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Coin Collecting Glossary

The who's who and what's what of coin collecting.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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Master Hub

The master hub is a steel bar with the coin's actual size design on the end in raised relief just like the coin. The master hub is used to create the working dies which are used to strike the coins. A master hub is created from a Janvier transfer reducing machine that traces a larger than actual coin design from a galvano or epoxy shell.
See also - - Janvier

Medal Alignment

Refers to the top of a coin, or die rotation, when a coin is flipped over that is the same as is found on medals. When a coin, medal, or token is flipped over from top to bottom, the reverse is upside down in relation to the obverse. When flipped from side-to-side, the reverse remains upright in relation to the obverse. The reason for this is that medals are frequently hung from ribbons which naturally flip from side-to-side.
See also - - Coin Alignment

Medio

Slang for a Spanish-American half-bit or half-real coin. Until the late 1850s, Spanish-American coins were legal tender in the United States. A half-bit coin was valued at 6¼¢ and were occasionally seen in circulation.

Milled Coinage

These are coins that were struck by machine versus manually hammered coins.
See also - - Hammered Coinage

Milled Edge

The raised rim around the outer edge of a coin. This process, along with reeded edges, were introduced as a method to reduce or eliminate coin clipping.
See also - - Clipping, Reeded Edge

Mint Luster

The brilliant, frosty or satiny shine of an uncirculated coin. Circulated coins will sometimes be described as exhibiting some "mint luster" in the protected areas of the coin.
See also - - Mint State

Mint State

See Uncirculated

Morgan Dollar

Definition coming soon.
See also - - Cartwheel

Mule

A term used to describe a coin, token, or medal that was struck with a pair of dies not meant to be used together. A recent example would be the bronze Abigail Adams first spouse medal that was paired with the reverse from the bronze Louisa Adams first spouse medal. The Abigail Adams reverse was meant to feature Abigail writing with a quill, but instead featured Louisa Adams with her son Charles.