Glossary: Letter D: Numismatics to English
- D
- the mintmark of the U.S. Mints at Denver, Colorado and Dahlonega, Georgia
- D-Mint
- abbreviation for coins struck at the Denver or Dahlonega Mints
- Dahlonega
- the official U.S. Mint at Dahlonega, Georgia that struck gold coins from 1838 to 1861
- damage
- any defects or problems that affect a coin after it is struck
- date
- the year in which a coin is struck
- dealer
- a person who buys and sells coins, hopefully at a profit
- Deep Cameo
- a coin that shows heavy contrast between the frosted devices and the mirrored fields
- Deep Mirror Prooflike
- a coin struck for circulation that has extremely reflective surfaces. You can see yourself in these impressive little beauties
- denomination
- the face value of a coin, as stated on the coin. Examples: denominations include Half Dollars, $2.50 gold, Three Cents, etc
- denticles
- the tooth-like outer borders on some coins
- Denver
- the official U.S. Mint at Denver, Colorado that struck coins from 1906 until today
- design
- the art and lettering that appear on coins
- design type
- the name given to the design on a particular U.S. coin
- designer
- the person who creates the design of a coin. He/she may also be the engraver
- device
- any of the design elements on a coin
- die
- the steel cylinder with a design on it used to strike one side of a coin
- die break
- a fracture in a die that can range from a small crack to sinking of a major portion of the die
- die crack
- fine lines of raised metal that are transferred to a coin when the die cracks under pressure
- die rust
- dies are made of steel and occasionally rust, causing pits in the die and raised bumps of metal on the coins struck from those dies
- die state
- the status of a die relative to wear, breaks, and condition
- die variety
- every die is unique, especially early U.S. dies engraved by hand. A die variety is a unique combination of obverse and reverse dies. Some die varieties can be extremely rare
- Dime
- U.S. coin with a face value of Ten Cents
- ding
- a small mark on the surface or edge of a coin
- dip
- to clean a coin in a chemical bath to remove toning
- disme
- early spelling of “Dime”, pronunciation believed to be “Deem” (from the French)
- DMPL
- abbreviation for Deep Mirror Prooflike (used by PCGS)
- doctored
- a coin that has been cleaned, altered, repaired, or otherwise “improved” to make it more valuable
- dollar
- an official U.S. denomination equal to 100 Cents or 1/10 of an Eagle
- Double Eagle
- official name for a $20 gold piece
- doubled die
- a die or coin on which the details appear doubled
- double-struck
- a coin that has been struck twice from the dies
- DPL
- abbreviation for Deep Prooflike (used by NGC)
- Draped Bust
- design type used on many U.S. coins from 1795-1807
- dull
- drab, usually referring to the lack of luster