Strange words associated with coins…….🤔😉

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safari_dude
safari_dude Posts: 698 ✭✭✭✭✭
in U.S. Coin Forum

While reading about coins this morning at my favorite breakfast joint, I came across a word I’d never heard before: scissel. So what is scissel? It’s the scrap metal remaining after planchets are punched out. What other words have you seen that relate to coins that you had to look up? Denticles possibly? 😉

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  • johnny9434
    johnny9434 Posts: 34,049 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    I heard the word "shake" one time it came from the bottom of a change purse ( shavings, pieces etc, etc ). The rif raf kept it and sold it later. A real shady way of doing things

  • Typekat
    Typekat Posts: 729 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    “Toning” is interesting.

    The only prior usage (possibly obsolete) I can think of for the word is when someone is ‘toning up’ their muscles at a gym.

    In today’s numismatic lingo, it’s the common euphemism for ‘tarnish.’

    30+ years coin shop experience (ret.) Coins, bullion, currency, scrap & interesting folks. Loved every minute!

  • Whit
    Whit Posts: 375 ✭✭✭
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    Akin to "shaking" mentioned above ..... I believe I once read of a practice called "sweating": the shaking of bags of gold coins, creating gold dust which was then collected as the coins themselves were then sent on their way into the commerce stream. "Shaving" also comes to mind: the removal of thin slices of metal from the edge of a gold or silver coin. Correct me if I'm wrong; shaving is commonly seen within colonial silver coinage.
    Whit

    Whit
  • World67
    World67 Posts: 13,098 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Lagniappe

  • JBK
    JBK Posts: 17,860 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    "Seigniorage" is a good money-related term.

    "Exergue" is another one someone here used. It still sounds nasty to me. 😬😀

  • johnny9434
    johnny9434 Posts: 34,049 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @Whit said:
    Akin to "shaking" mentioned above ..... I believe I once read of a practice called "sweating": the shaking of bags of gold coins, creating gold dust which was then collected as the coins themselves were then sent on their way into the commerce stream. "Shaving" also comes to mind: the removal of thin slices of metal from the edge of a gold or silver coin. Correct me if I'm wrong; shaving is commonly seen within colonial silver coinage.
    Whit

    Shaving is another term heard of

  • BryceM
    BryceM Posts: 11,940 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Castaing Machine
    Janvier Reduction Lathe
    Pied-fort

  • safari_dude
    safari_dude Posts: 698 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @Morgan White said:
    CAC

    You’re right. Just ask a new collector if they have any “CAC’d” coins and they’ll give you the ‘huh?’ look.

  • CaptHenway
    CaptHenway Posts: 34,164 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Exergue

    Professional Numismatist, Retired. 55 year member ANA. Former ANA Senior Authenticator. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and ANA Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner of the PNG's 2026 Robert Friedberg Award for "The Enigmatic Lincoln Cents of 1922," Available now from Whitman or Amazon.
  • Namvet69
    Namvet69 Posts: 9,423 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Yup, I'm an exergue and pareidolia guy cause I play Scrabble. Peace Roy

    BST: endeavor1967, synchr, kliao, Outhaul, Donttellthewife, U1Chicago, ajaan, mCarney1173, SurfinHi, MWallace, Sandman70gt, mustanggt, Pittstate03, Lazybones, Walkerguy21D, coinandcurrency242 , thebigeng, Collectorcoins, JimTyler, USMarine6, Elkevvo, Coll3ctor, Yorkshireman, CUKevin, ranshdow, CoinHunter4, bennybravo, Centsearcher, braddick, Windycity, ZoidMeister, mirabela, JJM, RichURich, Bullsitter, jmski52, LukeMarshall, coinsarefun, MichaelDixon, NickPatton, ProfLiz, Twobitcollector,Jesbroken oih82w8, DCW

  • dcarr
    dcarr Posts: 10,255 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    my favorite:
    Specie (money in the form of metal).

    Moonlight Mint
  • Creg
    Creg Posts: 1,736 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Exomunia -When I used in a sentence for the first time here, they jailed me for two weeks.

  • CaptHenway
    CaptHenway Posts: 34,164 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @safari_dude said:
    While reading about coins this morning at my favorite breakfast joint, I came across a word I’d never heard before: scissel. So what is scissel? It’s the scrap metal remaining after planchets are punched out. What other words have you seen that relate to coins that you had to look up? Denticles possibly? 😉

    Commonly called webbing in this country, though both are correct.

    Chop them up and you have “schruff” or “shruff.” I’ve seen it spelled both ways.

    Professional Numismatist, Retired. 55 year member ANA. Former ANA Senior Authenticator. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and ANA Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner of the PNG's 2026 Robert Friedberg Award for "The Enigmatic Lincoln Cents of 1922," Available now from Whitman or Amazon.
  • World67
    World67 Posts: 13,098 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Seigniorage

  • safari_dude
    safari_dude Posts: 698 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Basal State: a coin that is so badly worn that only a portion of the legend or inscription is readable. This term was used by Sheldon who stated that enough of the coin had to remain for variety attribution. The term is a substitute for the grade “poor” ….

  • Acarroll
    Acarroll Posts: 242 ✭✭✭✭
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    @Morgan White said:
    CAC

    Every single time I see it written, i get a mental picture of Titus Pullo from HBOs Rome

  • Barberian
    Barberian Posts: 4,643 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Cud.

  • pursuitofliberty
    pursuitofliberty Posts: 7,926 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    And ... "Retained CUD" I know, that's two words

    Makes me think of something the cow just cant quite get rid of :o

    .

