Glossaire
Refining Art of purifying metals through ridding them of their alloy.
Adjustment Action of making every coin weights the exact weight it should have.
Alloy Product with metallurgical character, resulting from the incorporation in a metal of one or more other metallic elements.
Fineness Proportion of fine metal contained in an alloy.
Alter Subjecting monetary species to weight changes and/ or titles that give coins of poor quality.
Alum Sulfate double potassium and hydrated aluminum, served as currency in Egypt and Syria under the Ayyubid era mainly to pay for imports of wood and iron.
Uninscribed A currency bearing no legend. (link to glossary def. Legend)
Annulet Small ring engraved on the coins to punctuate a legend.
Anonymous Said of a currency bearing no mention of the issuing authority.
Antoninianus Roman coin that was minted in the third Century AD and was worth two pence.
Arab-Byzantine (currencies) Muslim coins of the Byzantine type. They were minted in the Muslim West during the transition period, before the reform of 'Abd Al-Malik Ibn Marwan.
Archer Kind of monetary of silver shekel or gold Daric of the Persian kings.
Aureus (plural aurei) Roman gold coins. This term is specifically used to describe the Roman gold coins produced punctually from the Second Punic War (link to glossary def. Punic), and more commonly from Caesar’s era.
Obverse face of a coin or a medal which bears the main etching pattern (often a portrait). The reverse is the other side.
Coins die axis positioning of the obverse and reverse designs on a coin.
Screw-press ("Balancier") mechanical printing of currencies through a machine equipped with a screw extractor whose pressure over the monetary prints on both sides of a blank with one stroke of the screw-press.
Spade shape of monetary sign in many Chinese aand African civilizations.
Besan or Bezant This name derived from the name of Byzantium, was given to various gold coins of the Middle Ages; these currencies have the characteristics to have been copied from Byzantine and Arab currencies.
Billon It is a divisional coin made of silver and copper.
Bimetallic It’s a coin made of two different metals or assembled metal alloys.
Bimetallism monetary system based on the use of two metals, usually gold and silver, assigned with a legal and fix ratio between them.
Currency paper Currency issued in Morocco by the combined printing of Casablanca in 1943, worth 5,20 and 50 francs.
Aluminum bronze copper alloys (88 to 94%) and aluminum (6 to 12%) giving a metal resistant to corrosion and a gold appearance, very popular among medalists.
Nickel bronze alloy comprising at least 75% of copper and 25% of nickel.
Bunduqi the Bunduqi, called Dinars of Bunduqi weight, are gold dinars, struck under the Alawite Dynasty. This term originates from the fact that their weight, between 3.6 g and 3.5 g, corresponding to that of Venetian Ducat. (old gold coin of Venice.)
Burin Instrument that the engraver uses to cut steel. Burins are usually square to facilitate the handling. The front end is beveled and the trailing end is flat, these tools being pushed onto the steel with a hammer.
Splines Indentations in the slice in many types of coins minted from the sixteenth century to preserve them from trimming.
Carat From the Greek "keration"= third farthing. Refers originally to a unit of weight of a grain of carob whose modern equivalent is 0.189 g. twenty fourth of fine gold contained in an end portion mass of gold.
Cauri Divisional currency of the Republic of Guinea from 1971 to 1980; 100 cowries make a syli.
Cowry (Monetaria moneta) Shell or imitation of shell used as money in many countries. In ancient China, substitute cowries were manufactured with bone, pearl, stone and bronze.
Field Term designating the area remaining in the center of each side of a coin and bounded by the circular legend.
Cisoir scissors for cutting metal.
Coin Matrix to strike coins and medals.
Commemorative (coin, medal) medal or coin with legal value not intended for circulation, issued to celebrate an event, a place or a person.
Concave Said of a currency which the blank is shaped in a meniscus form.
Counterfeit Synonymous of fake, imitation of period, weight and reduced fineness.
Countermark punch mark affixed to a currency already mint, often to indicate a change in value.
Molding Operation consisting of passing a molten metal through a coins manufacturing mold where it solidifies.
Break in the late eighteenth century; note representing a fraction of the highest value. Then, by extension, applicable to any species
Rate Fixing the value of currency in circulation in currency of account.
