example, our observer were placed on the bottom of a coin then all rotations would be perceived as being in the opposite direction - clockwise would become counterclockwise and vice verse. In discussing Earth, the Northern and Southern Hemispheres are analogous to the top and bottom of a coin. In what follows the assumption will be made that earth-bound observers are in the Northern Hemisphere and observers in space are viewing from above the North Pole. Please excuse my hemispherist bias.
Earth Rotations Consider first Earth rotations.
Rotation of the Earth is not the same as a day. To see why, consider the diagram below, which represents the Earth revolving around the sun, as viewed from above the North Pole. In the top position, the line on the circle representing Earth indicates a location where it is noon. In the next position, the Earth has gone through a complete rotation but it is not yet noon at the specified location. The Earth will have to rotate a little further for this to happen.