Walter Breen
machine-made coin: One struck on a screw press rather than by the hammer method, qq.v. Ant.: hammered coin.
"Mark Newby" coins: Halfpence and farthings made by Nicolas Briot in the Tower Mint, ca. 1641, known then as "St. Patrick money," because of the devices (obv. King Charles I as King David with harp, rev. S1. Patrick -the halfpence show him with his flock and ECCE GREX 'Behold the Flock,' the farthings show him expelling snakes and other beasts, plus Pegasus, with QVIESCAT PLEBS 'Let the people be quiet'), suppressed during the Commonwealth, brought out in Ireland and the Isle of Man during the Restoration, declared uncurrent in 1680, bought up in quantity by the tallow-chandler Mark Newby who shipped them over to the Colony of New-Jersey in 1681, where he had enough political clout to become the Colony's first banker, and to induce the Assembly to declare these coins legal tender.
master coins: Older term for what were later called proofs.
master dies: Dies used for raising hubs, which in turn would sink working dies.
matte proof: A proof given a uniformly granular or dull surface, often by pickling in acid. The technique dates back to about 1896. See Chapter IX.
Maundy coins: Specially minted silver coins of denominations 1, 2, 3 and 4 Pence, given by the British monarch in annual ceremonies on Maundy Thursday (that just before Easter), to the dozen aged poor men whose feet were ritually washed on that occasion.
medallic process: Giving a blank multiple impressions from working dies, to bring up high relief details. Routine for medals, necessary for proof coins, but absolutely undesirable for production coins (business strikes).
medallist: One who makes medals, specifically the designer and / or die cutter.
"metric gold" Dr. Wheeler W. Hubbell's alloy: 60/70 gold, 3/70 silver, 7/70 copper, i.e. gold 85.7 fine. Proposed to end the "rivalry" between gold and silver. Not distinguishable from standard gold except by chemical test.
mint: 1) (n.) Factory where coins are made. 2) (v.) To manufacture coins; to stamp designs on blanks. 3) (adj.) Perfect condition - syn., uncirculated; more often, mint state.
mintage: 1) Quantity of coins struck of a given type or date. 2) Process of striking coins.
mint bloom: Pristine surface of a freshly minted or new (uncirculated) coin, produced by cold flow under the dies. Cannot be effectively simulated. Cannot be restored to a coin which has suffered wear.
moneyer: Old term for a Coiner, the man who stamps the designs on blanks to make coins.
Morgan dollars: Silver dollars (1878-1921) designed by George Morgan, issued pursuant to the Bland Act, a subsidy for silver mine owners.
mule: 1) (n.) A coin, usually a favor coin or piece de caprice, made from two dies not originally intended to go together, for whimsy or to create a rarity. 2) (v.) To replace one die in a press by another, creating a new combination.
multiple striking: Visible evidence of the medallic process, q.v., or sometimes evidence of accident whereby an already-struck coin received additional impressions from the dies.
multiple thaler: Large silver coin, bigger and heavier than a silver dollar, and generally in denomination of 1 ½ , 2, 2 ½ , 3, 4 or 5 thalers of whichever local standard was then in use. Multiple striking was common on these for technical reasons. They were normally a kind of commemoratives (q.v.)
Murphy's laws: In case anyone reads this after the term has become obsolete, Murphy's laws - first enunciated at Harvard some time after World War II - proclaim the inherent perversity of inanimate objects and experimental animals; they are mostly special instances of the general law "If anything possibly can go wrong, it will; if you think it can't, it probably will anyway." We have been unable to learn the exact identity of Murphy.
Nichols Find: A parcel of probably 1,000 cents dated 1796, 1797 and a very few of 1798, struck in winter 1797/98, on blanks obtained from Boulton & Watt per packetboat "Adriana," and brought by Congressman Benjamin Goodhue to his daughters, some being saved until about 1863 when David Nichols, of Gallows Hill, near Salem, Mass., obtained them and began' distributing the still bright red uncirculated coins to dealers from Boston to Baltimore. This is the source of over 99% of mint state cents of those dates. The principal varieties were Sheldon 119, 123 and 135, lesser quantities being found of S-104 latest state; . - 118, 136-7, 154 and possibly a few others.
nickel-clad: Same as "sandwich metal," thin layers of cupro-nickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) bonded to a core of copper; used on 10¢, 25¢ since 1965, later also on 50¢ and Eisenhower dollars.
novodel: Replica of an older issue, made at the same mint but from copy dies; distinguished from restrike, which is made from older dies, generally the original dies or at least one original die and a different partner. The term is Russian and originally denoted such productions made by official mints in Tsarist times for wealthy collectors. I have applied it herein to such items as the half dollars of 1833-4-5 and the dollars of 1801-2-3, made in the 1830's or later from copy dies with beaded borders, using close collars so that edge lettering would be squashed. Ant.: original.