Legal rate Regime applicable to monetary signs according to which they must be accepted in transactions and payments for their nominal value.
Knife Monetary sign in several civilizations especially in Asia.
Croesus These are gold coins, silver and electrum mint starting from the reign of Croesus. They represent a couple formed by a lion and a bull. The Croesus is mentioned by Herodotus, Plutarch, Pollux, it was renowned for its good quality. (link to glossary fineness definition)
Hollow Synonymous of corner because of intaglio print it received.
Cupro-nickel copper alloy wherein the nickel exists in an amount between 13 to 20%.
Daric Gold coin of King Archer type issued by the Persian Empire from the reign of Darius until the conquest of Alexander. The Daric weighs approximately 8.40 g and is worth 20 Shekels of silver.
Decadrachma Greek coin worth 10 drachmas issued exceptionally in Athens, Acragas, Syracuse, Carthage, Babylon or Ptolemaic Egypt.
Cutting operation that involves cutting the coin blanks, or medal in a metal blade.
Half follis Byzantine copper coins (fifth-eighth century) worth 20 noummia (brand of K value).
Half siliqua of Byzantine silver coins (sixth century) struck mainly in Ravenna and Carthage, cut to 288 to the pound.
Half tremissis Byzantine gold coins cut to 432 to the pound.
Demonetization Decision through which we delete to a currency its quality as a means of payment.
Deneral monetary weight, usually in bronze or brass, sometimes in glass, designed to control the weight of specific coins.
Denier Denier is one of the most famous Roman coins. Originally, it is one of the Roman Republic silver coins, which survived under the Roman Empire until the third century AD. The denier also knew extensions in the Middle Age, during which it has long been the monetary unit.
Denier of weight: a divisional unit for weight, held to be equal to 1/24 of an ounce.
Denomination: naming of a piece of money, and by extension, its legal value.
Didachma: Roman silver currency of 6 …..of the system Romano-Campanian system.
Different: a mark attached to every currency to indicate the workshop where it was coined, the name of its director and its coiner
Dinar: currency unit in the ancient Muslim world. The first dinars were at the beginnings imitations (link towards glossary defining imitation) of Byzantine currency and they were in 77AH/697 AC by « Abd Al-Malik Ibn Marwan ».
Dirham A Muslim currency unit derived from Darchma (link towards glossary defining Drachma) sassinide reformed by by Abd Al-Malik Ibn Marwan in 77 A.H/697 A.C
Dobla Spanish currency having the value of 2 ecus, where the coinage started under Alphonso XI (1312-1350 AC). This appelation was also given to Almohade Dinar.
Double coinage doubling of printing which results from the slippery of the workpiece during coinage. A piece which shows this default is called trefoil.
Doubloon the term « doublon » is derived from Spanish « doblón», which means « double ». It designates a double ecu « escuedo» or of a gold currency of 32 reales, which weigh 6.77 grammes.
Drachma in the Greek world, a silver money the weight of which varies according to the monetary standard to which it is attached
(obverse) the face of the money that bears the drawing or the main inscription.
Droit Given the ambiguity of the term «principal», many coin collectors prefer using the term « straight » for the face the bears the printing of the inferior corner/side. (the term obverse is sometimes used).
Ducat golden money coined in Venise from 1284 to 1794 without any modification
Dupondius Roman currency valued at two aes. This piece of money was first circulated in bronze in the III Century BC, and regularly stroke in orichalcum
Ecu Golden or silver currency stroke prior to the French Revolution, bearing a coat of arms on one side. Similarly, this name is given to silver pieces of 5 Francs after the revolution.
Electrum natural alloy ofgold and silver used in Asia Minor for the first currencies. The term is currently used to refer to every golden alloy where the amount of money where the amount of silver or copper is very significant in such a way as to affect the color of the currency.
Emblem symbol or allegoryillustrated on the currencies
Issuance (issue) Release of coins or notes by an institution. It is, also, a set of coins minted with the same physical and typological characteristics, according to an instruction given by the issuing authority.
Anvil (corner of) Head or sleeping area.
Notch Significant damage in the side of a currency.
