The precisely specified miscing of several metals during the melting process. The metallic properties of a coin – for instance the degree of wear – depend mainly on the alloy.

Light metal with chemical symbol Al. Also coin metal since the end of the First World War.

All Greek and Roman coins up to ca. 476 AD. Celtic and Persian coins are also counted as such.

Barter, or exchange of goods was customary before coinage was introduced, especially in times of emergency, such as was the case in Austria after the Second World War.

Swiss, also South German, coin introduced in the fifteenth century – “batz” comes from “Bätz” or “Petz” – bruin: the bear of Bern was depicted on the first coins. Student song: “Ein Heller und ein Batzen, die waren beide mein …” (A heller [= penny] and a batz, they were once both mine …)

The round disk of metal before it is struck as a coin.

Original mintage quality achieved by the first strike with a new die. (The shine on the fresh die also gives rise to the brilliant shine of the coins = fleur de coin).

Coin metal since ancient times. Usual alloyage: 97% copper – 3% tin and zinc.

Celtic coins first appeared from the second century BC onwards as imitations of Greek coins. They were either struck or cast.

From Latin centum = hundred; smallest European and American coin = a hundredth of a euro or dollar. Monetary units deriving from centum in other countries (until 2001): centavo (Portugal), centime (France), centimo (Spain).

ll coins “in daily use” as legal tender at the legally specified value. The material value is now always lower than the face value of the coin. The German expression Scheidemünze is supposed to derive from the fact that, thanks to the coin, buyer and seller are able to “part” (scheiden) from each other without any residual debt. In Austrian currency, these are euros and cents.

Usually in connection with coin exhibitions. At a coin exchange, coins are sold and exchanged. Most Mints are regularly represented at the major European and North American coin exchanges.

The value of a collector´s coin depends above all on the numbers still available (rarity), and, furthermore, the condition, if old coins are concerned (value specifications in catalogues are guidelines for sales prices). The value of bullion coins, such as the Vienna Philharmonic gold coin, is determined on the daily price of gold or precious metal. The value of a circulating coin corresponds to the denomination, i.e. the face value struck upon the coin.

Laws which regulate the entire coinage system – ranging from coin sorts (with denominational or face value) to the exchange of worn-out coins.

The Reichsmünzordnung (= Imperial Monetary Decree) of 1524 specified a standard coin weight for the Cologne mark. At the time, 8 thalers made one standard Cologne mark, with a silver content of 233.856 g.

Special strikes, issued for a certain occasion or as a series. Not intended for use as payment.

The fineness of the Convention thaler was specified by the Austro-German Monetary Convention of January 1857. Thirty Convention thalers were struck from 500 g refined silver; these counted as 30 thalers in North Germany and as 45 guilders in Austria.

Not a tangible coin, but a calculation unit. It was used as a monetary substitute in earlier times when there were not enough large coins in circulation. Counting was often done in foreign or obsolete currency.

Also called backing. The basis of a currency. Money – this includes paper money – ought to be “backed” by a sufficient amount of precious metal and/or foreign exchange.

Greek Kroisos (ca. 560-546 BC), last king of Lydia. Acquired immense wealth from the tribute of subject peoples and mineral resources. Therefore we use the name Croesus today for someone who is rich and likes to show it.

English silver coin.

The legally specified monetary system of a country. The German word is “Währung”, etymologically linked to “Gewähr”, guarantee. The term therefore originally alludes as well to the guarantee of fineness, fine weight and value of a coin.

On the one hand, in antiquity coins were halved when hard cash ran short; on the other hand, discredited coins were made invalid by cutting them in halves.

Roman silver coin, post-210 BC. Origin of the dinar, Arabian gold coin of the Middle Ages, and the Yugoslavian coin of today.

The face value of a coin, for example € 1.- or € 2.-. Bullion and collectors´ coins can have an actual value far exceeding the denomination, such as the Vienna Philharmonic gold coin, with the face value of € 100.- (1 ounce of gold).

Coin rim which is higher than the coin relief, protecting the relief from wear when the coins are handled, e.g. when they are stacked.

10-cent piece in the US currency.

