Coins have come a long way over the past few thousand years. The earliest ones were simply slugs of precious or semiprecious metal, hammered by hand into a more or less flat, round shape and crudely embossed with the likeness of a ruler, a god, or a mythical image.
But as coin production became more sophisticated, they became not only a token of value, but an expression of the entity issuing them, be it a kingdom, an empire, or a nation. Today’s coins carry a complex mix of information and messages, some of which can greatly affect the coin’s collectible value.
If you’re a collector, you need to know the terminology used to describe a coin’s various components. Here’s a brief glossary, starting with the basics and drilling down to the details.
Heads and Tails
Numismatists, a/k/a coin collectors, use specific terms to describe the front and back sides of a coin. The front (heads) is the obverse, and the back (tails) is the reverse. You’ll see these terms used extensively, so get used to them.
The Coin Itself
Modern coins start out as blanks, round disks stamped out of flat sheets of metal. While nearly all of today’s coins are made of inexpensive metal alloys, sometimes sandwiched or clad in layers as composite coins to expose the more desirable metal on the surface, early ones were often made of pure or nearly pure gold, silver, or copper.
The blank then goes to a stamping press where its features are added. The smooth background of the coin is called the field. The raised features of a coin’s design are called relief.
Despite close monitoring, sometimes mistakes are made such as mis-strikes, double-strikes or even occasional deliberate over-strikes. These can greatly increase a coin’s collectible value.
The edge of the coin can be smooth, decorated with designs or lettering, or reeded with multiple ridges perpendicular to the coin’s edge.
Most coins have rims, a raised edge that protects the raised design elements of the coins from wear and makes them easier to stack.
Design Elements
Some of a coin’s design is functional; some is decorative.
The functional elements include:
The denomination - the part that tells the coin’s value. It can be either numerical, verbal, or often both. Numbers are usually Arabic numbers, but some may be in Roman numerals. Words are usually in the native language, but may be in Latin or other languages, and are almost always in capitals to make them easier to decipher.
The nation of issue is usually stated in the legend.
The date tells the year the coin was made. Sometimes it can have a range of dates, such as U.S. bicentennial coins that were dated 1776-1976, with 1975 and 1976 the years of their issue.
A mint mark tells you where the coin was made. It can appear in one of several places on different coins. Older coins may have mint marks from facilities no longer in operation. U.S. mint marks are:
C – Charlotte, North Carolina*
CC – Carson City, Nevada*
D – Denver, Colorado
D – Dahlonega, Georgia*
O – New Orleans, Louisiana*
P – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
(Many coins made in Philadelphia carry no mint mark)
S – San Francisco, California
W – West Point, New York
* Mint facilities no longer in operation.
Dahlonega closed in 1861 and Denver opened in 1897,
so they have no overlapping mint marks
A coin’s decorative elements may include:
A portrait of a historical or mythical figure on its obverse side. U.S. coins usually portray a president or the mythical Lady Liberty.
One or more mottos can appear on a coin. The official U.S. motto, “In God We Trust,” has appeared on all coins since 1938, and other mottos such as “E Pluribus Unum” and “Liberty” are seen on many U.S. coins.
Other designs appear on the reverse of coins, either as symbols like the Federal Shield, a heraldic eagle, or specific places, events, or scenes. Hundreds of different reverse designs have appeared on U.S. coins over the years and are often the main distinguishing points for collectors.
Finally, the coin designer’s initials usually appear somewhere on a coin, often very small and hard to read.
Things That Affect a Coin’s Value
Design is just one of many factors that affect a coin’s value. These are all things you should know as you begin the fascinating pursuit of collecting coins. Happy collecting!