Epigraphic Said of a currency that contains captions. (link to glossary def. Legend)
Proof Coin of superior quality, mint with corners specially prepared, for example, to be offered to employees or persons of high rank.
Species Any monetary sign used as a means of payment for the value prescribed by the issuing authority.
Sample A test piece prepared by the Mint, which can be approved or not by the monetary authorities. A sample may be struck in various metals, a normal or double blank thickness. It can carry a hallmark in the corner, indicating its destination, namely the word SAMPLE.
Stamping Forming of a cold-pressed blank between two matrixes or hollow carved corners to give an embossed.
Banking institutions
Standard Weight of a precious metal in general, gold or silver, for reference unit of a monetary system and determining the value of each coin of system.
Euro European currency unit in force since 1 January 1999 (abbreviation €).
Epigraph Space of the field of the medal which is below the subject. In some conventional compositions, it is separated from the subject by a plinth. It usually has a date or a brief inscription.
Face Side of the coin opposite the tail (see obverse).
Weak currency Coins whose weight and (or) title does not follow the legal requirements
Counterfeiter Coin counterfeiter, manufacturer of fake coins.
Inauthentic coin Fake coin.
Faute Refers to a twisted coin, staggered strikes, eccentric which has received a double blow.
Flan Metal disc, free of any strikes, intended to be converted into currency or coin.
Uncirculated Conservation status of a coin that has no trace of wear due to traffic.
Jewel Ornament depicting a flower or a leaf.
Follis Billon currency (link to glossary def. Billion) or copper
Melting Method of coinage. The melting technique was used in Rome IV and III century BC
Spawning Loss that currencies experience by friction in traffic.
Franc Currency appeared in France in the fourteenth century.
Mint (minting) Process which provides the impression of a subject engraved on a blank medal or coin through a press. The obverse and reverse are stamped simultaneously.
Strike with the balance Mechanical printing of currencies through a machine equipped with a screw extractor foulante whose pressure over the monetary printing on both sides of a blank with one stroke of the balance.
Strike with the hammer Strike technique using human force. This technique was in use until the introduction of the mechanical mint.
Grain Unit of mass equal to 0.053 gram.
Engraver It is the artist who engraves the corners to print money at a blank subject.
Beading Cord made of small grains on the edge of currencies.
Gresham (law) Economic Act according to which, when a well received currency by the public circulates in a country simultaneously with another bad currency, the bad drives out the good one from traffic, the latter being hoarded.
AH the date when Prophet Muhammad left Mecca to Medina on July 16 622, used in the calculation of the main Muslim calendar, based on lunar years, where there are only 354 days. To convert a date expressed in the Hijri (AH) in the Christian year (AD), you just solve the equation: AH - [(AH 100) x3] = 622 AD.
Hemidrachme It is the equivalent weight of half a drachma.
Hexagram Byzantine silver currency, created under Heraclius in 615 AD, cut to 48 to the pound, worth ½ solidus. It ceases to be mint under Justinian II (685-717 AD).
Mint place place where coins are mint.
Hybrid Coin struck by two monetary corners for two issuances or two different currencies.
Imitation Integral copy of a currency, usually of lower quality than the latter, issued legally and with the tolerance of the issuing legal authority in circumstances of urgent necessity. Counterfeiting (link to glossary def. Counterfeit) of a currency by a sovereign authority.
Incuse A currency where the reverse reproduces in intaglio the type of the obverse. Currency mainly from southern Italy.
Intrinsic Describes the value of a currency determined by the nature, weight and fineness of the metal it contains.
Token Monetiforme coin of any material (metal, plastic, ivory ...) but usually metal, for counting or likely equivalence of monetary value (operating vending machines).
Karat or Qirat weight unit of the Arab world; the Qirat did not have the same value everywhere. It is the Syrian Arab Qirat of 0.2125 g that was chosen as a standard for monetary reform of 'Abd al-Malik (697), 20 Qirats were equal to a mithqal or dinar. The other term is synonymous with the silver square currency of almowahade Caliph Ibn Al -Muhammad (1145-1146), weighing 0.93 g
The Era of the Hegira the date when Prophet Muhammad left Mecca to Medina on July 16 622, used in the calculation of the main Muslim calendar, based on lunar years, where there are only 354 days. To convert a date expressed in the Hijri (AH) in the Christian year (AD), you just solve the equation: AH - [(AH 100) x3] = 622 AD.
