The E-Sylum:  Volume 5, Number 31, July 28, 2002, Article 5

COIN WORLD STYLE GUIDE

  Coin World News Editor William T. Gibbs  writes:
  "Blame me (or credit me) for Coin World's use of "Winged
  Liberty Head" dime rather than "Mercury" dime.  While the
  decision to adopt this term was a joint decision of the editorial
  staff, I was the driving force behind its use.  We've used the
  term since the mid- to late 1980s, when we first produced a
  Coin World style manual.

  We adopted an editorial style manual in order to standardize
  terminology.  When I joined the Coin World staff in October
  1976 fresh out of journalism school (I was a longtime Coin
  World subscriber, so this was and remains a dream job),
  very few style rules were in place. It was entirely possible for
  two staff members to write about the same coin and describe
  them in completely different terms.  Not only did that cause
  confusion for new collectors unfamiliar with numismatic
  terminology, even seasoned collectors could be excused for
  wondering whether an "1899 Coronet eagle" was the same
  coin as an "Liberty Head $10 gold coin of 1899."   In the
  mid-1980s, under the direction of editor Beth Deisher, the
  editorial staff spent months studying numismatic terms,
  debating the best terms and then putting them into a written
  document. As news editor, I took charge of the style manual
  and put it into its final form.

  A major goal of our style manual is accuracy.  You hear many
  collectors complain about noncollectors and Mint officials using
  the word "penny" when they mean "cent," but few criticize their
  use of "nickel" for the copper-nickel 5-cent coin. Both penny
  and nickel are inaccurate in that context, and I believe as
  journalists we should use the accurate terms rather than the
  common, inaccurate terms. We use Winged Liberty Head dime
  instead of Mercury dime because "Mercury," while commonly
  used, is inaccurate. The designer of the coin described what the
  design represents, and we all know it isn't Mercury, so why do
  we insist on calling it that?

  Coin World style also is based on what is grammatically
  accurate. For example, we use Seated Liberty, Standing
  Liberty and Walking Liberty rather than Liberty Seated,
  Liberty Standing and Liberty Walking for one very good
  reason: "Seated," "Standing" and "Walking" all represent
  adjectives modifying the noun "Liberty," so they are
  properly placed before "Liberty," not after.  Likewise, it
  is Indian Head and Liberty Head, with "Indian" and
  "Liberty" modifying the noun "Head."   Also, I believe that
  the term Liberty Seated is very awkward, while Seated
  Liberty flows smoothly both in written and spoken form.

  I know there are some in the numismatic community who
  disagree with our style usage. That's OK. We describe
  coins (and medals and notes and tokens) the way we do
  for two very good reasons: to educate our readers, and
  to keep from confusing them with multiple terms for the
  same items.

  I revised the Coin World Style Manual last year. I keep
  a copy in my desk and maintain an electronic version on
  my computer, and refer to it frequently."

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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