1.
Piedfort
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A piedfort is an unusually thick coin, often exactly twice the normal weight and thickness of other coins of the same diameter and pattern. Piedforts are not normally circulated, and are struck for presentation purposes by mint officials, or for collectors, dignitaries. Piedfort is commonly misspelled as piefort, piedfort coins were first recorded in France and Great Britain during the Middle Ages, with the first French piedforts appearing in the 12th century. The reason the coins were minted in piedfort form was probably to prevent them from being lost among normal circulating coins, theories for the original purpose of the earliest piedfort coins are, As patterns for administrative approval. As patterns to show engravers in different mints what an approved design should look like, as reckoning counters or jetons for mint officials, akin to a simple milestone or the beads on a more complex abacus. Later, the rarity of piedfort versions of a nations coinage led to them being used as prestigious diplomatic gifts to kings, nobility, dignitaries. Note that coin collecting has traditionally been called the hobby of kings, edicts of such rules date back to at least 1355 in France. The first British piedforts were silver pennies minted during the reign of Edward I, Britain stopped routinely minting piedforts in 1588, but France continued to mint them for at least another 150 years before also ceasing production. The routine production of piedforts began again in France in 1890, since then, Great Britains Royal Mint has become well known for creating many commemorative piedfort coins. China produced piedforts for collectors in 1988, piedfort is a compound of the French words pied, and fort. It literally means heavy foot, but the meaning is heavy weight. The modern form of piedfort appears in English by 1802 in a Sothebys auction catalog, the influential Krause and Mishler Standard Catalog of World Coins has used both piedfort and piefort interchangeably for at least the prior 3 decades, as of 2012. The piefort misspelling has crept back into the French language as piéfort
2.
Coin
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A coin is a small, flat, round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by a government, Coins are usually metal or alloy, or sometimes made of synthetic materials. Coins made of metal are stored in large quantities as bullion coins. Other coins are used as money in transactions, circulating alongside banknotes. Usually the highest value coin in circulation is less than the lowest-value note. In the last hundred years, the value of circulation coins has occasionally been lower than the value of the metal they contain. Exceptions to the rule of face value being higher than content value also occur for some bullion coins made of copper, silver, or gold, while the Eagle, Maple Leaf, and Sovereign coins have nominal face values, the Krugerrand does not. The first coins were developed independently in Iron Age Anatolia and Archaic Greece, India, Coins spread rapidly in the 6th and 5th centuries BCE, throughout Greece and Persia, and further to the Balkans. Standardized Roman currency was used throughout the Roman Empire, important Roman gold and silver coins were continued into the Middle Ages. Fiat money first arose in medieval China, with the paper money. Early paper money was introduced in Europe in the later Middle Ages, the penny was minted as a silver coin until the 17th century. The first circulating United States coins were cents, produced in 1793, Coins were an evolution of currency systems of the Late Bronze Age, where standard-sized ingots, and tokens such as knife money, were used to store and transfer value. In the late Chinese Bronze Age, standardized cast tokens were made and these were replicas in bronze of earlier Chinese currency, cowrie shells, so they were named Bronze Shell. According to Aristotle and Pollux, the first issuer of coins was Hermodike of Kyme The earliest coins are associated with Iron Age Anatolia. Early electrum coins were not standardized in weight, and in their earliest stage may have been ritual objects, such as badges or medals, issued by priests. The first Lydian coins were made of electrum, a naturally occurring alloy of silver, most of the early Lydian coins include no writing, only an image of a symbolic animal. Anatolian Artemis was the Πὀτνια Θηρῶν, whose symbol was the stag, a small percentage of early Lydian/Greek coins have a legend
3.