Numismatics It is the science of currencies. It studies these objects according to their material, historical and political value.
Laureate (head) Refers to a portrait wearing a crown of laurel.
Coin maker Responsible for a coin currency issue. In the Merovingian period, the monetary is a serious official who often engrave his name and title on the currency.
Legend Any inscription on a coin or medal.
Ingot Metal mass having the shape of the mold in which it was cast.
Liquidity (ratio)
Listel Circle device having a larger projection than the projections of type or legend in order to reduce wear.
Mancus (Latin mancusus) In the Middle Ages, the name given by Christians to the Arab gold Dinar. Arabic gold coin issued in Spain, in particular by the caliphs of Cordoba, has circulated the tenth to eleventh century.
Marabotin Marabotin is the name given to the gold Dinars of Almoravides of Spain. The Marabotins were circulating in the south of France in the twelfth century (Almoravides, from the Arabic al morabeth), Alfonso VIII imitated and made alfonsins marabotins.
Maravedi Account currency in Spain which also seems to come from the Almoravids.
Trademarks Workshops trademarks are sometimes represented on coins. Often, they are mostly letters or abbreviations which are the own brand of a mint. They have been used particularly in the coinage of the Lower Roman Empire, where the RA letters mean for example that the coin was manufactured in the mint of Ravenna
Hammering Operation of erasing all or part of the right or the reverse of a currency.
Money supply
Matbu 'or methbou' Other mithqal name.
Medal Designates the monetiformes metal parts of large dimensions, minted for artistic or commemorative purposes.
Medalist Engraver of medals
Precious metals Metals characterized by an especially high chemical stability and, consequently, substantially stainless. Naturally, their aesthetic quality and their relative rarity are also significant. This group includes silver, gold and platinum.
Metrology Science of weights of currencies.
Millares (Latin miliarensis) Imitation of silver Dirhams Almohad issued starting from 1263 by Jaques 1st of Aragon. This type of coin was also made in Pisa, Genoa, Agde and Aragon. It was primarily intended to be exported to the ports of the Almohad Empire.
Vintage Figure indicating the date of issuance of a currency
Mithqal Weight unit in the Muslim world which is equal to a gold dinar. It also means silver Moroccan Piaster (divisional currency) of 10 legal Dirhams (28.39 g) set up by Muhammad III.
Module Diameter of a coin or a medal after the strike. In the nineteenth century, coins were classified according to their module, small, medium, large. For Roman coins in bronze, therefore, these modules correspond to the ace, dupondius and sesterce.
Monetiforme In form of a currency
Monetization Introduce new bank notes into the economy. It also means "the abundance degree of monetary liquidity in the economy.
Coin collection Coins in legal tender, but one or more of their physical characteristics (size, alloy, weight), or etching or state finish (quality test or universal coin) differ from those of common coins.
Currency of account Concept of monetary unit that does not exist in the circulation but which is used in the accounts, the payments being made using other species.
Emergency money Temporary fiat money issued during a crisis in order to compensate for a lack of cash.
Fiat money Money whose value is based on the credit of the State or of a subordinate institution, and has no relation to its intrinsic value.
Monometallism Monetary System or coinage based on the use of a single precious metal, gold, silver, electrum or a baser metal, lead or bronze.
Mouzouna Divisional currency of Morocco before 1921; 500 Mouzouna is 1 Rial. Under My Rashid (1664-1672) the Silver Mouzouna weighs 930.5 g to 1.17 ‰ and worth 48 fels (link to glossary def. Fels), the value was then reduced to 24 fels (link to glossary def. Fels).
Mumini Currency of Almohad (1147-1269) set up by 'Abd al-Mu'min ibn' Ali. For gold, this sovereign has created a reduced weight dinar (2.35 g). For the money, he has created a square dirham of 1.50g.
Ant nose (Chinese Yibi) popular name given to the bronze Cauri of the Chu kingdom (V-III century BC.). They are small oval plates of one or two centimeters with a bulging right and a flat reveres.
