Glossary: Letter B: Numismatics to English
- bag
- the heavy cloth bag used by the Mint to ship coins
- bagmark
- the nicks and dings caused when coins smack into each other
- Barber coinage
- Dimes, Quarter Dollars, and Half Dollars designed by Charles Barber and issued from 1892 to 1916
- bas relief
- raised design elements in a sunken area
- beaded border
- a decorative, outer ring of tiny raised beads found on some coins
- bid
- the wholesale buy price offered by coin dealers
- bidder
- anyone who bids in an auction
- bidder number
- the unique number assigned to you at an auction, used to properly record who bought what
- billon
- an alloy containing a small amount of silver mixed with a base metal
- bit
- one-eighth of a Spanish 8 Reales “Piece of Eight”. Two bits equal a quarter (hence, the cheer: …two bits, four bits, six bits, a Dollar)
- blank
- the disk of metal that is later stamped to make a coin
- blemishes
- any defects on the surface of a coin
- Bluebook
- a popular price guide used for buying coins. Guess what color the cover is
- Bluesheet
- a popular weekly price guide for certified coins. Guess what color the paper is
- bourse
- a coin show where dealers buy and sell among themselves and with the general public
- Braided Hair
- a design type found on Half Cents and Large Cents dating from 1839 to 1857
- branch mint
- any U.S. Mint other than the Philadelphia Mint (the “mother” of all mints)
- brass
- a yellow alloy of copper and zinc
- breast feathers
- the feathers on the chest of the eagle, usually the highest point on the back of many U.S. coins, especially Morgan Dollars
- brilliant
- used to describe the flashy luster of a coin
- Brilliant Uncirculated
- a “brand new” coin that is bright and flashy
- broadstrike
- an error coin struck outside of its collar, resulting in an expanded planchet
- bronze
- a reddish alloy of copper and a small amount of tin
- Brown
- the color of copper coins that have toned down from their original, bright red color
- BU
- abbreviation for Brilliant Uncirculated
- BU rolls
- set quantities of coins that are Brilliant Uncirculated. Example: a BU roll of Morgan Dollars has 20 coins, all Uncirculated
- Buffalo nickel
- the popular 5 Cent piece with an Indian Head on the front and a buffalo on the back, issued from 1913 to 1938
- bulged die
- a coin with wavy, concave or convex surfaces caused by a defective stamp
- bullion
- raw metal, usually gold or silver in ingot form
- bullion coin
- a coin that has no collector premium above the value of its metal
- burnishing
- altering the surfaces of a coin to make it look better than it actually is. Burnishing is a bit more aggressive than polishing
- business strike
- a coin struck for use in circulation
- Bust dollar
- the United States Silver Dollars issued from 1795 to 1804
- buyer’s fee
- the premium charged to a successful bidder at auction, added to the hammer price (final bid) of each lot. In recent years, the buyer’s fee has risen from 0 percent to 50 percent