Proof coinage
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Nearly all countries have issued proof coinage. Preparation of a proof striking usually involved polishing of the dies and they can usually be distinguished from normal circulation coins by their sharper rims and design, as well as much smoother fields – the blank areas not part of the coins design. The dies for making modern proof coins are often treated with chemicals to certain parts of the design take on a frosted appearance. Several other methods have used in the past to achieve this effect, including sand blasting the dies. Proof coins of the early 19th century even appear to be scratched, the term proof refers to the process by which the coins are made and not to the condition of the coin. Certification agencies can grade and assign numerical ratings for proof coins, most proof coins are double struck under higher pressure. This does not normally result in doubling that is readily observable, after being struck, they are separately and individually handled, in contrast to normal coins which are thrown into bins. The U. S. had largely stopped striking proof coins in 1916, beginning in 1936, the U. S. Mint began producing proof coins again. Proof coins through 1942 could be ordered individually from the mint, because of this the lowest mintage for any denomination determines the total number of complete sets that can exist. Consequently, this number is used to indicate the mintages of proof sets for the years 1936 through 1942, sets struck from 1936 to 1942 and, when resumed, from 1950 to 72 include the cent, nickel, dime, quarter, and half dollar. From 1973 through 1981 the dollar was included, and also from 2000 on. From 1950 to 1955, proof sets were packaged in a box,1955 saw both the original box packaging and introduced the flat-pack, where the coins were sealed in cellophane and presented in an envelope. The flat-pack packaging continued through 1964, after which the coins were sealed in various styles of hard plasticized cases, the 1999–2008 proof sets also contain five different Statehood quarters. The 2004–2005 series also contain the two Lewis and Clark nickels, the 2007-2017 proof sets also include Presidential dollars. The 2010-2021 proof sets also contain America the Beautiful quarters, depicting different National Parks, Proof sets containing only 2009 cents, Statehood quarters, America the Beautiful quarters, and Presidential dollars are also available. From 1971 to 1974, proof silver-clad Eisenhower dollars were issued in a plastic case contained in a brown wood-grain finish slipcase box, anthony dollars were struck in 1999. S. Mint to advise the public that these sets were not government-issued sets, a proof Coin & Chronicles set was issued for 2009, which included one each of the 4 different Lincoln Cent designs and a commemorative Lincoln Silver Dollar, presented in special packaging. Other sets, called Prestige Proof sets, also contain selected commemorative coins and these sets were sold from 1983 to 1997 at an additional premium
4.
Numismatics
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Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. Early money used by people is referred to as Odd and Curious, the Kyrgyz people used horses as the principal currency unit and gave small change in lambskins, the lambskins may be suitable for numismatic study, but the horse is not. Many objects have been used for centuries, such as shells, precious metals, cocoa beans, large stones. Today, most transactions take place by a form of payment with either inherent, standardized, Numismatic value may be used to refer to the value in excess of the monetary value conferred by law, which is known as the collector value. Economic and historical studies of use and development are an integral part of the numismatists study of moneys physical embodiment. First attested in English 1829, the word comes from the adjective numismatic. It was borrowed in 1792 from French numismatiques, itself a derivation from Late Latin numismatis, genitive of numisma, throughout its history, money itself has been made to be a scarce good, although it does not have to be. Many materials have been used to form money, from naturally scarce precious metals and cowry shells through cigarettes to entirely artificial money, called fiat money, many complementary currencies use time as a unit of measure, using mutual credit accounting that keeps the balance of money intact. Modern money is essentially a token – an abstraction, paper currency is perhaps the most common type of physical money today. However, goods such as gold or silver retain many of the properties of money, such as volatility. However, these goods are not controlled by one single authority, coin collecting may have existed in ancient times. Caesar Augustus gave coins of every device, including old pieces of the kings, petrarch, who wrote in a letter that he was often approached by vinediggers with old coins asking him to buy or to identify the ruler, is credited as the first Renaissance collector. Petrarch presented a collection of Roman coins to Emperor Charles IV in 1355, the first book on coins was De Asse et Partibus by Guillaume Budé. During the early Renaissance ancient coins were collected by European royalty and nobility, Numismatics is called the Hobby of Kings, due to its most esteemed founders. Professional societies organized in the 19th century, the Royal Numismatic Society was founded in 1836 and immediately began publishing the journal that became the Numismatic Chronicle. The American Numismatic Society was founded in 1858 and began publishing the American Journal of Numismatics in 1866, in 1931 the British Academy launched the Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum publishing collections of Ancient Greek coinage. The first volume of Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles was published in 1958, after World War II in Germany a project, Fundmünzen der Antike was launched, to register every coin found within Germany. This idea found successors in many countries, in the United States, the US mint established a coin Cabinet in 1838 when chief coiner Adam Eckfeldt donated his personal collection
5.