US currency, a name derivation from thaler.

Since 1284 gold coin in Venice, remained unchanged until 1794. The word derives from the Venetian doge, originally from Latin dux (leader). Later, other countries minted ducats as well. Ducats were first struck in Austria in the early sixteenth century. Restrikes of original ducats and the four-ducat with the portrait of Emperor Francis Joseph I are still obtainable today as “trade gold coins” and thus as an investment and ornament in every collection.

10-dollar gold coin depicting the American eagle.

State or private token money issued in times of emergency, both as coins made of metal or porcelain and in the form of notes made of paper, cardboard, leather, linen, and silk. German emergency coins had a face value of up to a billion marks during the period of inflation (also known as “siege” or “obsidional” money.

The official issuing (e.g. through the Austrian Mint) of coins (also of bank notes and securities).

The exchange value is the value of a currency (and other assets, such as foreign money or shares). The exchange value is specified by quoted prices and demand.

The pure weight of precious metal in a coin. The fine weight of the four-ducat, for instance, is 13.7696436 g, while the total weight is 13.9635840 g. The difference is constituted by the weight of the copper part.

Gold coin from Florence, first struck in 1252; gave its name to the English florin and the Hungarian forint. Model for the guilder, thus the reason for the abbreviation Fl. found on the original strikes of the Austrian guilder (gulden).

Forgers had their heyday when coinage was the only available currency. But attempts are still made to “palm off” forged or counterfeit coins on collectors. Be wary of back-street “unique opportunities” offered in some countries.

Swiss franc since 1850.

(Polierte Platte in German) Special quality: the coins are struck using polished blanks and polished dies. Special commemorative coins of the Austrian Mint are mainly produced using this special method. Silver commemorative coins are issued in part as proof quality.

Gold, Latin aurum, was already legal tender before the first coins. The oldest gold coins derive from the seventh century BC.

Besides the age and rarity of coins and the production method, the condition of a coin is also of prime importance for its value. Occasional deep scratches, for instance, diminish a coin´s value more than many superficial ones.

Greek coins go back to approx. 650 BC. Motifs: at first animals, later also gods. Collecting demands great expertise. Not for beginners.

From the French word gros, i.e. large or thick – in contrast to the thin denarii. Medieval coin, the Prague groschen, the German groschen with a value of 12 pfennigs. The Austrian groschen was still in circulation until the end of 2001. In Germany, the 10-pfennig piece was also known colloquially as groschen.

German gold coin introduced in the fourteenth century, silver guilder since 1559. A thaler was worth two guilders in South Germany and Austria in the eighteenth century. Austrian guilders, struck since the Vienna Coinage Contract of 1857, were Austrian currency until the introduction of the “Krone” (crown) in 1892. There is also the Netherlands guilder, which has existed since 1601. The Danzig guilder (100 pfennigs) was the coinage of the Free State of Danzig between 1923 and 1935.

Manual coin striking method before machine-aided techniques. The lower die was located in a wooden block, the blank on top of it. The upper die was placed above it. The coin was struck through repeated blows of the hammer.

Coins as opposed to paper money.

Originally haller or häller; first struck as pfennigs from Schwäbisch Hall around 1200, with a split cross on one side and a hand on the other. They remained legal tender for centuries until 1923: 100 hellers make one crown.

A coin is called a hybrid or mule coin if the two dies used for striking its front and reverse side belong to different coins.

Metal bar, e.g. gold ingot. In the distant past, with the value stamped on it, the first metal money.

Precious metal coins of very high fineness, bought for investment purposes. See also bullion coin.

Derived from the French word jeter, i.e. to throw. Also called counter or token. Counters are similar to medals, without monetary value. The Austrian Mint, for example, issues good-luck tokens at New Year.

A type of commercial money used as means of barter before coins came into use. A major role in jewellery money was played by the rarity and connoisseur value. Ring money is a kind of jewel money.

Struck in Joachimsthal in Bohemia since 1518. Origin of the word thaler.

First struck in the thirteenth century in Tyrol. Later, the kreutzer became a generally circulated monetary unit. The name comes from the large double cross which was depicted on the first coins.

