Coin Terminology and Glossary

The Coin Collecting Dictionary includes 546 titles used widely in the coin collectors community, and has received over 1065001 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) 55533  13.51%
Silver Clad 32441  7.89%
Coin Silver 24549  5.97%
Slabbed Coins 23437  5.70%
BN 23017  5.60%
Encapsulated Coin 22014  5.35%
RB 21480  5.22%
Deep Cameo (DC or DCAM) 18490  4.50%
PF (PF60, PF70) 18296  4.45%
Reeded Edge 17293  4.21%
Ultra Cameo (UCAM) 17124  4.17%
Rarity 16236  3.95%
PR (PR60, PR70) 16220  3.95%
PQ 16033  3.90%
MS (MS60-MS70) 15767  3.84%
Incuse 15063  3.66%
Coin drop 14860  3.61%
High Relief 14711  3.58%
Reverse Cameo 14383  3.50%
Obverse or Face side 14127  3.44%