Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Terminology in Coins Collecting

NUMISMATICS 

Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. While numismatists are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other payment media used to resolve debts and the exchange of goods.

Numismatist is a coin collector. Often used to indicate someone who is a serious coin hobbyist or one who studies an area of coin collecting.


MINT MARKS 

Mint marks are small letters designating where the coins were minted. The Mint Mark position is usually found on the reverse of coins minted prior to 1965 US coin (with the cent being the exception), and on the obverse after 1967. See the sample.


(photo: credit to owner)














USPI 1 Peso reverse mint mark
(photo credit to owner)














US Mint Marks
(photo: credit to owner)












PROOFS

Proof coinage means special early samples of a coin issue, historically made for checking the dies and for archival purposes, but nowadays often struck in greater numbers specially for coin collectors (numismatists). Nearly all countries have issued proof coinage.

A Proof coin is a coin struck using a special, high-quality minting process to produce coins, especially for collectors. Modern Proof coins often have mirror-like fields and frosted devices. Proof coins struck before the mid-twentieth century are often distinguished only by their high-quality surfaces. In all cases, the term Proof always refers to a type of coin or the way it was produced. Proof it is not a coin grade.  Sample below.


(photo credit to owner)














Philippines proof coin
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BULLION COIN


A bullion coin is a coin struck from precious metal and kept as a store of value or an investment, rather than used in day-to-day commerce. ... These are usually multiples or fractions of 1 troy ounce, but some bullion coins are produced in very limited quantities in kilograms or heavier.  Sample below American Buffalo gold bullion coin .


(photo credit to owner)
















COMMEMORATIVE COIN
Commemorative coins are coins that were issued to commemorate some particular event or issue. Most world commemorative coins were issued from the 1960s onward, although there are numerous examples of commemorative coins of earlier date. Sample below.


(photo credit to owner)

(photo credit to owner)







OBVERSE

In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse means the back face. The obverse of a coin is commonly called heads, because it often depicts the head of a prominent person, and the reverse tails.



REVERSE

The reverse tails. In fields of scholarship outside numismatics, the term front is more commonly used than obverse, while usage of reverse is widespread.



COIN DIE

A coin die is one of the two metallic pieces that are used to strike a coin, one per each side of the coin. A die contains an inverse version of the image to be struck on the coin.  Modern dies made out of hardened steel are capable of producing many hundreds of thousands of coins before they are retired and defaced. Sample below.


(Photo Credit to owner)













Die Clash
- damage to a coin die that occurs when the top and bottom dies collide without a coin in the press. The dies will may hit each other with such force that they damage each other leaving a trace of the impression on one or both dies. Resulting coins produced may exhibit "clash marks". Clash marks will show some of the reverse design on the obverse side of the coin, some of the obverse design on the reverse, or both. Sample below
(Photo credit to owner)














Die Defect 
- damage or defect of a coin die. The coins produced by that die will exhibit the same defects.
Double Die
- a coin that shows numbers or letters doubled. Caused by the coin die having been made with a doubled design on parts of it. Example: 1955 double die Lincoln cent. Sample below


(photo credit to owner)













KEY DATE

In coin collecting, a key date refers to a date (or date and mint mark combination) of a given coin series or set that is harder to obtain than other dates in the series. The next level of difficult to obtain coins in series are often referred to as semi-key dates or simply semi-keys. Usually more difficult to find, of lower mintage, or more expensive.

According to Coin Week magazine. "The key dates in the U.S.-Philippines series are the 1906-S peso and the Proof 1907 peso. Only two Proof 1907 pesos are known to exist."




MATTE PROOF


Matte proof coins are special proofs that have a grainy "sandblasted" look on the surface. Matte proof coins were sometimes made in the early part of the 1900's. Normal proof coins have a mirror like brilliant surface. Sample below is the "1909-VDB Proof 67- lus RB Matte Merged."

(photo credit to owner)














CAMEO

Is a coin (usually a proof) that has a mirror like background to the surface of the coin and a design that is frosted looking. Special treatment of the dies (that strike the coins) make this cameo frosted effect. Modern day proof coins are struck from specially treated dies to give this frosted (cameo) appearance. On older proof coins the first produced by a die might have a cameo appearance. Later as the dies starts to wear (or break in) the coins produced will have less and less of the cameo frosting. 

Most proof US coins prior to the mid 1960's will have a mirror like surface over the whole coin. One with a frosted cameo design will bring a premium, sometimes a substantial one. Even today, some coins sell for more if the cameo effect is more pronounced than the typical coin. 

Deep Cameo
- description of the appearance of a proof coin. A coin with a cameo design will have a somewhat frosted appearance to the raised features of the design with a polished or mirror like background (field). Deep cameo means this frosted cameo effect is very obvious. Often, a proof with this attribute will be of higher quality and is often rarer, particularly in older proof coins.


Sample


























ALTERED DATE COIN


Altered Dates. Altered Dates: In some cases, the datelogotype (the raised four digit date that is raised above acoin's surface) of a coin is altered through the addition or removal of metal, to change the date to make it appear more valuable. Sample below.


(photo credit to owner)

(photo credit to owner)
















RARE COINS

Technically, "rare" means very few examples are known (e.g. no more than 75 to earn that designation on the Sheldon Rarity Scale), but with these coins becoming not affordable for the general collection coins with much higher mintages are becoming "rare coin investments".


(photo credit to owner)























COMMON COINS

Common coin. : something that is current through being commonly mentioned, discussed, accepted, or sanctioned his name became common coin.
MINT LUSTER

Mint Luster on a coin's surface is the sheen, or reflective qualities are produced during the minting process. When acoin is struck, metal flows from the center of the cointowards the outer edge.

BU -"Brilliant Uncirculated"

A BU coin is a coin that has never been circulated and retains all of its original mint luster. BU stands for "Brilliant Uncirculated" and is sometimes used interchangeably with Mint State or Uncirculated. This term is used less frequently now that the Sheldon scale of numerical grading is more widely used.

MULE
A "Mule" coin is defined as a coin where an incorrect die was used to strike either the obverse or reverse.

A "Packaging Error" is typically a set of coins that was produced using the wrong denomination or year of one or more coins. Because of the risk of counterfeiting, the only recognized packaging errors are in sets which use a tamper-proof method of encapsulating the entire group of coins (for example an uncirculated or proof-like coin set which is encapsulated in pliofilm).



Double Die VS Machine Doubling


Mechanical doubling, also called machine doubling or strike doubling, a form of doubling which appears on a coin and is easily confused with doubled die strikes. On a true doubled die coin, the doubling comes from a mistake in the process used to make the coin die itself. Doubled die is a term in numismatics used to refer to doubling in the design elements of a coin. Doubled dies can appear as an outline of the design or in extreme cases, having legends and dates appear twice in an overlapping fashion. One of the more common questions that NGC Customer Service receives is regarding the difference between a doubled die and machine doubling. This distinction is very important, because a doubled die variety may be worth a large premium, while machine doubling is a mere novelty and does not usually add value.

SAMPLE: 




















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