PT and OT. What do they mean?

[Sheencrofter 0]

Being still fairly new to the hobby there are still many things I need to know. And some of them I'm sure are very basic.But without asking questions, I guess you never learn.

In my Spinks book it shows in the penny section abreviations such as

1854 OT DEF

1854 PT

1855 OT

Proof FDC

I have looked in the abreviation section of the book but can find nothing there to explain these.

Any suggestions would be helpful, both to me, and i am sure, many more newbies.

Many thanks.

[Nick 329]

Being still fairly new to the hobby there are still many things I need to know. And some of them I'm sure are very basic.But without asking questions, I guess you never learn.

In my Spinks book it shows in the penny section abreviations such as

1854 OT DEF

1854 PT

1855 OT

Proof FDC

I have looked in the abreviation section of the book but can find nothing there to explain these.

Any suggestions would be helpful, both to me, and i am sure, many more newbies.

Many thanks.

OT and PT are 'ornamental trident' prongs and 'plain trident' prongs. Proof means a coin specially struck with polished dies and blanks and FDC, usually only used with proofs, standing for fleur-de-coin which essentially means the same as 'as struck' or as it left the mint.

Edited January 24, 2013 by Nick

[Accumulator 52]

Being still fairly new to the hobby there are still many things I need to know. And some of them I'm sure are very basic.But without asking questions, I guess you never learn.

In my Spinks book it shows in the penny section abreviations such as

1854 OT DEF

1854 PT

1855 OT

Proof FDC

I have looked in the abreviation section of the book but can find nothing there to explain these.

Any suggestions would be helpful, both to me, and i am sure, many more newbies.

Many thanks.

OT and PT are 'ornamental trident' prongs and 'plain trident' prongs. Proof means a coin specially struck with polished dies and blanks and FDC, usually only used with proofs, standing for fleur-de-coin which essentially means the same as 'as struck' or as it left the mint.

And DEF: or DEF_: in Spink refer to the distance between the DEF the colon which follows.

[Accumulator 52]

The penny on the left shows a plain trident, while the coin on the right has an ornamental trident:

[Accumulator 52]

The penny on the left is DEF:, while the one on the right is DEF_:

[Peckris 579]

Being still fairly new to the hobby there are still many things I need to know. And some of them I'm sure are very basic.But without asking questions, I guess you never learn.

In my Spinks book it shows in the penny section abreviations such as

1854 OT DEF

1854 PT

1855 OT

Proof FDC

I have looked in the abreviation section of the book but can find nothing there to explain these.

Any suggestions would be helpful, both to me, and i am sure, many more newbies.

Many thanks.

FDC is only used for coins with absolutely no blemishes of any kind (knocks, edge bumps, scratches, gouges, wear, imperfections). Understand that proofs are minted in a special way according to very exacting standards - only such coins are guaranteed blemish-free by a mint. Interestingly, FDC doesn't include toning, so a coin that's untoned, nicely toned, or ugly, can all still technically be described as FDC, so make sure you see a picture!

[Rob 3,236]

And just to throw a little confusion into the mix, the 1853 OT has an intermediate colon to DEF. Peck 1503 refers, but don't worry as it isn't very common.