Coin Terminology and Glossary

The Coin Collecting Dictionary includes 546 titles used widely in the coin collectors community, and has received over 938332 search inquires.

Random title: Rarity Scale
Explanation: A convention for designating the rarity of a coin, such as Sheldon's system (with values such as R1 for common pieces and R6 for extremely rare specimens) and the Universal Rarity Scale invented by Alan Herbert (with designations such as URS3). 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'

Most popular coin titles

DefinitionSearchesPercentage
Specimen Proof (SP-70 or PF-70) 54285  13.96%
Silver Clad 31400  8.08%
Coin Silver 23476  6.04%
Slabbed Coins 22321  5.74%
BN 21856  5.62%
Encapsulated Coin 21113  5.43%
RB 20213  5.20%
Deep Cameo (DC or DCAM) 17500  4.50%
PF (PF60, PF70) 17114  4.40%
Reeded Edge 16213  4.17%
Ultra Cameo (UCAM) 16201  4.17%
PQ 14980  3.85%
PR (PR60, PR70) 14826  3.81%
Rarity 14815  3.81%
MS (MS60-MS70) 14813  3.81%
Incuse 13950  3.59%
Coin drop 13707  3.53%
High Relief 13699  3.52%
Reverse Cameo 13245  3.41%
Obverse or Face side 12972  3.34%