There was discussion of some of the odd nomenclature misused to describe border and rim varieties. Early in my career with NGC I took on the task of updating and generally improving our quarterly Census Report (which is now a weekly, online report). There was some inconsistency in how coins were being labeled and several instances of the same coins being labeled differently at various times.

Once this was sorted out, I addressed a couple of my pet peeves, one of which was the term "rolled edge." I believed this to be nonsensical, since there was no actual rolling of the edge, and I changed it to something more numismatically accurate. I also changed "wire edge" to read "wire rim," since there was clearly no fin or flash on the coins' edges.

Finally, I eliminated unnecessary or redundant descriptors, such as the word "rays" on 1866 nickels and the word "arrows" on 1874 dimes, quarters and halves. Since all of the coins of these dates included such features, it seemed unnecessary to distinguish them the way one would for the transitional dates of 1867 and 1873, respectively.

A couple of months went by before we began to receive complaints from prominent coin dealers that their customers were reluctant to buy coins not labeled exactly as in the Red Book. I argued my points detailed above, but ultimately I had to change all the labels back to their familiar forms, regardless of any numismatic conflict. It was an early lesson that in the commercial sector marketing ultimately wins out over numismatics, but then I tend to be a bit pedantic in this area.

I've had numerous email exchanges with Ken Bressett about terminology and coin descriptions in the Red Book. While he listens sympathetically, it often turns out the traditional nomenclature, whether or not numismatically correct, rules the day. It's very hard to change minds when it comes to familiar customs in American numismatics.