Planchet

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A circular piece of metal, typically unprocessed, intended for conversion into a coin
2. A flat metal disc, often before any design, designated for minting purposes
3. A flat round piece of metal prepared to be stamped into currency

Etymology: The word "planchet" comes to English from French "planchette," a diminutive of "planche," meaning "board" or "plank." The French suffix "-et" turns the base into a little one, so the literal sense is something like "small plank" or "little board." That image fits the object well: a planchet is a thin, flat disc of metal, cut from a sheet and not yet struck with any design, so it looks like a tiny blank board waiting to be worked. The same French root gave English "planch," an older word for a thin board or plank, which shows the shared ancestry more clearly than the modern term does. Its path runs through the Latin "planca," also meaning a plank, which is why the metal disc and the wooden board share a common picture of flatness at their core.