Coin Terminology and Glossary

The Coin Collecting Dictionary includes 546 titles used widely in the coin collectors community, and has received over 1117488 search inquires.

Selected title: Anvil Die (Bottom die)
Explanation: A coin is struck using two dies. One for the obverse (front) of the coin and another for the reverse (back). The anvil die is the one on the bottom, which is usually the reverse. The term comes from when the die was placed on an anvil with the coin blank (planchet) on top. The hammer die (top die) was placed on top of the coin and struck with a hammer.

Most popular coin titles

DefinitionSearchesPercentage
Specimen Proof (SP-70 or PF-70) 56018  13.25%
Silver Clad 32919  7.79%
Coin Silver 24975  5.91%
Slabbed Coins 23910  5.66%
BN 23471  5.55%
Encapsulated Coin 22416  5.30%
RB 21916  5.18%
PF (PF60, PF70) 18894  4.47%
Deep Cameo (DC or DCAM) 18858  4.46%
Reeded Edge 17730  4.19%
Ultra Cameo (UCAM) 17533  4.15%
Obverse or Face side 16975  4.02%
PR (PR60, PR70) 16879  3.99%
Rarity 16774  3.97%
PQ 16454  3.89%
MS (MS60-MS70) 16152  3.82%
Incuse 15486  3.66%
Coin drop 15322  3.62%
High Relief 15108  3.57%
Reverse Cameo 14846  3.51%