hub Publique Deposited
A specialized die used not for striking coins but for imparting designs to working dies. So that the coins will be in relief and readable, dies are intaglio and reversed; the hubs are therefore in relief. Earlier hubs were device punches, later ones included partial inscriptions; still later came complete hubs. Several blows ("entries") from the hub are necessary to impart the design; an occasional by-product is doubled dies.
- Breen Encyclopedia