I’ve never, in all my years on this earth, seen the word truncation used outside of numismatics. Never!

Be that as it may. Among those numismatic instances, I think it’s often misused. We frequently speak of a designer’s initials appearing at the “truncation of the neck.” But a truncation is a shortening or reduction. Miss Liberty’s or Mr. Kennedy’s neck is never truncated—it’s shown in its entirety. It ends, but only in the right place. It would be more accurate to refer to the “termination of the neck.” But that just sounds wrong! If my neck were terminated I would immediately call a doctor.

I recommend a committee be convened.

I think I have seen it multiple times, such as truncated pyramid or other things that have been shortened.

The terms “truncation” and “truncated” seem to have crept into numismatic verbiage long ago and are commonly accepted as referring to an abrupt ending, or shortening, of the neckline. I see nothing wrong with using it because it is widely used and understood. Anne Boleyn would perhaps be apposed to it, but I favor using it.

While I think that you have a literal grammatical point, Dennis, I think Ken is correct that the long usage of the term in numismatics has earned "truncation" a legitimate place in our numismatic vocabulary.