A blank is a disc of metal prepared for striking but not yet impressed with a coin design. In stricter minting language, a distinction exists between a blank and a planchet: a blank is the metal disc after it has been punched from a strip of metal but before final preparation, while a planchet is the blank after it has been annealed, washed, and upset – meaning a raised rim has been formed around the edge. In everyday collector usage, however, the two terms are often used interchangeably.
Blanks produced with surface defects – laminations, inclusions, or rolling flaws – carry those defects into the finished coin. Coins showing such characteristics are catalogued as planchet errors and can carry a premium among error coin specialists.