Are there Numismatic terms which don't make sense or drive you crazy??
keets
Posts: 25,351 ✭✭✭✭✭
So my wife is working at home right now for the VA, takes calls from Veterans that can sometimes make her crazy. I hear her in the background trying to answer questions and explain the sometimes un-understandable!! While I was looking at some Heritage lots I heard her use the term "cut the check" and it made me think of terms we use in everyday life which are sort of stupid, outdated or redundant. Three that really get me:
--- "cut" the check.
--- write it off.
--- Pin number or VIN number(the "N" actually stands for number, DUH).
So anyway, I wondered who would volunteer some Hobby related Numismatic terms that are similar and make you sort of crazy. I'll start with an old school term that comes up, especially in catalogues --- flan. I know what it means but there are other more modern terms so it gets under my skin when I see it used. What's yours?? 
Al H.
Comments
If you want to get good flan, you have to go to a Mexican restaurant!
It bothers me that many people cannot learn the difference between "rim" and "edge." The terms are OK, but they confuse people.
"Double die." It's doubleD die.
CAC is the first thing that comes to mind as far as not making sense. Doesn't really drive me crazy, just leaves me shaking my head.
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
BOOMIN!™
"Cabinet friction"
Please; it either has rub or it doesn't.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Two terms we apply daily in our hobby mean entirely different things to laypeople and, frankly, don't make much sense within our hobby, either:
1) "Good" doesn't mean good.
2) "Uncirculated" doesn't mean uncirculated.
--Severian the Lame
The term "Rare" is a hobby term that can be very annoying, as it is often used to create a false truth.
Need that disagree button here.
Facts on the ground prove otherwise imho.
The shiniest (cleaned ) coin is sometimes the most worthless coin.
"Fresh"...Is near the top of my list & the other one that means the opposite.
My Saint Set
Crusty. Sounds bad, but generally means good.
How about "lamination" (de) and "sintered". Then there is always "first strike".
"Slider" kinda always bothered me. Slide into what home plate or across the parking lot?
“Investment grade”
As far as I can tell, the guy touting this would rather sell me one huge overpriced coin instead of lots of smaller overpriced coins.
Mechanical error currently bothers me.
The mechanical parts work just fine and print what you input.
Just call it a typo.
"If I say something in the woods and my wife isn't there to hear it.....am I still wrong?"
My Washington Quarter Registry set...in progress
Dreck. It's kind of a snooty term referencing the perception of inferior, non worthy coins.
I find it irritating when a coin collector says penny when it's actually a cent. I know it's slang term to say penny and I know it won't go away but it still irritates me.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I actually have a problem with that quote. Every planchet already has an upset rim and is, in fact, the defining quality of such a piece. Before a planchet goes into the upsetting machine it is technically a "blank."
Jesse C. Kraft, Ph.D.
Resolute Americana Curator of American Numismatics
American Numismatic Society
New York City
Member of the American Numismatic Association (ANA), British Numismatic Society (BNS), New York Numismatic Club (NYNC), Early American Copper (EAC), the Colonial Coin Collectors Club (C4), U.S. Mexican Numismatic Association (USMNA), Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC), Token and Medal Society (TAMS), and life member of the Atlantic County Numismatic Society (ACNS).
Become a member of the American Numismatic Society!
Yes there are Keets. However, I am no longer driven to the crazy status for things for which I have no control regardless as to how those terms... Concepts... Whatever... have failed to withstand the test of time and what truly matters.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Mis-print. I wasn't aware they "printed" coins.
My YouTube Channel
Calls to the shop: "Whut are buffalo nickels WURF?"
My YouTube Channel
VIN is like ATM Machine (M stands for machine) but no one will ask where the AT machine is.
"Back of bid."
"Unsearched". Not really a numismatic term, an eBay scam. Also "estate" or "old safe" scams.
Yes....The term "Moon Money" However, I got over it...
I’ve never been a fan of the term generic gold.
I get it that there are A LOT of 1908, 1924, and 1927 Saints in MS condition, but I’ve always cringed when they’re shrugged off as “generic”.
It seems disrespectful of their beauty and history.
It could just be me as the first coin I bought was a 1924 Saint in MS 63. (Bought in 1992 for $455)
He who knows he has enough is rich.
@56morgan listed the same two that bother me....'lamination' and 'sintered'....If the coin has a separation between two layers, it is a 'DE-lamination'.....and 'sintered'....Usually applied to a dark coin....Sintering is to bring about agglomeration in (metal particles) by heating.....So both are widely used, but totally incorrect. Cheers, RickO
“Handling marks” in auction descriptions.
tarnished.....
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
Monster has always made me wince as it’s so overused
m
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
I much prefer epic
Latin American Collection
+1 to Tom B re "cabinet friction."
"Market acceptable" - I've seen too many pre 1815 coins that can fit this description.
"Net grading."
+1 to Mark re 'monster.'
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."
PCGS BU89?
"Lamination".
If there is peeling evident, then it is a "delamination" not a "lamination".
Don't really care for the term "Widget".
I'm just a "common" guy............
Pete
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No, it's a totally legitimate term.
This Alabama Half is BU with some cabinet friction.
It's just that the cabinet got opened a helluva lot of times
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Actually BU, which stands for Brilliant Uncirculated, is one of the very few that annoyed me.
Aside from overgrading, how does an Unc brown copper qualify as brilliant or heavily toned Unc silver anything close to brilliant.
In the raw days, ads and auction catalogs were full of such contradictions. Seems it is not used that way so much anymore.
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"To Be Esteemed Be Useful" - 1792 Birch Cent --- "I personally think we developed language because of our deep need to complain." - Lily Tomlin
You find this in eBay ads all the time:
Near PL or Near DMPL.
There’s also an eBay seller of Jefferson nickels who offers “4 full steps.”
The term "rattler" has a much older meaning.
The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin
Coins in Movies
Coins on Television
Dealer ads with POR or Price On Request.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Just a recent thing, but when someone says, “Printed” instead of “Minted” I hear a lot of guys on YouTube using this
NewP. Why does that exist? Sounds silly.
Partner @Gold Hill Coin
Ahhh man, I’m a fan of that particular one. lol
"Gemmy" and Poor mans doubled Die. - Gag me with a spoon!
WS
Printed ads in periodicals:"Prices subject to change". Usually it allows dealers to raise the price, rarely to lower it.
I believe "friction" is just another word for rub. So "cabinet friction" describes an AU coin missing its original surface.
Piefort
Exergue
Someone here on the forum called me out on this one some 18 months ago or so, not really a term that bugs me, but the recent posts showing a 100 pictures of the same area of the same coin, one or two should suffice
I hate the term “original” typically used to describe coins that have not been cleaned or messed with but generally do not look like they did originally as in when they left the mint.