Coins of the pound sterling
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The standard circulating coinage of the United Kingdom is denominated in pounds sterling, and, since the introduction of the two-pound coin in 1994, ranges in value from one penny to two pounds. Since decimalisation, on 15 February 1971, the pound has been divided into 100 pence, from the 16th century until decimalisation, the pound was divided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence. British coins are minted by the Royal Mint in Llantrisant, Wales, the Royal Mint also commissions the coins designs. As of 30 March 2010, there were an estimated 28 billion coins circulating in the United Kingdom, the first decimal coins were circulated in 1968. These were the five pence and ten pence, and had values of one shilling, the decimal coins are minted in copper-plated steel, nickel-plated steel, cupro-nickel and nickel-brass. The two-pound coins, and, as of the 28th March 2017, all the circulating coins have an effigy of Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse, and various national and regional designs, and the denomination, on the reverse. The exception, the 2008 one-pound coin, depicts the shield of arms on the reverse. All current coins carry a Latin inscription whose full form is ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA FIDEI DEFENSATRIX, meaning Elizabeth II, by the grace of God, Queen, in addition to the circulating coinage, the UK also mints commemorative decimal coins in the denomination of five pounds. Prior to decimalisation, the denomination was five shillings, that is. Crowns, therefore, had a value of 25p from decimalisation until 1981. Ceremonial Maundy money and bullion coinage of gold sovereigns, half sovereigns, some territories outside the United Kingdom, that use the pound sterling, produce their own coinage, with the same denominations and specifications as the UK coinage but local designs. In the years just prior to decimalisation, the circulating British coins were the half crown, the farthing had been withdrawn in 1960. There was also the Crown, which was legal tender but only minted on special occasions, all modern coins feature a profile of the current monarchs head. The direction in which they face changes with each successive monarch, for the Tudors and pre-Restoration Stuarts, both left and right-facing portrait images were minted within the reign of a single monarch. In the Middle Ages, portrait images tended to be full face, the English silver penny was derived from another silver coin, the sceat, of 20 troy grains weight, which was in general circulation in Europe during the Middle Ages. In the 12th century, Henry II established the silver standard for English coinage, of 92. 5% silver and 7. 5% copper. The coinage reform of 1816 set up a ratio and physical sizes for silver coins. Silver was eliminated from coins, except Maundy coins, in 1947, the history of the Royal Mint stretches back to AD886
6.
Groat (coin)
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The immediate ancestor to the groat was the French gros tournois or groat of Tours, which was known as the groot in the Netherlands. The name groat also refers to a range of other European coins such as those of the Italian peninsula known as a grosso including the grosso of Venice, marco Polo referred to the groat in recounts of his travels to East Asia when describing the currencies of the Yuan Empire. His descriptions were based on the conversion of 1 bezant =20 groats = 133⅓ tornesel and it was after the French silver coin had circulated in England that an English groat was first minted under King Edward I. Scots groats were not issued until the reign of David II, scots groats were originally also worth fourpence, but later issues were valued at eightpence and a shilling. Irish groats were minted first in 1425 and the last ones were minted under the reign of Elizabeth I of England, there were also two more issues, both emergency coinage. The weight was reduced to 72 grains under Edward III,60 grains under Henry IV, from 1544 to 1560 the silver fineness was less than sterling, and after the 1561 issue they were not generally issued for circulation again for about a hundred years. From the reigns of Charles II to George III, groats were issued on a basis for general circulation, the only years of mintage after 1786 being in 1792,1795. After this the only circulating issues were from 1836 to 1855, with proofs known from 1857 and 1862 and these last coins had the weight further reduced to about 27 grains and were the same diameter as the silver threepenny pieces of the day although thicker. Some groats continued to circulate in Scotland until the 20th century, at times in the past, silver twopenny coins have been called half-groats. The groat ceased to be minted in the United Kingdom in 1856, but in 1888 a special request was made for a variety to be minted for use in British Guiana. The groat remained in circulation in British Guiana right up until that territory adopted the system in 1955. In the 1600s and 1700s, chaplains were employed in English Navy ships of war by the Captain, the Navys wages did not rise between 1653 and 1797, during which time the Ordinary Seaman was paid 19 shillings, as was the chaplain. The word groat has entered into a number of English and Scottish expressions, in the north of England, there is the saying Blood without groats is nothing meaning family without fortune is worthless. The allusion is to black pudding, which consists chiefly of blood and oats formed into a sausage, not worth a groat is an old saying meaning not worth a penny, i. e. worthless. Benjamin Franklin, in his book, Necessary Hints gives the following thrifty advice, He that spends a groat a day idly, beatrix Potters The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin features the following riddle, Riddle me, riddle me, rot-tot-tote. A little wee man in a red red coat, a staff in his hand, and a stone in his throat, If youll tell me this riddle, Ill give you a groat. This refers to the Victorian fourpenny piece, the mention of cab fares is related to the fact that the standard minimum was fourpence, so many passengers paid with a sixpenny piece, allowing the cabbie to keep the twopence change as a tip. The slang name Joey was transferred to the silver/cupronickel threepenny pieces in use in the first third of the twentieth century, in A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Sara Crewe picks up a fourpenny piece from the street and uses it to buy buns
7.
