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Coin Abbreviations & Acronyms
(1968S) - Parentheses are placed around all or part of a date and/or mintmark if the date of the coin is known, but none or only part of the date actually appears on the coin. May also be used if only part of the date's digits show. For example: An off center coin with 19(72) listed as it's date means a coin is struck off center and the 19 of the date shows but none or only a portion of the 72 appears
19XX-S - X's are used where a portion of the date or the mintmark are not present. In this example, 19XX-S, the "19" and "S" mintmark are present on the coin, but the last two digits of the date are not
1-O-V or 2-R-III or similar - These odd looking notations look complicated but are actually quite simple. They are used as a numbering system for doubled die coins. The first number is the number assigned to the die. The letter in the middle will be either an "O" (obverse), or "R" (reverse). The third item is the class number, i.e. the type or cause of the doubling. It is noted by using Roman numerals I thru VIII. Other notations that may be used are MD for master die, MH for modified hub, Pr for proof coin, (3) for tripled die, and (4) for quadrupled die. EXAMPLE: 1963D 1? 1-O-VII tells us that the coin is a One Cent piece dated 1963, struck in Denver, die #1, the doubling is on the obverse, and is a class VII variety
ABPN - An internet newsgroup where (large) coin pictures can be posted (alt.binary.pictures.numismatic)
ACG - ACcu Grade: A controversial at present grading service, because the assigned grades seem to be inflated relative to standard services like PCGS and NGC
aF (VG10) - About Fine: Grade
aG (AG3) - About Good: Grade
AGW - Actual Gold Weight, e.g. the agw content of a 10 ounce gold coin made of .500 gold is 5 ounce
ANA - American Numismatic Association: Collector and dealer organization
ANACS - Grading service: The initials originally stood for "American Numismatic Association Certification Service". It has since been sold to a company independent of the ANA
ASE (SAE or SE) - American Silver Eagle: A one ounce silver bullion coin, issued by the United States government from 1986-date
ASW - Actual Silver Weight; see AGW
AU (AU50, AU53, AU55, AU58) - About Uncirculated: Grade
aVF (F15?) - About Very Fine: Grade
aXF (F35?) - About Extremely Fine: Grade
B# (B1-B10?)V - Browning number (1925): Die variety - Bust Quarters, 1796-1838
B# (B1-B23?) - Bolender number (1950, 1998): Die variety - Silver Dollars, 1794-1803
BB# (BB1-BBn?) - Bowers and Borckardt number (1993): Die variety - Silver Dollars, 1794-1804 and later
BG# (BG101-BG1313) - Breen and Gillio number (1983): Die variety - California private gold, 1852-1882
BM - The designation BM refers to "Branch Mint," meaning any US Mint other than Philadelphia. You will usually find this designation used to describe Branch Mint Proof coins, such as the 1879-O BM Proof Morgan dollar, 1893-CC BM Proof Morgan dollar, etc
BN - Brown: Color grade for uncirculated copper coins
BU (MS60?) - Brilliant Uncirculated: A grade with a numerical value equal to about MS60-62
BV - Bullion Value: The value of the coin is closely related to its metallic content (usually silver or gold)
C - Charlotte (North Carolina): Mintmark, 1838-61, gold coins only
CAM - Short for Cameo. Also, PCGS grading suffix used for 1950 and later Proofs that meet cameo standards
C# (C1-C23?) - Cohen number (1982): Die variety - Half Cents, 1793-1857
CC - Carson City (Nevada): Mintmark, 1870-93, gold and silver coins only
CCDN - Certified Coin Dealer Newsletter
CCE - Certified Coin Exchange
CDN - Coin Dealer Newsletter
CMM# (CMM1-CMM13?) - Cohen, Munson, Munde number (1971): Die variety - Half Cents, 1793-1857
