Medieval English Hammered Farthings: Glossary of Numismatic Terms

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Custodes Cuneorum

the keepers of the dies, the distinctive appellation being derived from the cuneus or wedge which secured the bottom die to a wood block. These keepers were evidently the most trustworthy and important officers attached to the mints; to them was confided the care of seeing that the right number, and the right number of blanks only, were converted into current coin; but as they were in no way responsible for the quality of the metal, or the styles of the dies, in fact, knew nothing of the moneyer's art, or the management of the mint; their names would not by natural consequence appear upon the coin. They simply took charge of the dies when not in use, so that no improper use might be made of them.

Custodes Monetae

the moneyers responsible for minting coins, whose names appear upon pre-1272 English coinage

D

Die Variety

a coin showing a slight variation of design

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F

farthing

a: a former British monetary unit equal to 1/4 of a penny b: a coin representing this unit.
Etymology: Middle English ferthing, from Old English fEorthung (akin to Middle High German vierdunc fourth part), from Old English fEortha fourth

flan

the whole piece of metal after a coin has been struck

G

grain

a unit of weight (in common use in medieval England) based on the weight of a grain of wheat taken as an average of the weight of grains from the middle of the ear. Medieval moneyers always determined the weight of farthings in terms of 'grains of silver and alloy.'

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hammered

a method of minting whereby a coin is made by hand striking the coin between dies

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moneyer

Etymology: Middle English, from Old French monier, from Late Latin monetarius master of a mint, coiner, from monetarius of a mint

mule

a coin with the current type on one side and the previous obsolete type on the other side, or a coin that has been struck from two dies that are not normally used together

N

numismatics

the study or collection of coins, tokens, and paper money

O

obverse

a: the side of a coin normally showing the monarch's head and/or name b: the side of a coin colloquially referred to as 'heads'

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reverse

a: the back of a coin; broadly : the rear surface of a coin, with hammered farthings, this typically has a central cross and the name of the mint b: the side of a coin colloquially referred to as 'tails'

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