Many countries had or still have the crown as their standard monetary unit, including the CSFR and Scandinavian countries. The name comes from the French coin ecu à la couronne of 1340. The Austrian “Krone” was the national monetary unit from 1892 to 1924. Today, the Austrian Mint issues restrikes of the original gold crowns.

The legend is the inscription encircling the rim.

From Libra, the ancient Roman pound, Lira is a Silver coin, first struck in Venice in 1472. It was adopted later by other Italian states. The lira was the standard monetary unit of Italy from 1861 to the end of 2001.

The oldest known coins apart from the Chinese. They include those of the Lydian king Ardys (652-617 BC) and Croesus (560-546 BC). The first Lydian coins were made of electron metal, a natural gold-silver alloy.

There are three principal kinds of minting errors:
1. Coins caught in the press and were double-struck.
2. Mis-strikes, where the die did not hit the blank in the centre (off-centre striking), so that part of the coin is not struck.
3. Planchet defects – the die is either too big or too small for the planchet or blank.

Mint errors: three types are distinguished:
1. The coin was not properly placed over the lower die and, thus, struck off-centre, so that part of the die did not strike the coin. This was quite a common error in hammer striking.
2. Brockage: for some reason or other, a coin that has already been struck gets stuck in the die, so that a negative, incused image of the one side will be impressed on the other side owing to a penetration of the die or the coin being turned unintentionally.
3. Displacement of the coin during a multiple strike: two or more contours blur the coin image.

The colloquial name for the golden 20-franc piece, which was struck between 1803 and 1870.

Etschkreuzer (kreutzer). Still used colloquially as a pejorative expression in Austria today (“Was willst du mit den paar Netsch anfangen?” – How far do you think you´ll get with those few coppers?) Circulated above all in the region of Austria, Switzerland and South Germany.

Obtained as an autonomous metal since 1825. Used as coin metal mainly in the form of copper nickel (2.5% Ni). Nickel is also the colloquial name for the US 5-cent piece, which is made of copper nickel.

Also known as German silver. Alloy of copper, nickel and zinc. Used for a time as material for circulation coinage in Switzerland (1850) and in Austria (1915).

From the Greek nomisma, i.e. coin. The science of coins and money as well as their history.

From obelos, which means roasting skewer. Ancient Greek coin worth one sixth of a drachma. Ovulus, the term for the medieval Scherf (half a pfennig, or mite) is derived from this. Today people still say: “Jemand soll seinen Obolus leisten” (i.e. to pay one’s mite).

The face or front side of coins and medals.

From the Latin uncia = one twelfth of the whole. The uncia was a twelfth of a Roman pound. The ounce was originally a medieval coin weight: eight ounces = one mark. The English troy weight ounce, current since 1526, equals 31.103 g. This ounce is still the standard weight unit for precious metal commodities, such as for the Vienna Philharmonic coin of pure gold.

The exchange rate from one national currency to another.

Today’s term for the monetary system, common until into the nineteenth century, of paying both in gold as well as silver currency. There is no fixed value ratio between the two metals. Prices and contracts were specified according to payment in gold or silver.

Also called natural toning. Patina is the change metal undergoes under the chemical influences of air, water and earth (especially in mintage containing copper). The patina of coins and medals is not only aesthetically pleasing, but also usually a sign of age and value.

Latin for money, derived from pecus, i.e. livestock; thus referred originally to animal bartering, later-on applied to all types of money. We speak of someone´s pecuniary situation when we mean a person’s assets. It was Emperor Vespasian (9-79 AD) who coined the expression “pecunia non olet” (money doesn’t stink). This was reportedly the emperor’s answer to his son Titus who criticised the emperor’s tax on public latrines. The phrase purports to express that the appearance of money doesn’t show if it was unscrupulously acquired.

Old Hungarian monetary unit – last in circulation from 1941 to 1944. 1 pengö = 100 fillers.

The English equivalent to the pfennig, minted for the first time in the eighth century after the Carolingian model. A pound was originally worth 240 pence. Since decimalisation in 1971, there are 100 pence to a pound.