CONECA - Combined Organizations oF Numismatic Error Collectors oF America: A national club devoted to the collecting and study of error coins and varieties
CSDG - California Small Denomination Gold
CW - Coin World: Publication
D - Dahlonega (Georgia): Mintmark, 1838-61, gold coins only; Denver (Colorado): Mintmark, 1906-present
DC / DCAM - Deep Cameo: High grade proof
DDO - Doubled Die Obverse: Type of die variety
DDR - Doubled Die Reverse: Type of die variety
DMPL - Deep Mirror ProofLike: Having highly reflective mirrorlike fields, similar to a coin struck as a Proof
EAC - Early American Coppers, Inc.: Collector and dealer organization
EF (EF40, EF45) - Extremely Fine (Grade): A coin which has only slight traces of wear; it may have a few slight surface marks on very close inspection
F (F12, F15) - Fine (Grade): Considerable wear on the raised surfaces, all main features still sharp
FE - Flying Eagle (cent): US cent coin, 1856-1858
FAO - Food Agricultural Organization of United Nations: the most famous organization fighting for the production of more food for the poorest countries suffering still today a persevering undernutrition. The first coin has been issued by the Bolivian Government in 1968 and after that, many countries issued a lot of other coins. Actually there are over 1,600 coins which celebrate this very important World Association, struck by about 140 nations all around the World. All these coins included common divisional currency as well as silver and gold coins. There're also some rarity as pattern and piefort pieces which are more rare and surely not cheap
FDC - Fleur de Coin; Absolutely flawless, without any wear scratches or fingerprints
Fr - Fair (Grade): A coin that is worn, but not so badly that it is impossible to read the writing or see the design
FRNS - Fellow of Royal Numismatic Society. Collector and dealer organization
FS# (FS1-FS?) - Fivaz and Stanton number (19xx): Die variety - many series
G (G4, G6) - Good: Grade
GEM BU - BU with no Bag marks
GD - Golden Dollar: US Sacagawea dollar coin, 2000-date
GMM - Gallery Mint Museum: A current producer of replicas of early US coins
There are no abbreviations beginning with the letter "h"
ICGS - Independent Coin Grading Service
J# (J1-J1778?) - Judd number (1959-77): Pattern or experimental coin
JR# (JR1-JR13?) - John Reich number (Davis, et al, 1984): Die variety - Bust Dimes, 1794-1837
KM# (KM1-KM?) - Krause and Mishler number: From the Standard Catalog of World Coins
LM# (LM1-LM18) - Logan-McCloskey number (1998): Die variety - Bust
MS (MS60-MS70) - Mint State. (Uncirculated, business strike): Grade
N# (N1-N17?) - Newcomb number (1944): Die variety - Large Cents, 1816-1868
N# (N1-N105?) - Newman number (1952): Die variety - Fugio Cents, 1787
N/D or ND - No Date on banknote or coin
N/L - New Issue not yet listed in catalogue
NC - Not Collectable: A unique or nearly unique coin. Usually one of Sheldon's die varieties of Large Cents. At the time of Sheldon's "Penny Whimsey" (1958), for a coin to be NC, there had to be less than 3 specimens known
NGC - Numismatic Guarantee Corporation: Grading service
NLG - Numismatic Literary Guild: A prestigious organization of writers of numismatically related articles, books, etc
NN - Numismatic News: Publication
NTC - Numistrust Corporation: Grading service
O - Overton number (1970): Die variety - Bust Half Dollars, 1794-1836
O# (O101-O128?) - Overton number (1970): Die variety - Bust Half Dollars, 1794-1836
OMM - Over MintMark: Two different mintmarks involved (versus RPM, which is the same mintmark punched more than once). Type of die variety
P - Philadelphia (Pennsylvania): Mintmark, 1942-45 (5c only), 1979- (all but 1c). Sometimes denotes absence of mintmark
