Debate on titles of Bullion Rounds and Bars

     Due to some name changes that have been made, which involved changing "oz" to “Ounce” in the title and face value, another member reached out to me and one of the admins about the changes. Basically they were inquiring about a better way to make the changes faster. Which is leading to this post. 

What is the best way to title these items? Most that are currently listed have the title entered as:

1 oz Silver (Golden State Mint - Buffalo Nickel)

N#174284

Which is how it was before I got involved. I have been changing the titles to:

1 Ounce Silver - Golden State Mint (Buffalo Nickel)

     Also, most of these have a face value set as: "1 oz Silver" and I have been changing that to “1 Ounce” removing the composition because it is in the title and composition field. I didn't see a point to have it mentioned 3 times. Also, should the title even have the weight in it? Composition? Mint?

Now the guidelines state that on Medals no value should be entered. But again, since this was established long before me and allowed, I continued with the precedent.

     The admin stated that they felt the title should have the mint name last like the banknotes with the name of the printers in the title being last. (I didn't know that, I don't collect banknotes) And the face value should be removed due to Ounce not being a value but he thought that since it was bullion he was on the fence about that and suggested it be posted for all to add their opinions.

So, here is my 2 cents….. Why mention the mint in the title? Why mention the composition in the title? These are descriptions that are later found in the details of the items. I personally do not feel the face value applies and should not be filled in as Ounce. I can see why you would have 1 Ounce or 1 Troy Ounce or 1 Avoirdupois Ounce in the title since that information is not obvious to some even after the page is displayed.

Looking forward to everyones opinions

Jerry

I agree with Jerry's take. Unless the bar or round is described only by the mint, ie. Scottsdale Lion round, it's redundant to have it in the title. 

I support his perspective.

Several more considerations:

1. I accidentally started all the brouhaha while adding 1 oz silver buffalo rounds. There are 49 of these in the catalog, see Buffalos at Numista. The only differences between them are minor script details and the mint. Images on obverse and reverse are mostly identical. Therefore, I'd rather see the mint name in the title.
2. IMHO, the title/name should uniquely identify the item, so something like that should work: ‘value/weight - currency/metal/material - design/feature/moniker - mint/printer/country/origin’. For example, “10 ozt - Ag - Buffalo round - Highland  Mint” or “5 - Dollars banknote - George VI - Barbados” or “1 - Dollar -Morgan 1878-1921 - USA”. I'm sure there will be edge cases like, for example, there are several 1 ozt buffalo silver rounds from unknown mints. Or "10 yuan panda non-circulating coins" that were issued in 1 ozt and 30g silver. Ideas are welcome!
3. Again, IMHO, shorter names are desirable, especially on portable devices. So, I'd rather see ‘1 ozt’ than ‘1 ounce troy’. For that purpose, we need to come up with a more or less accepted list of abbreviations: ‘ozt’ is good for troy ounces, but avoirdupois ounces are usually notated as ‘oz avdp.’, which is rather long - 'oza', perhaps?

IvanK

 

1. I accidentally started all the brouhaha while adding 1 oz silver buffalo rounds. There are 49 of these in the catalog, see Buffalos at Numista. 

Actually the brouhaha was started when a new way for referees to find errors on existing pages began. The feature does not like abbriviations in the title or face value. That is what prompted the changes.

The only differences between them are minor script details and the mint. Images on obverse and reverse are mostly identical. Therefore, I'd rather see the mint name in the title.

In cases such as what you describe, I see the point of the mint in the title. But for example this series. I don't see the point of having the mint name in the title on this example. “1 Ounce” in the title makes sense to me.