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VOCABULARY TERM: HOT SHORTNESSDick Johnson submitted this entry from his Encyclopedia of Coin and Medal Terminology. Thanks. For more about this particular coin, see the article elsewhere in this issue
on the Scotney Castle collection. -Editor
  What caused those notches around the edge of this coin? What’s the term for these? They are not clipped or cut out. It is from striking a heated blank of impure metal, particularly with high lead content. This is an extreme example. Normally such coins exhibit small multiple fissures. Hot Shortness. Cracks or notches around edges of cast blanks (or cast objects) caused by different melting points of impurities. Ancient coins often display evidence
of such hot shortness – they were often made of impure metal and the blanks were heated before striking. Low melting point metals, such as lead, were squeezed out during striking leaving the fissures
around the edge. Looking for the meaning of a numismatic word, or the description of a term? Try the Newman Numismatic Portal's Numismatic Dictionary at: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/dictionary Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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