Small coin left a trail (5)
I believe the answer is:
scent
'trail' is the definition.
(an animal's trail is its scent)
'small coin' is the wordplay.
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'coin' becomes 'cent' (cent is a kind of coin).
's'+'cent'='SCENT'
'left a' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for scent that I've seen before include "Animal smell" , "Track; aroma" , "Whiff" , "Perfume for the tracker" , "Trail" .)