In the Glossary on our website all those interested in numismatics will find the most important technical terms. There is a short explanation of each term. If you still have an unanswered question please contact us.
| Par of exchange | The exchange rate from one national currency to another. |
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| Parallel currency | Today´s term for the monetary system, common until into the nineteenth century, of paying both in gold as well as silver currency. There is no fixed value ratio between the two metals. Prices and contracts were specified according to payment in gold or silver. |
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| Patina | Also called natural toning. Patina is the change metal undergoes under the chemical influences of air, water and earth (especially in mintage containing copper). The patina of coins and medals is not only aesthetically pleasing, but also usually a sign of age and value. |
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| Pecunia | Latin for money, derived from pecus, i.e. livestock; thus referred originally to animal bartering, later-on applied to all types of money. We speak of someone´s pecuniary situation when we mean a person´s assets. It was Emperor Vespasian (9-79 AD) who coined the expression "pecunia non olet" (money doesn´t stink). This was reportedly the emperor´s answer to his son Titus who criticised the emperor´s tax on public latrines. The phrase purports to express that the appearance of money doesn´t show if it was unscrupulously acquired. |
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| Pengö | Old Hungarian monetary unit - last in circulation from 1941 to 1944. 1 pengö = 100 fillers. |
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| Penny | The English equivalent to the pfennig, minted for the first time in the eighth century after the Carolingian model. A pound was originally worth 240 pence. Since decimalisation in 1971, there are 100 pence to a pound. |
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| Peseta | (Spanish "little peso") The peseta was struck from 1772 onwards in Mexico as a quarter peso. It was the monetary unit in Spain from 1868 until the end of 2001: 100 centimos = 1 peseta. |
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| Peso | (Spanish "weight") Actually peso de à ocho, the Spanish thaler worth 8 reals, introduced by Charles V modelled on the Joachimsthaler. The peso was struck in great quantities out of Mexican silver from 1536 and became the standard monetary unit of Central and South America. Today, it is still the monetary unit in the countries of Chile, the Dominican Republic, Guinea Bissau, Columbia, Cuba, Mexico, Uruguay, and the Philippines. |
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| Pfennig | (Old High German pending) Old name for the denarius. Until the groschen was introduced (1266), the pfennig was worth one twelfth of a groschen. 100 pfennigs equalled one German mark. |
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| Piaster | Originally the name of the Spanish peso, today still legal tender in various countries, including Egypt, Yemen and Lebanon. |
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| Plaque (ette) | From the French plaquette. In contrast to round medals, struck for decorative or commemorative purposes as a square or polygon. |
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| Platinum coins | Platinum coins existed instead of gold coins as legal tender exclusively in Russia during the nineteenth century. The reason: large platinum deposits in the Urals. |
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| Pound | (from Latin pondus = weight) The Roman pound of 327.45 g was also the standard coin weight unit in the Early Middle Ages. Charlemagne raised the weight of the pound, but the extent is not known. The pound is not only the main currency of Great Britain, but also of other countries such as Cyprus, Syria and Sudan. Also in Ireland until the end of 2001. |
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| Pre-coinage money | The early stages of coinage, such as livestock, tobacco or tea, as reimbursement for goods or services (natural money - payment in kind). |
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| Punch | Small positive steel stamp used to strike negative images into a die, for instance ciphers, crowns or escutcheons. |
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