Glossary of Numismatic Terms

---

W

want list: A list given by a collector to a dealer listing items the collector needs for a collection. The dealer keeps the want list and attempts to purchase items listed on it for the collector.

watermark: Design formed by differing thickness of paper during production; often used as security device in paper money.

whizzing: The severe polishing of a coin in an attempt to improve its appearance and salability to the uninformed. A form of alteration regarded as misleading by the numismatic community, and which actually lowers the value of the coin.

widow's mite: An ancient Jewish lepton denomination coin of the time of Christ.

wire rim: Slight flange on coins or medals caused by heavy striking pressure, often characteristic on Proof coins. The metal is squeezed up the side of the die faces by the collar die. Sometimes incorrectly called wire edge. See also rim.

wooden nickels: Originally, substitute for coins first used in the 1931 to 1935 depression, having originated in Tenino, Wash. Issued in round or rectangular form and in many denominations. Currently used for advertising and souvenir purposes.

working die: A metal punch that is used to impress images into coins; wrong-reading. See also die.

working hub: A metal punch used to produce "working dies"; right-reading. See also die and hub.