Coin Terminology and Glossary

The Coin Collecting Dictionary includes 546 titles used widely in the coin collectors community, and has received over 1067256 search inquires.

Selected title: Ghosting
Explanation: The faint appearance on one side of a coin of the design from the other side, usually caused by poor design or production methods. The amount of metal displaced by the design of one side is greater than that displaced by the other side, so that when the blank is struck by the dies, the metal tends to flow towards the 'heavier' side, and away from the lighter side. A faint negative of the main features of the heavy side can be seen on the lighter side. Ghosting is noticeable on many British coins of George V, particularly in the earlier part of the reign. The portrait on the obverse of the coin was very large, and can be seen on the reverse of the coin

Most popular coin titles

DefinitionSearchesPercentage
Specimen Proof (SP-70 or PF-70) 55549  13.50%
Silver Clad 32455  7.89%
Coin Silver 24566  5.97%
Slabbed Coins 23450  5.70%
BN 23024  5.60%
Encapsulated Coin 22027  5.35%
RB 21494  5.23%
Deep Cameo (DC or DCAM) 18496  4.50%
PF (PF60, PF70) 18311  4.45%
Reeded Edge 17312  4.21%
Ultra Cameo (UCAM) 17135  4.17%
Rarity 16252  3.95%
PR (PR60, PR70) 16234  3.95%
PQ 16049  3.90%
MS (MS60-MS70) 15780  3.84%
Incuse 15074  3.66%
Coin drop 14874  3.62%
High Relief 14726  3.58%
Reverse Cameo 14402  3.50%
Obverse or Face side 14140  3.44%