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Coin Collecting Glossary

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

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Passenger Gold
Term used by shipwreck hunters to describe both gold and silver coins that would have been carried as personal possessions by passengers or stored in the purser's safe. This is in contrast to the large bulk shipments of gold or silver that usually were shipped in canvas bags or wooden kegs. The Arlington Collection has an example of passenger gold in the form of an 1852 $10 Moffat &Co. gold coin from the SS Central America shipwreck.
View 1852 $10 Moffat &Co. gold coin >>

Pedigree

A record or listing of all known current and previous owners of a coin. Many coins encapsulated by third party grading or conservation services include the coin's pedigree if known. Some pedigrees of famous collectors, such as Bass or Eliasberg, tend to add large premiums to the value of the coin over a non-pedigreed example. Coins pedigreed to the GSA release of a few decades ago command premiums if they are still in their original GSA holders.

Planchet

A blank piece of metal with raised rims on which a coin or medal is struck by a pair of dies. A blank becomes a planchet once it has gone through the upsetting mill creating a raised rim.
See also - - Blank, Upsetting Mill

Postage Stamp Currency

Low denomination United States Post Office notes issued to help alleviate coin shortages during the Civil War. Issued in denominations of 5, 10, 25 and 50 cents. Also referred to as Postal Currency and Postage Currency.
See also - - Shinplaster, Fractional Currency, Encased Postage

Pound

The main monetary unit of a number of countries including, but not limited to, Great Britain, Egypt, Lebanon, Sudan, and Syria. The Egyptian, Lebanese, Sudanese, and Syrian pound is equal to 100 piastre. Since 1971, the British pound is equal to 100 new pence.

Pound Sterling

Refers to the currency of Great Britain. The term is believed to be derived from the early Saxon kingdoms where 240 coins known as "sterlings" were minted from a pound of silver and large payments were made in "pounds of sterling." Current ISO 4217 currency code is GBP.
See also - - ISO 4217

Provenance

See Pedigree.