PANTOGRAPHIC INSTRUMENTS

- A machine employing the pantographic principal in transferring the design of a model to the coining die. A portrait lathe such as the Janvier

PAPER MONEY

- Bank notes and other forms of money printed on paper.

PATINA

- Originally meant as a green or brown surface film frequently found on ancient copper and bronze coins and caused by oxidation over a long period of time. Also influenced by moisture and certain soils. Currently used as a reference to any toning on a coin whatever the metal. See Toning.

PATINATION OF COPPER

- Copper toning. The colours may range from a dulled red to purplish brown, chocolate, chestnut, olive, or jet black.

PATTERN

- A design suggested for a new coinage, struck in a few examples but not adopted. The Nova Scotia cents of 1862 with the large bust and the wreath of roses are patterns. If the design is adopted for regular coinage with the same date, the piece ceases to be a pattern.

PEBBLED SURFACE

- Reference to the granular surface of some coins.

PEDESTAL OF THE NECK

- The lower sculptured edge on the neck of a bust.

PEDIGREE

- An historical attachment to a coin. Often relates to its previous owner(s) because of his (their) own personal fame wither within or outside the numismatic community. Usually pedigrees increase the price of a coin beyond that of a similar non-pedigree example.

PERFECT COIN

- Defined as a coin that under four power magnification will show no bag marks, lines, or other evidence of handling or contact with other coins. It is graded as MS-70 on the numerical scale of Dr. Sheldon.

PERIPHERAL TONING

- Toning on a coin, token or medal that is essentially restricted to the periphery of a coin's faces and usually white or lighter tone in the central portion in contrast. A highly desired toning arrangement with connoisseur collectors. See also Highlighting.

PERIPHERAL LINE

- The circumference line of a coin or die.

PHOTOGRADE

- A photograding guide introduced by James F. Fuddy for US coins in 1970. A photograph is displayed for each coin denomination by type in each of the official grades so that the grading of any coin can be accomplished by comparing the coin to photographs to find the best conservative match. Not a good system for higher quality uncirculated coins because the minute differences between grades cannot be depicted, especially lustre qualities.

PIECE

- Slang expression for a coin, token, or medal.

PIECE OF EIGHT

- Spanish-American silver dollar-size coins used extensively in trade throughout the world during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

PIEDFORT

- A type of pattern struck on a thick flan. Probably, PIEDFORT were struck for use by coiners as models when making actual coins. The thickness of the flan was enough to distinguish the models from the coinage.

PITTED SURFACE

- Usually a result of some form of corrosion. If on the die, it will result in raised pimple blemishes on a coin's surfaces.

PLAIN EDGE

- A smooth edge without reeding. Typical of most patterns.

PLANCHET

- The disc of metal or other material on which the dies of the coin, token or medal are impressed; Also called a blank, disc or flan.

PLANCHET DEFECT

- The general term for any of the several types of imperfection on a planchet.

PLANCHET STRIATIONS

- Parallel hairlines or grooves into the surface of a coin. Caused by defective planchets due to the rough edges on the jaws of the drawing bench used to obtain a consistent final thickness for the silver strips from which the planchets are punched. If the dies have not been properly basined, these striations will remain after striking. They are most noticeable in the deepest parts of the die.

PLAQUE

- A flat piece, usually metal, sometimes uniface, in bas-relief.

PLASTILENE

- A form of modelling plaster or clay used by engravers and sculptors to make the model for a coin or medal.

PLUG

- The centre (plug) that was removed from Spanish-American "dollars" (8 reales). The remaining "rings"were known as "Holey" Dollars. See Holly Dollar.

PLUGGED COIN

- A coin which had a hole that has been repaired by plugging it.

POLISHED COIN

- Any coin that has been rubbed in an attempt to remove toning or to otherwise clean the coin to give it a shiny appearance. Polishing removes the lustre finish on the coin and lowers a coin's value. Not recommended.

POLISHED DIE

- A die that has been highly polished, usually for the production of superior quality coins such as proofs, prooflikes, etc.

POR

- Price On Request. Used for higher priced coins where a seller does not wish to generally publish a price.

PORTRAIT

- See Bust, Effigy.

PORTRAIT LATHE

- Similar to the Janvier lathe and the pantograph.

POSTHUMOUS COINS

- Struck after the death of the person whose name appears on them.

PNG

- Professional Numismatists Guild.

PRE-DECIMAL COLONIAL ISSUES

- See Tokens.

PREMIUM

- An additional charge for a coin because of some special feature such as first strike fields, cameo bust, unusually strong strike, toning, etc.

PRESENTATION

- The act of offering, delivering or bestowing a numismatic item to some person or organization on a special occasion or event such as the accession of a monarch or the inauguration of a coinage. The object so bestowed is sometimes called a presentation piece.