Spanish “little peso”. The peseta was struck from 1772 onwards in Mexico as a quarter peso. It was the monetary unit in Spain from 1868 until the end of 2001: 100 centimos = 1 peseta.

Spanish “weight”. Actually peso de à ocho, the Spanish thaler worth 8 reals, introduced by Charles V modelled on the Joachimsthaler. The peso was struck in great quantities out of Mexican silver from 1536 and became the standard monetary unit of Central and South America. Today, it is still the monetary unit in the countries of Chile, the Dominican Republic, Guinea Bissau, Columbia, Cuba, Mexico, Uruguay, and the Philippines.

Old High German pending. Old name for the denarius. Until the groschen was introduced (1266), the pfennig was worth one twelfth of a groschen. 100 pfennigs equalled one German mark.

Originally the name of the Spanish peso, today still legal tender in various countries, including Egypt, Yemen and Lebanon.

From the French plaquette. In contrast to round medals, struck for decorative or commemorative purposes as a square or polygon.

Platinum coins existed instead of gold coins as legal tender exclusively in Russia during the nineteenth century. The reason: large platinum deposits in the Urals.

From Latin pondus = weight. The Roman pound of 327.45 g was also the standard coin weight unit in the Early Middle Ages. Charlemagne raised the weight of the pound, but the extent is not known. The pound is not only the main currency of Great Britain, but also of other countries such as Cyprus, Syria and Sudan. Also in Ireland until the end of 2001.

he early stages of coinage, such as livestock, tobacco or tea, as reimbursement for goods or services (natural money – payment in kind).

Small positive steel stamp used to strike negative images into a die, for instance ciphers, crowns or escutcheons.

Pfennig coins of a dark colour, thus the name (coming either from the Old High German word for dark [rapp] or black horse [Rappe]). The name could also derive from the Freiburg Eagle´s Head pfennig, the eagle seen as a raven. Various coins of this name existed in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Today in Switzerland, 100 rappen make one franc.

From the Latin realis moneta, the Royal Penny; since the fourteenth century a Spanish and Portuguese coin, struck in Spain until 1864. In Portugal, the plural form of real, i.e. reas, became the reis, which was the monetary unit until 1910. The real also existed in numerous Latin American countries until into the nineteenth century.

Declaration of a coin’s invalidity. In the past, often used as an excuse to issue new coins of lower value (debased coinage) – to the advantage of the Master of the Mint.

The notching or decoration of the coin edge. Reeding was introduced in the late 17th century, and was originally intended to prevent coins from being cut or clipped. The edges of the Maria Theresa Thaler, restruck in its original form by the Austrian Mint, is protected by raised lettering.

(RM) Monetary unit in the German Reich from 1924 onwards, after the stop-gap solution of the rentenmark. Devaluation began in 1936 because of the high cost of re-armament. After the currency reform of 1948, the reichsmark was replaced by the German mark (Deutsche Mark – DM).

German monetary unit, introduced instead of inflation money from November 1923 at a ratio of 1:1 billion. Coverage comprised the entire forestry stocks of Germany.

Coin restrikes are coins struck in later times using the original die of coins that are no longer in circulation. The Austrian Mint restrikes originals of guilders, ducats and crowns, Maria Theresa thalers, and historic medals. All coin restrikes must be regulated by law.

The rear side of coins and medals.

Pre-coinage jewellery money, already in use before metal. Rings and necklaces for barter – also after the introduction of metal.

A rocker-arm press is a special form of a roller press. It involved semi circular dies (“pockets”), which protruded from their fixtures like mushrooms. The surfaces to be struck were located opposite each other – above and below. The blank was placed between the two surfaces of the dies and strong pressure exerted, transferring the coin images to the blank, thus making the coin.

A process first introduced in Hall/Tyrol in the mid-sixteenth century. Used in Austria until the mid-eighteenth century. Roller press striking involved two rollers rotating against each other which had up to 6 larger or 19 smaller “coin dies” for front or reverse side. The coins were cut out of the metal strips only after the rolling process.

