Coin Terminology and Glossary

The Coin Collecting Dictionary includes 546 titles used widely in the coin collectors community, and has received over 1117511 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) 56020  13.25%
Silver Clad 32921  7.79%
Coin Silver 24977  5.91%
Slabbed Coins 23912  5.66%
BN 23473  5.55%
Encapsulated Coin 22420  5.30%
RB 21918  5.19%
PF (PF60, PF70) 18896  4.47%
Deep Cameo (DC or DCAM) 18860  4.46%
Reeded Edge 17733  4.20%
Ultra Cameo (UCAM) 17535  4.15%
Obverse or Face side 16976  4.02%
PR (PR60, PR70) 16883  3.99%
Rarity 16776  3.97%
PQ 16457  3.89%
MS (MS60-MS70) 16154  3.82%
Incuse 15487  3.66%
Coin drop 15326  3.63%
High Relief 15112  3.58%
Reverse Cameo 14848  3.51%