PRESENTATION PIECE

- See Presentation. Special care was usually given in the creation and handling of such a coin. Sometimes used in advertisements to describe a coin which is so superior in appearance to most others of that series of date that it appears to have been given such special care.

PRICING RARE COINS

- Truly rare quality Canadian coins are offered or sold infrequently. In many cases, eg. Victorian and Edward VII, original MS-65 or better material for a specific "tougher" date may appear only once every few years or possibly only once every major coin cycle (5-8 years). The last sale of such an item may be meaningless as an aid to repricing such a coin in a "new" market. "Trends" for such coins are non-existent. Such coins are usually priced by relating them to other similar coins of comparable rarity and using historical relationships of pricing between the two to arrive at a "fair" asking price. In the end the price will be what a willing buyer will pay a willing seller. Needless to say that considerable research may go into pricing such coins, certainly more than looking them up in a Trends List.

"PRINCE" OF CANADIAN COINS

- The unofficial designation accorded all examples of the Canadian 1921 5 cent. Best estimates indicate between 100-400 examples examples may exist in all conditions, and likely only about a dozen of these in strict uncirculated or better.

PRISTINE

- Like new, fully original, near flawless with absolutely no hint (even under magnification) of a rub or other handling signs.

PROBLEM

- Reference to a wide range of damages that a coin may have and that must be included in the description of the coin's grade, eg. and uncirculated coin with an unsightly and unexpectedly large rim gouge is a "problem" coin. Sometimes quality uncirculated coins are advertised as "problem-free."

PROCESSING

- A term describing the mistreatment of a coin by wire brushing, acid treatment, or otherwise abrading or eroding the surface in an effort to make it appear in a higher grade than it really is. Processed coins must be described as such when offered for sale. See Cleaning.

PROCESSED COPPER

- Copper coins that have been processed to restore an imitation 100% lustre that in many cases may fool specialists. Such coins must be described as "Cleaned."

PROMOTING

- The process of artificially increasing the price of a given coin through the manipulation of a dealer or dealers in order to realize the maximum profit for coins of that date in one's possession, or to maintain an illusion of a rising market.

PROOF

- A special striking of a coin, produced to show to those who have the right to choose the design for the coinage, a design at its best. Proofs are carefully struck by gentle pressure, usually at least twice, from carefully polished dies, on polished flans. The minutest details of the design are thus made clear. Because of their beauty, they are keenly sought by collectors. The term does NOT refer to the condition of the coin.

PROOFLIKE

- Having a surface as flawless and brilliant, or nearly so, as a proof but struck from working dies and sold to collectors as above-average specimens. The term originate with and is generally applied to Canadian uncirculated mint-produced and mint-packaged sets when appropriate. A strictly unofficial term attributed to James E. Charlton around 1954.

PROOFLIKE, BRILLIANT

- A prooflike coin in which the polished mirror finish is evident in both field and devices, except for the lettering, the date, and the mint mark. Because of the lack of contrast, brilliant prooflike coins will not usually appear to be as deeply mirrored as cameo prooflikes.

PROOFLIKE, CAMEO

- A prooflike coin in which the reflective mirror finish is confined to the fields of the coin. The devices will evidence the natural frost of silver, thus producing a very striking contrast. Cameos are the most desirable of all prooflike coins. See Mirror Depth, Cameo Contrast.

PROOFLIKE, GRAY BRILLIANT

- A prooflike coin which exhibits a subdued, gray lustre. Although reflective, such a coin will not evidence the full brilliance of a cameo or brilliant prooflike coin. Not to be confused with impaired or dull prooflike pieces. Because of their subdued lustre, gray brilliant prooflikes are not as desirable as cameo or brilliant prooflikes.

PROOF SET

- A set of one proof coin of each current denomination issued by a recognized mint for a specific year.

PROOF SURFACE

- The smooth, brilliant, mirror-like reflective surface of a proof coin or medal. Applies only to those items struck as proofs.

PROTOTYPE

- The original model for the finished design or coin.

PROVINCIAL CENTS

- The one cent coins issued by the Province of Canada in 1858-59. They were thinner and lighter in weight than the "Dominion Cents" issued by the Dominion of Canada from 1876.

PUNCH

-A steel, coin scale intermediate, made for producing dies and with its design in the same sense as that on the coins.

PUNCH (or CUT or SLASH) CANCELLED

- A note, draft or other form of paper money or obligation which has been invalidated either by punching or cutting out a portion thereof or by knifing or slicing cuts therein.

PVC

- Polyvinylchloride, a plastic that is clear, very flexible, and easy to work with. Used extensively in coin holders. PVC is known to be dangerous to coins so stored over long periods because the coin surfaces eventually become contaminated with chemical plasticizers that will bleed from the PVC film. See also Green Slime.

PVX

- From each production run, coins are randomly selected and placed in a receptacle for annual testing by independent assay as proof that no debasement has been done.

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