PCGS - Professional Coin Grading Service
PCI - Photo-certified Coin Institute: Grading service
PF (PF60-PF70) - Proof: Type of coin production and/or Grade. Contrasts with business strike
PL - Proof Like: Business strike, with mirrored planchet
PNG - Professional Numismatists Guild: Dealer organization
PQ - Premium Quality: Sometimes part of the sealed slab grade, such as a MS64 PQ (not quite good enough for MS65). Often it is just a hype adjective like "Choice" or "Select"
PR (PR60-PR70) - Proof: Type of coin production and/or Grade. Contrasts with business strike
PVC - Poly Vinyl Chloride: An ingredient of soft plastic "flip" coin holders which will damage coins over time
There are no abbreviations beginning with the letter "q"
R# (R1-R8) - Rarity scale: R1 most common; R8 least common. The often used Sheldon scale is:
- R8 = 1-3 known (estimated), "Unique or Nearly Unique"
- R7 = 4-12 known, "Extremely Rare"
- R6 = 13-30 known, "Very Rare"
- R5 = 31-75 known, "Rare"
- R4 = 76-200 known, "Very Scarce"
- R3 = 201-500 known, "Scarce"
- R2 = 501-1250 known, "Uncommon"
- R1 = over 1251 known, "Common"
RB - Red-Brown: Color grade for uncirculated copper coins (BN, RB, or RD)
RD - Red: Color grade for uncirculated copper coins (BN, RB, or RD)
RIC - Roman Imperial Coinage
RNS - Royal Numismatic Society: Collector and dealer organization
RPC - Roman Provincial Coinage
RPD - RePunched Date: Type of die variety
RPM - RePunched Mintmark; A mintmark punched more than once in different locations and/or orientations
RSC - Roman Silver Coinage
S - San Francisco (California): Mintmark, 1854-1955, 1968-present
S# (S1-S295?) - Sheldon number (1949): Die variety - Large Cents, 1793-1814
S# (S1-S9?) - Snow number (1992): Die variety - Flying Eagle and Indian Head Cents, 1856-1909
SAE (ASE) - Silver American Eagle: A one ounce silver bullion coin, issued 1986-date
SBA - Susan B. Anthony (dollar): US coin, 1979-1981,1999
SEGS - Sovereign Entities Grading Service
SLQ - Standing Liberty Quarter: US coin, 1916-1930
SMS - Special Mint Set: During those years no Mint Sets or Proof Sets were made available for collectors. Mint marks were also dropped from coins produced for circulation. These measures were supposedly taken because coin collectors were being blamed for hoarding of coins. However, the gubmint relented and made the Special Mint Sets available as a compromise. These coins were of better quality than those normally found in Mint Sets but fell short of the quality of Proofs
SP - Specimen: Better than business strike, but not quite a proof
There are no abbreviations beginning with the letter "t"
UC (UCAM) - Ultra Cameo: High grade proof
URS - Short for Universal Rarity Scale
UNC (Unc., MS60?) - Uncirculated (Grade): In new condition as issued, but not necessarily perfect
V# (V1-V10?) - Valentine number (1975): Die variety - Half Dimes, 1794-1873
VAM - A system for describing Morgan Dollar die varieties and combinations of obverse and reverse dies. "VAM" comes from the names of Leroy Van Allen and A. George Mallis -- the guys that developed the system
VAM# (VAM1-VAM230?) - Van Allen and Mallis number (1976): Die variety - Morgan Dollars, 1878-1921
VF (VF20, VF30, perhaps VF35) - Very Fine (Grade): Slight traces of wear on the raised surfaces, but still retaining much detail;
VG (VG8, VG10) - Very Good (Grade): Very worn but you can still determine who issued the coin
W - West Point (New York): Mintmark, 1984-present
WL - Walking Liberty (half dollar): US coin, 1916-1947
XF (XF40, XF45) - eXtremely Fine (Grade): A coin which has only slight traces of wear; it may have a few slight surface marks on very close inspection
There are no abbreviations beginning with the letter "y"
There are no abbreviations beginning with the letter "z"