Standard Russian monetary unit. Term used since the fourteenth century in Novgorod for silver ingots of around 196 g. The rest of Eastern Russia had the light rouble of around 94 g. The rouble was struck as a coin for the first time in 1654, and was subdivided into 64 kopeks. Peter the Great (1672-1725) introduced the decimal system: 100 kopeks to the rouble. German speakers know the proverb “Der Rubel rollt” – the rouble rolls – money is spent generously in the manner of the Russian princes, to whom money was no object if it was a question of their pleasure.

Standard Indian monetary unit. Originally silver coins with a total weight of 11.53 g worth 40 dams. The British East India Company adopted the currency name, a rupee then being worth sixteen annas. Many rupees found their way through trade to East Africa and also became the standard monetary unit there in the nineteenth century. In German East Africa, there were even rupees as of 1890 bearing the image of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Decimal currency was adopted in India in 1957: 1 rupee = 100 paisas. The rupee is still the monetary unit in several other countries, including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and the Seychelles.

Half a pfennig, above all in the time of the Hohenstaufens. Martin Luther coined the expression Scherflein (= little mite) for coins of the lowest value. Today, the idiom sein Scherflein beitragen is still used in German (i.e. “to pay one’s mite”).

Old High German scilling – probably after scilt – schild, shield – thus a shield-like coin; counter coin in the Carolingian monetary system since the eighth century. The shilling was struck for the first time as a piece of money in France in 1266. It was at first a twelve-pfennig piece in South, South-West and North Germany, Austria and Switzerland. From the fourteenth century onwards, shillings were worth 6, 8 and 10 pfennigs. Finally, the “long schilling” of Bavaria, worth 30 pfennigs, was added to the list. The last German schillings were issued for Mecklenburg in 1866. The first English shillings were struck in silver during the reign of Henry VII (1485-1509). The shilling mintage came to an end with the introduction of the decimal system in 1971.

The Austrian schilling superseded the crown as monetary unit in 1924 and, after the period of the reichsmark during the war years, was the respected Austrian currency until the end of 2001. The one-schilling piece is a beautiful, simple coin. The term “hard schilling” was an indication of the stability of the Austrian currency.

A coining machine invented around the mid-sixteenth century, which since 1650 had superseded earlier coining methods such as hammer striking and rocker-arm or roller presses, but which only became generally used after 1700. A large screw made the upper die hit the blank and the lower die with a spring impact.

From Latin semistertius, i.e. worth two and a half asses. Roman coin as of 211 BC, struck in small quantities as a silver coin, in imperial times made of brass (1 sestertius = 4 asses).

Standard monetary unit of Israel – 1 New Shekel (NIS) = 100 agorot.

Latin argentum; used as coin metal only after electron metal, because it was more difficult to obtain. Between the tenth and the twelfth century, most of the silver in Europe came from the Harz mountains. The Schwaz silver mine in Tyrol boomed from the fifteenth century onwards. From the mid-sixteenth century, most silver came from America.

Commemorative coins of silver dedicated to specific occasions. They can be issued both as single coins and as a series, for instance the 500 schillings series Österreich und sein Volk (Austria and its people), or the 25, 50, 100 and 500 schillings silver commemorative coins of the Republic of Austria.

The monetary system in which silver money is legal tender, whereby gold coins are used only as trade currency without a legal basis. A purely silver monetary system existed in Europe from the time of Charlemagne until the fourteenth century. In Austria, silver currency (guilders) was only valid until the introduction of the crown monetary system in 1892.

English half-shilling, first struck in the reign of Edward VI in 1551. After introduction of the decimal system in England, the sixpence was abolished.

Previously sol from solidus. French copper coin. The word remained in use until the 20th century as the name of the 5-centime piece.

Introduced by Henry VII of England in 1489, the gold piece corresponded to a pound of silver money or 20 shillings. It is still struck nowadays when needed.

Barter money before coins came into use. Derived from using spades and hoes as means of barter, a miniaturised spade was used as a symbol in China, becoming an object of barter similar to money (= character money).

Coins which as a rule are issued for “special occasions”, or are associated with certain topics, such as the “Millennium Series”. Are only struck in the highest proof quality and always in strictly limited issues.