Elizabeth I of England
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Elizabeth I was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, his second wife, who was executed two and a half years after Elizabeths birth. Annes marriage to Henry VIII was annulled, and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate, edwards will was set aside and Mary became queen, deposing Lady Jane Grey. During Marys reign, Elizabeth was imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels, in 1558, Elizabeth succeeded her half-sister to the throne and set out to rule by good counsel. She depended heavily on a group of trusted advisers, led by William Cecil, one of her first actions as queen was the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the Supreme Governor. This Elizabethan Religious Settlement was to evolve into the Church of England and it was expected that Elizabeth would marry and produce an heir to continue the Tudor line. She never did, despite numerous courtships, as she grew older, Elizabeth became famous for her virginity. A cult grew around her which was celebrated in the portraits, pageants, in government, Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and half-siblings had been. One of her mottoes was video et taceo, in religion, she was relatively tolerant and avoided systematic persecution. Elizabeth was cautious in foreign affairs, manoeuvring between the powers of France and Spain. She only half-heartedly supported a number of ineffective, poorly resourced military campaigns in the Netherlands, France, by the mid-1580s, England could no longer avoid war with Spain. Englands defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 associated Elizabeth with one of the greatest military victories in English history, Elizabeths reign is known as the Elizabethan era. Some historians depict Elizabeth as a short-tempered, sometimes indecisive ruler, towards the end of her reign, a series of economic and military problems weakened her popularity. Such was the case with Elizabeths rival, Mary, Queen of Scots, after the short reigns of Elizabeths half-siblings, her 44 years on the throne provided welcome stability for the kingdom and helped forge a sense of national identity. Elizabeth was born at Greenwich Palace and was named after both her grandmothers, Elizabeth of York and Elizabeth Howard and she was the second child of Henry VIII of England born in wedlock to survive infancy. Her mother was Henrys second wife, Anne Boleyn, at birth, Elizabeth was the heir presumptive to the throne of England. She was baptised on 10 September, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, the Marquess of Exeter, the Duchess of Norfolk, Elizabeth was two years and eight months old when her mother was beheaded on 19 May 1536, four months after Catherine of Aragons death from natural causes. Elizabeth was declared illegitimate and deprived of her place in the royal succession, eleven days after Anne Boleyns execution, Henry married Jane Seymour, who died shortly after the birth of their son, Prince Edward, in 1537
8.
Soho Mint
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Soho Mint was created by Matthew Boulton in 1788 in his Soho Manufactory in Handsworth, West Midlands, England. A mint was erected at the manufactory containing eight machines, to his own patent design, driven by steam engine, in addition to copper domestic coins, silver coins were made for some of the colonies, and various medals and trade tokens were struck. After the demise of the Soho Mint some of the machinery was bought at auction, in 1850, the common coinage, copper halfpennies, was subject to severe counterfeiting. No copper coinage had been issued by the Royal Mint since 1754 apart from inadequate issues of halfpence, the diameter was made strictly defined by striking within a collar so that diameter, thickness and weight could be used to prove the quality of the metal. In 1797 the first, and only, copper twopenny and the first penny coins were produced under contract although the smaller denominations did not follow until later. These coins were large, having a broad raised rim with the inscription pressed below the surface. Over 45 million were minted in two years, sohomint. info A website celebrating Matthew Boulton, his mint and its products
9.
