Coin Terminology and Glossary

The Coin Collecting Dictionary includes 546 titles used widely in the coin collectors community, and has received over 933809 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) 54234  13.99%
Silver Clad 31352  8.09%
Coin Silver 23424  6.04%
Slabbed Coins 22257  5.74%
BN 21799  5.62%
Encapsulated Coin 21061  5.43%
RB 20149  5.20%
Deep Cameo (DC or DCAM) 17454  4.50%
PF (PF60, PF70) 17057  4.40%
Ultra Cameo (UCAM) 16162  4.17%
Reeded Edge 16159  4.17%
PQ 14924  3.85%
PR (PR60, PR70) 14769  3.81%
MS (MS60-MS70) 14765  3.81%
Rarity 14753  3.81%
Incuse 13904  3.59%
High Relief 13654  3.52%
Coin drop 13649  3.52%
Reverse Cameo 13191  3.40%
Obverse or Face side 12922  3.33%