Host. A numismatic item in which something is done to it after it is issued. This action may be counterstamping, piercing or colorizing. Such actions are never intended by the designers or issuers (if so, the item would have been issued that way). The action is always detrimental to the host coin or medal and changes its status as a numismatic specimen or collectible item. As such it creates somewhat of a subvariety that is often dismissed or ignored by serious numismatists who may consider it a form of graffiti.