Die (manufacturing)
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A die is a specialized tool used in manufacturing industries to cut or shape material mostly using a press. Like molds, dies are generally customized to the item they are used to create, products made with dies range from simple paper clips to complex pieces used in advanced technology. Forming dies are made by tool and die makers and put into production after mounting into a press. The die is a block that is used for forming materials like sheet metal. For the vacuum forming of sheet only a single form is used. Vacuum forming is considered a simple molding thermoforming process but uses the principles as die forming. The workpiece may pass through several stages using different tools or operations to obtain the final form, the main components for die tool sets are, Die block – This is the main part that all the other parts are attached to. Punch plate – This part holds and supports the different punches in place, blank punch – This part along with the blank die produces the blanked part. Pierce punch – This part along with the pierce die removes parts from the finished part. Stripper plate – This is used to hold the material down on the blank/pierce die, pilot – This will help to place the sheet accurately for the next stage of operation. Guide, back gauge, or finger stop – These parts are all used to make sure that the material being worked on always goes in the position, within the die. Setting block – This part is used to control the depth that the punch goes into the die, Blanking dies – See blanking punch Pierce die – See pierce punch. Shank – used to hold in the presses and it should be aligned and situated at the center of gravity of the plate. Processes, Blanking, A blanking die produces a piece of material by cutting the desired shape in one operation. The finished part is referred to as a blank, generally a blanking die may only cut the outside contour of a part, often used for parts with no internal features. Three benefits to die blanking are, Accuracy, a properly sharpened die, with the correct amount of clearance between the punch and die, will produce a part that holds close dimensional tolerances in relationship to the parts edges. Since the part is blanked in one operation, the edges of the part produces a uniform appearance as opposed to varying degrees of burnishing from multiple operations. Due to the compression of the blanking process, the end result is a flat part that may retain a specific level of flatness for additional manufacturing operations
10.
Coins of the United States dollar
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Coins of the United States dollar were first minted in 1792. New coins have been produced annually since then and they make up an aspect of the United States currency system. Today, circulating coins exist in denominations of 1¢, 5¢, 10¢, 25¢, 50¢, also minted are bullion and commemorative coins. All of these are produced by the United States Mint, the coins are then sold to Federal Reserve Banks which in turn are responsible for putting coins into circulation and withdrawing them as demanded by the countrys economy. Today four mints operate in the United States producing billions of coins each year, the main mint is the Philadelphia Mint, which produces circulating coinage, mint sets and some commemorative coins. The Denver Mint also produces circulating coinage, mint sets and commemoratives, the San Francisco Mint produces regular and silver proof coinage, and produced circulating coinage until the 1970s. The West Point Mint produces bullion coinage, Philadelphia and Denver produce the dies used at all of the mints. The proof and mint sets are manufactured each year and contain examples of all of the circulating coins. The producing mint of each coin may be identified, as most coins bear a mint mark. The identifying letter of the mint can be found on the front side of most coins, unmarked coins are issued by the Philadelphia mint. The mass and composition of the cent changed to the current copper plated zinc core in 1982, both types were minted in 1982 with no distinguishing mark. Cents minted in 1943 were struck on planchets punched from zinc coated steel which left the resulting edges uncoated and this caused many of these coins to rust. These steel pennies are not likely to be found in circulation today, the wheat cent was mainstream and common during its time. Some dates are rare, but many can still be found in circulation, nickels produced from mid-1942 through 1945 were manufactured from 56% copper, 35% silver and 9% manganese. This allowed the saved nickel metal to be shifted to production of military supplies during World War II. Few of these are found in circulation. Prior to 1965 and passage of the Coinage Act of 1965 the composition of the dime, quarter, half-dollar and dollar coins was 90% silver, the half-dollar continued to be minted in a 40% silver-clad composition between 1965 and 1970. Dimes and quarters from before 1965 and half-dollars from before 1971 are generally not in circulation due to being removed for their silver content, in 1975 and 1976 bicentennial coinage was minted
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