Coin Terminology and Glossary

The Coin Collecting Dictionary includes 546 titles used widely in the coin collectors community, and has received over 1010107 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) 55028  13.67%
Silver Clad 32011  7.96%
Coin Silver 24101  5.99%
Slabbed Coins 23004  5.72%
BN 22588  5.61%
Encapsulated Coin 21641  5.38%
RB 21004  5.22%
Deep Cameo (DC or DCAM) 18099  4.50%
PF (PF60, PF70) 17808  4.43%
Reeded Edge 16851  4.19%
Ultra Cameo (UCAM) 16758  4.16%
PR (PR60, PR70) 15803  3.93%
Rarity 15659  3.89%
PQ 15624  3.88%
MS (MS60-MS70) 15385  3.82%
Incuse 14677  3.65%
Coin drop 14400  3.58%
High Relief 14315  3.56%
Reverse Cameo 13970  3.47%
Obverse or Face side 13649  3.39%