Numismatic memory devices

Dentuck · April 22, 2007 11:31AM

A mnemonic device is a memory aid, usually a short poem or easy-to-remember sentence.

One example is a bit of elementary-school doggerel: "In fourteen-hundred-ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue."

Another rhyme, this one to recall the fates of King Henry the Eighth's wives, in order: "Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived."

To recall the order of groupings in biological nomenclature, you might memorize that "Kings Play Chess On Funny Green Squares" ... the initial letters standing in for Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species.

I've been reading Christopher Eimer's Medallic Portraits of the Duke of Wellington, which naturally discusses Arthur Wellesley's rise in the peerage. To recall the orders of noble rank, you might ask yourself, "Do Men Ever Visit Britain?" The initial letters give you Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, and Baron.

Are there any such mnemonic devices that circulate among the numismatic hobby community?

RYK · April 22, 2007 11:43AM

Mnemonics were pervasive in med school, where one had to memorize lots of lists of facts. The more memorable ones had sexual connotations and should not be repeated here.

As for numismatics, I do not encounter any situations that would require such an aid, and I certainly do not expect to have to pass any coin tests!

Barry · April 22, 2007 11:48AM

You must be talking about the cranial nerves. If there are others, I don't know them. PM me

RYK · April 22, 2007 12:00PM

<< You must be talking about the cranial nerves. If there are others, I don't know them. PM me

>>

Carpal bones...Some Lovers Try Positions...

speety · April 22, 2007 12:03PM

If the grade don't fit, you must resubmit!

rgl1345 · April 22, 2007 12:30PM

<< If the grade don't fit, you must resubmit! >>

Coxe · April 22, 2007 1:28PM

Can't think of any but it was funny that a local healthy foods market here used to have the codes for their bulk bin foods in the same range for much of it as the Morgan dollar dates. I used to remember the codes to write on the tags accordingly. Bulk dog biscuits were 1896. 1882 was long grain brown rice. etc

Longacre · April 23, 2007 12:39AM

There are tons of them that you had to learn to pass the Bar exam so you could jog your memory on the essay portion. Because the material tested on the Bar exam is useless, I quickly forgot the useless mneumonics, too.

Personally, I don't use mneumonics for coin information But I will give you a Longacre Hint™-- outlines. If I create an outline of a book or other information, I never forget it. I made these killer 100+ page outlines for each of my law school classes, and I hear that they are the gold standard still at the school and every student uses them as a study aid. I put a copyright on them, but don't defend it. Just the thought of students still using the outlines that I created on all of those legal subjects is enough payment for me.

mgoodm3 · April 23, 2007 12:43AM

I prefer "Kids Play Cards On Fat Girls Stomachs"

mgoodm3 · April 23, 2007 12:46AM

A radiology one: Some Lovers Try Positions That They Can't Handle (carpal bones)

IGWT · April 23, 2007 12:52AM

-- "I made these killer 100+ page outlines for each of my law school classes, and I hear that they are the gold standard still at the school and every student uses them as a study aid." --

Did you miss the first day of classes when the professors explained the difference between an outline and a treatise.

morgansforever · April 23, 2007 12:58AM

[A Priest saw ten nuns doing pushups]

This is mnemonic device for the OSI model

Application
Presentation
Session
Transport
Network
Data link
Physical

Longacre · April 23, 2007 12:59AM

<< -- "I made these killer 100+ page outlines for each of my law school classes, and I hear that they are the gold standard still at the school and every student uses them as a study aid." --

Did you miss the first day of classes when the professors explained the difference between an outline and a treatise.

>>

Ahhh, IGWT, there were actually three Official Longacre Outlines™ for every class. The "big" one with all of the detail, a more summary form one with the highlights, and a copy of the table of contents from the big outline which doubled as a checklist for use during the exam. About three years ago I went to my law school's career day and spoke about my job, etc. One of the students in the audience actually came up to me and could not believe that she was meeting the creator of all of the outlines that everyone uses. I felt like a rock star.

RWB · April 23, 2007 1:09AM

Do you mean the four rules of selling: buff it, stuff it, fluff it, puff it?

Come to think of it, mnemonics are best for long lists and ordered facts which must be recalled. History, law, medicine, sciences, psychiatry, etc. would be applicable. I wonder of numismatics has any of these?

IGWT · April 23, 2007 1:11AM

-- "The "big" one with all of the detail, a more summary form one with the highlights, and a copy of the table of contents from the big outline which doubled as a checklist for use during the exam." --

Open-book exams? What kind of wimpy, pseudo-intellectual, liberal professors did you have?

Edited to add: Nevermind. My question contains the answer.

Longacre · April 23, 2007 1:17AM

<< -- "The "big" one with all of the detail, a more summary form one with the highlights, and a copy of the table of contents from the big outline which doubled as a checklist for use during the exam." --

Open-book exams? What kind of wimpy, pseudo-intellectual, liberal professors did you have?

Edited to add: Nevermind. My question contains the answer.

>>

At NYU Law, someone was always saving the world from something.

Flyfishguy · April 23, 2007 1:23AM

To Go Camping First Always Find Quiet To Calm Down

The Geologic Hardness Scale

Swampboy · April 23, 2007 1:38AM

Every American Dog Got Big Ears.

gitfiddle strings...

IGWT · April 23, 2007 1:41AM

I use simple mnemonics to remember the differences among the three no-rays hubs in the Shield 5c series. As one example, the star at 12-K points to the E in STATES on the rev of '67, while it points to the S in STATES on the rev of '68. The rev of '67 is much more common (even on coins minted in '68), so I initially remembered the distinction by referring to the "Star-to-E" as "Easy" to find. Pretty silly, but there you have it . . . .

mozeppa · April 23, 2007 3:27AM

music=Every Great Bird Does Fly

&

FACE=the notes in the spaces between the lines on a music graph.

Coxe · April 23, 2007 4:04AM

<< music=Every Great Bird Does Fly

&

FACE=the notes in the spaces between the lines on a music graph. >>

It was Every Good Boy Does Fine when I took piano. I suppose political correctness argued away the gender issue.

I cannot recall ever having any mneumonics in physics. I suppose they could have been handy with something like the Maxwell Relations in thermodynamics. Electronics' ROY G. BIV kind of approxiamted the visibile spectrum I suppose.

BlackBeard · April 23, 2007 4:22AM

There was one in Trig. for triangle functions Sin=O/H CoSin=A/H Tan=O/A, but as in the case with another poster, this one is best not repeated on a public forum. It's been over 20 years since I took the course and still remember.

Numismatic memory devices

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