Coin Terminology and Glossary

The Coin Collecting Dictionary includes 546 titles used widely in the coin collectors community, and has received over 1094099 search inquires.

Selected 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) 55812  13.32%
Silver Clad 32731  7.81%
Coin Silver 24794  5.92%
Slabbed Coins 23712  5.66%
BN 23304  5.56%
Encapsulated Coin 22234  5.31%
RB 21731  5.19%
Deep Cameo (DC or DCAM) 18711  4.47%
PF (PF60, PF70) 18709  4.47%
Reeded Edge 17539  4.19%
Ultra Cameo (UCAM) 17349  4.14%
Obverse or Face side 16817  4.01%
PR (PR60, PR70) 16622  3.97%
Rarity 16561  3.95%
PQ 16285  3.89%
MS (MS60-MS70) 15997  3.82%
Incuse 15303  3.65%
Coin drop 15123  3.61%
High Relief 14943  3.57%
Reverse Cameo 14670  3.50%