Numismatic definitions
Like most fields of expertise, numismatics has its own lingo. Find the numismatic definition of a term by entering it in the field below.
Sterling
Word of uncertain origin denoting money of a standard weight and fineness and hence the more general meaning of recognised worth. The traditionally accepted derivation from the Easterlings, north German merchants who settled in London in the thirteenth century and produced silver pennies of uniform fineness is unlikely as the term has been found in documents a century earlier. A more plausible explanation is from Old English steorling ('little coin with a star'), alluding to Viking pennies with this device or even as a diminutive of stater. Sterling silver denotes silver of .925; fineness.