    A "Guido" ... sounds like an Italian pizza, but it's not :p


    “We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”

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  • BruceS
    BruceS Posts: 1,549 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Chop marks

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  • Some_of_it
    Some_of_it Posts: 187 ✭✭✭
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    Die

  • breakdown
    breakdown Posts: 2,401 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Brockage.....

    "Look up, old boy, and see what you get." -William Bonney.

  • PerryHall
    PerryHall Posts: 47,749 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @Some_of_it said:
    Die

    Hub.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
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  • BStrauss3
    BStrauss3 Posts: 3,905 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Planchette vs Planchet

    -----Burton
    ANA 50+ year/Life Member (now "Emeritus")
    Author: 3rd Edition of the SampleSlabs book, https://sampleslabs.info/
  • johnny9434
    johnny9434 Posts: 34,049 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Strange people 🤔

  • World67
    World67 Posts: 13,098 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Piedfort

  • fathom
    fathom Posts: 2,200 ✭✭✭✭✭
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  • CaptHenway
    CaptHenway Posts: 34,164 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @fathom said:

    I once saw a 1799 dollar with raised points in the centers of all of the obverse stars. I believe the coin to have been struck as a Proof, or at least a Presentation Piece.

    Professional Numismatist, Retired. 55 year member ANA. Former ANA Senior Authenticator. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and ANA Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner of the PNG's 2026 Robert Friedberg Award for "The Enigmatic Lincoln Cents of 1922," Available now from Whitman or Amazon.
  • TwoSides2aCoin
    TwoSides2aCoin Posts: 45,216 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Dreck I find most amusing, though least appealing and strange , in terms of numismatics. It’s like junk and schlock :joy:

  • fathom
    fathom Posts: 2,200 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @CaptHenway said:

    @fathom said:

    I once saw a 1799 dollar with raised points in the centers of all of the obverse stars. I believe the coin to have been struck as a Proof, or at least a Presentation Piece.

    Yeah this is an AI definition of centril. We all know AI is not always correct.

    I've always thought it refers to the full star points originating at the center, denoting sharpness of strike, not a raised dot.

  • jacrispies
    jacrispies Posts: 1,637 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Loupe eye

    This once took me three weeks to recover from...

    "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you" Matthew 6:33. Young fellow suffering from Bust Half fever.
    BHNC #AN-10
    JRCS #1606

  • BLUEJAYWAY
    BLUEJAYWAY Posts: 11,794 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Laminations. Or is it De-laminations.

    Successful transactions:Tookybandit. "Everyone is equal, some are more equal than others".
  • Steven59
    Steven59 Posts: 11,227 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    When I was younger we always called paper bills "Scoots". Turns out it actually is a slang word for money.

    "scoots" can mean money in certain contexts, though it is not a widely used or common slang term.

    "When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"

  • johnny9434
    johnny9434 Posts: 34,049 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 3, 2026 2:01PM
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    Gynandroid head? Supposedly used in the early days of the mint i heard

  • BLUEJAYWAY
    BLUEJAYWAY Posts: 11,794 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Whizzed.

    Successful transactions:Tookybandit. "Everyone is equal, some are more equal than others".
  • 2windy2fish
    2windy2fish Posts: 1,143 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Conder

  • TPring
    TPring Posts: 388 ✭✭✭
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    Deuteronomy

    Opened up a Bible and found a coin [in a flip] in the book of Deuteronomy.

  • lordmarcovan
    lordmarcovan Posts: 45,335 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    The first time I saw the word "sintered", I thought somebody was misspelling the word "centered".

    Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.

  • Sapyx
    Sapyx Posts: 2,614 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    "Obverse". Non-coin-people probably assume you've mis-spelled "observe".

    "Reverse". A perfectly normal word given a new but related meaning by coin-people. It probably helps to define "obverse" first, then "reverse" becomes obvious.

    The words and phrases used in adjectival grading, which thanks to gradeflation are no longer literal. A coin in "Fair" condition is quite awful, a coin in "Good" condition is really rather bad, a coin in "Very Fine" condition is really rather average or mediocre, and so forth.

    "Doctored". A non-coin-person might assume that a "doctored" coin is better than one that is "still sick". But fun fact: no.

    "Pan-Pac slug" sounds like an exotic pest eating your lettuce.

    Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.
    Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"

    Apparently I have been awarded the DPOTD twice. B)
  • TPring
    TPring Posts: 388 ✭✭✭
    edited March 4, 2026 12:13PM
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    @Sapyx
    The words and phrases used in adjectival grading, which thanks to gradeflation are no longer literal. A coin in "Fair" condition is quite awful, a coin in "Good" condition is really rather bad, a coin in "Very Fine" condition is really rather average or mediocre, and so forth.

    Somewhat like the word "quality," which most don't understand means essentially nothing when describing a noun.

  • Kurisu
    Kurisu Posts: 2,228 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 4, 2026 5:31PM
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    Devices.
    I just always thought it was odd terminology to reference design elements.
    Seems like it's the opposite of devices...devices being the things that created the design elements.
    Right?!?

    Coins are Neato!

    "If it's a penny for your thoughts and you put in your two cents worth, then someone...somewhere...is making a penny." - Steven Wright

  • joep
    joep Posts: 7 ✭
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    newp, refers to new purchases

  • safari_dude
    safari_dude Posts: 698 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Whizzed……luster……..red-brown…..split bands…..full head…….🤔😉

  • normmalin
    normmalin Posts: 264 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Burnished...have a large cent that is noted as burnished....had to look it up.

    Casual collector slowly building a collection....

  • safari_dude
    safari_dude Posts: 698 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Reverse proof….

  • JBK
    JBK Posts: 17,860 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Here's one from the currency arena: macerated.

  • johnny9434
    johnny9434 Posts: 34,049 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Dreck

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