Nomisma Money in the Greek world.
Numismatist Person skilled in the study of coins and medals. Also, means professional Expert dealer in coins, medals and tokens.
Obol Currency unit and weight of ancient Greece. Currency worth half the denarius.
Octodrachm Eight drachmas. (link to glossary def. Drachma)
Once or Oukia Divisional unit of the pound, representing 1/12 of the Roman pound of 27.288g.
Paper money Piece of paper (sometimes nowadays with synthetic material), printed, representing a monetary value. Paper money, trustee by definition, precludes the metal currency which was the "real" currency for a long time.
Peseta The currency of Spain and Equatorial Guinea.
Foot high Coin of standard type hit on a double thickness blank.
Punic Relative to the Carthaginian. Carthage’s mint is abundant; when it was struck in Sicily, it bears the name of Siculo-Punic.
Disbarred Said of a girded portrait of a removed crown.
Rare Rare currency is a currency that appears infrequently compared to other types of the same period called "common currency".
Real Currency of Spain and Portugal. Plural "Reals".
Overhaul Transformation of demonetized coins of metal to achieve the issue of the new coin.
Reverse Side of the coin opposed to the head.
Rouelle Object similar to a small wheel manufactured by the Gauls; used as payment.
Rouelles Object similar to a small wheel manufactured by the Gauls; used as payment.
Gold route During the time of the Umayyad dynasty, the road of gold of Ghana linking Fes-Sijilmassa-Nakour (small port on the Rif coast) in the Sahara.
Semesis Byzantine gold coins (V-IX century) worth half the nomisma.
Semis (In Latin "half"), Roman bronze coins worth six ounces or half as.
Sequin In Italian, the word "sequin" is "zecchino" (from zecca, mint). The sequin is a gold coin first issued in Venice, worth about 12 francs. This name Sequin was also given to a Turkish gold coin. The sequin word is used in conjunction with the word "Ducat".
Sestertius It means "two and a half" which is the original value of the ace. The Sestertius is an ancient Roman coin. It was made of silver under the Roman Republic and of bronze under the Empire
Solidus Roman gold coins, founded by Constantine in 310, it is cut to 1/72 of a pound (4.51 g) and was mint throughout the IV and V centuries.
Solvency (ratio)
Specimen Synonym of copy for a currency. For a note, it’s a model bearing this mention, printed, punched or overloaded, for foreign Issuing Institutions or big national banks for information.
Stater Generic name for Greek coins. Name applied to gold and silver coins.
Overstrike Use of a coin already mint as blank to print new types. The traces of the previous mint remain visible.
Talent In the Greek world, unit of account worth 6000 drachmas. (link to glossary def. Drachma).
Interest rate
Key interest rate
Tetradrachm Four Drachmas. (link to glossary def. Drachma)
Title Fine precious metal proportion contained in an alloy.
Titulature A set of individual’s titles that may sometimes be mentioned on coins
Toghra Ornamental calligraphy of the signing of the Ottoman sultan with his signature.
Tranche The curved surface of a coin, which can be smooth, grooved or graved.
Tremissis Gold coins worth 1/3 of the solidus cut to 216 to the pound. The Romans mint the tremissis during the IV and V centuries.
Tridrachme Three drachmas.
Barter For new goods or new goods, there was barter, that is to say, exchange. You could exchange cattle, food, or services, against other goods or services.
Keychain In the hammered coinage, top mobile corner, opposite to the fixed or sleeping corner, the head.
Monetary Type Set of iconographic and epigraphic elements characterizing each side of a currency.
Uniface Denotes a coin, medal or a token which only one face bears an imprint.
Uqiya Moroccan unit weight corresponding to 4.689 g or 4 Mouzounas.
Face value Legal value of the coin, appearing on one side.
Legal value of a currency The legal value of a currency is the value determined by contemporary laws of the coin in the monetary system in force at the time of the issuance of the currency.
Ferrule Steel crown in which the blank is placed at the time of striking: it avoids the crushing of the blank and the escape of the metal; it further draws the etching of the edge of the coin (various inscriptions).
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