Explore the Language of Numismatics:
Alloy: A blend of two or more metals.
American Numismatic Association (ANA): A nonprofit organization dedicated to worldwide money study and appreciation.
Annealing: The process of softening metal by heating blanks (planchets) in a furnace.
Assay: The analysis to determine metal purity; the content or quality of (a metal or ore).
Bag Mark: A mark on a coin formed due to contact with other coins inside a mint bag.
Bi-Metallic: Coins made by bonding together two different metals.
Blank: Also known as a planchet, the metal base where coin designs are imprinted.
Bullion: Precious metals like platinum, gold, or silver presented as bars, coins, and ingots.
Bullion Coin: A precious metal coin traded at current bullion values.
Business Strike: Coins for general circulation; not collector-specific proof or uncirculated coins.
Bust: The portrait on a coin, typically includes the head, neck, and upper shoulders.
Clad Coinage: Coins featuring distinct core and outer metal layers.
Coin: A government-issued flat metal piece for use as currency.
Collar: A metal component that limits planchet expansion during the striking process.
Commemorative: Special coins or medals to commemorate or honor an exceptional individual, location, or event.
Condition: The coin’s physical state.
Counterfeit: Fake coins or currency.
Currency: Coins or paper money for exchange.
Denomination: The coin’s value.
Die: A sculpted stamp used to imprint a design (images, value, and mottos) onto a blank metal piece, forming a coin.
Designer: An artist who creates coin design; not necessarily involved in engraving the design onto a coinage die.
Edge: The coin’s outer border.
Engraver: An artist who sculpts a clay model of a coin’s design in raised relief.
Error: Flawed coin released into circulation.
Face Value: The value of a coin when used in transactions or exchanges, rather than its value to collectors or its worth based on precious metals.
Field: The section of a coin’s surface without a design or inscription.
Grade: A rating showing the extent of wear a coin has from circulation.
Hairlines: Small lines or scratches on coins, often due to cleaning or polishing
Incuse: The opposite of relief, where a coin’s design is pressed into the surface.
Ingot: Metal shaped through casting, used in coin production.
Inscription: Words stamped onto a coin or medal.
Intrinsic Value: The current market value of the precious metal in a coin, also known as Bullion Value.
Key Date: A rare date needed to complete a collection, often harder to locate and afford.
Legal Tender: Coins, dollar bills, or other official government-issued currency.
Legend: Principal lettering on a coin.
Medal: A coin-like metal item acknowledging an event, place, person, or group; lacks stated value and isn’t intended for circulation.
Medium of Exchange: Anything people accept as having value.
Mint: Facility producing a country’s coins under government authority.
Mint Luster: The dull, frosty, or satiny shine on uncirculated coins.
Mint Mark: Small letter on a coin identifying the Mint facility that struck it.
Mint Set: Complete collection of coins of each denomination from a specific mint.
Mint State: A condition that is the same as uncirculated.
Mintage: The quantity of produced coins
Motto: A phrase inscribed on a coin to convey a national principles.
Mylar®: The trademark for polyester film used to store coins.
Numismatics: The study and collection of items used as money, including coins, tokens, paper bills, and medals.
Obsolete: A coin design or type no longer manufactured.
Obverse: The coin’s front side (“heads”).
Off-Center: A coin with a misaligned strike, causing parts of the design to be missing.
Overstrike: A new coin produced using a previously struck coin as the planchet.
Pattern: An experimental or trial coin, often with a new design or metal.
Planchet: Blank metal piece stamped to create a coin’s design.
Proof: A coin created with polished planchets and dies, often struck multiple times for enhanced design. Proof coins have a mirror-like background and frosted foreground.
Proof Set: A full set of proof coins for each denomination issued in a year.
Relief: Raised part of a coin’s design, opposite of incuse.
Restrike: A coin minted later using the original dies.
Reverse: The back (or “tails”) side of a coin
Rim: The elevated edge on both sides of a coin, formed by the upsetting mill, serving to safeguard the coin’s design from wear.
Riddler: A device that identifies and removes incorrectly sized or shaped blanks (planchets).
Roll: Coins bundled by financial institutions, dealers, or the national mint.
Series: A collection of coins encompassing all date and mint variations of a specific design and denomination.
Slab: Informal term for specific coin protection techniques, especially those that are oblong and permanently sealed.
Strike: The procedure of impressing a coin blank with a design. The intensity of the imprint – strong, average, or faint – influences the value of rare coins.
Type Set: A collection of coins organized by denomination.
Uncirculated: The term “uncirculated” has three potential interpretations concerning a coin:
- Pertaining to the specific coin manufacturing process.
- Used as a grade to describe a coin’s level of preservation and quality of the imprint.
- Denoting that a coin has not seen everyday circulation.
Upsetting Mill: A machine that elevates the rim on both sides of an unformed metal piece (planchet).
Variety: A minor alteration from the fundamental design of a coin.
Year Set: A collection of all coins released by a country within a single year (not necessarily encompassing every mint mark).