Special Uncirculated (SU) is a term used in Austria for coins which are manually taken from the machine and therefore have a slightly higher quality as coins in the quality Uncirculated (Unc.).

Name of the penny introduced by Henry II in 1180. We know the term in its association with the English pound: pound sterling. The alloy is sterling silver with a standard fineness of 925/1000. The Austrian 500-schilling silver pieces have this fineness.

he preliminary material for coins: the cast metal billet is cut into strips. The strips are rolled to the thickness of a coin, from which the planchets (the blanks to be struck into coins) are punched out.

From the Greek talanton = scales; Greek and Roman weight unit for a certain sum of money. We have shifted the word’s association of material, monetary value to one expressing admirable human characteristics: talents are a person’s inherent abilities, as given by God.

From the Greek telesma; a talisman was a medal-like piece of metal in the Middle Ages, which was seen as possessing supernatural powers – a charm for protection, for example. The term was extended to include everything bringing good luck or protection, like a mascot in a car. It is advisable not to rely too heavily on this, however.

When Sigismund of Tyrol commissioned the mintage of the first silver guilder groschens instead of golden guilders in 1486, it more or less heralded the birth of the thaler. The term thaler came into use from 1525. The name derives from the Joachimsthaler coin minted in Joachimsthal, Bohemia. Firstly, a shortage of gold made it necessary to find a substitute for guilders and ducats, and secondly, the discovery of major resources of silver encouraged the striking of silver coins. The reichsthaler originally corresponded in value to the Rhenish golden guilder. After the Austro-Bavarian Monetary Convention of 1753, two guilders made a thaler in Austria. The most famous thaler is the Maria Theresa thaler from 1780, which the Austrian Mint still restrikes in its original form. Thaler was and still is used as the monetary unit of many countries; it is also recognisable in the word “dollar” (through the Dutch “daler”).

Tin is a relatively soft material and has therefore rarely been used as minting metal; its pre-eminent use is as an alloying material – for example in the production of bronze coins. Tin is also used for pattern impressions before striking the coins.

Trussed tobacco played the role of money in the region of the pacific islands until the 20th century. In America, especially Maryland, tobacco money was even legal tender.

The scope still accepted for deviations from precise weights, measurements or other norms. Weight tolerance naturally plays a major role in coins made of precious metal. The large Vienna Philharmonic gold coin must weigh one ounce and no less, even by a few fraction of a gram. Even stricter weight tolerance limits than the norm apply to precious metal blanks of the Austrian Mint.

Trade gold coins are not valid currency today, but legally regulated restrikes, traded according to the respective gold price, such as the guilders (Gulden), crowns (Kronen) and ducats, which are restruck by the Austrian Mint after the originals.

Schatz, the German word for treasure, was already used by early Germanic peoples for a struck piece of money in circulation. Like the English word treasure, the word Schatz is generally used for an accumulation of money or merchandise (valuable jewellery, etc.). Its figurative meaning occurs in mein liebster Schatz (“my treasure”): the person one treasures the most, dearer to the partner than all the gold in the world.

A unique coin is one of which there is only one example. Such coins exist from antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the modern age – usually only in museum collections. An example of a unique coin is the twenty crown pattern strike with the portrait of Emperor Charles I (1916-1918) in the coin collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

Italian for currency.

Pre-coinage means of payment, such as arrow- or lanceheads.

The first silver coin struck in Vienna. It was introduced around 1194, after the pfennigs struck from ca. 1130 for Friesach and Krems. On account of its excellent silver content, the Wiener Pfennig was also much in demand in neighbouring countries.

Originally the Chinese word for dollar, or silver coin the size of a dollar until 1934. Today standard monetary unit and coin of the People’s Republic of China.

Struck on European coins since the thirteenth century (first in Denmark). The year of a ruler’s reign can often be found on ancient coins.

Monetary unit in Japan. 1 yen = 100 sen.

Venetian gold coin, from 1284.

Zinc coins were struck mainly in times of war and emergency on account of the low cost of the material – other metals were needed for the war industry.

Originally a Polish gold coin, struck for the first time in the first half of the 16th century. Today standard monetary unit in Poland: 1 zloty = 100 groszy.