Coin Terminology and Glossary

The Coin Collecting Dictionary includes 546 titles used widely in the coin collectors community, and has received over 686633 search inquires.

Selected title: Slabbed Coins
Explanation: Coins which have been submitted to one of the professional grading services for certification as to the grade of the coin. The coins are examined by the grading services experts, assigned a grade and sealed into a hard plastic 'slab' with a label indicating the coin type, date, mintmark, variety and grade. Often a certified coin is accompanied by a photograph certificate. The holder affords protection from subsequent wear or damage but is not airtight and therefore will not prevent toning. Because any tampering with the holder will be obvious, it also prevents replacing the certified coin with something else. The grades assigned to the coins are accepted as accurate by most collectors and dealers. Because of this, slabbed coins are often traded sight unseen.

Most popular coin titles

DefinitionSearchesPercentage
Specimen Proof (SP-70 or PF-70) 38787 13.08%
Silver Clad 27559 9.29%
Coin Silver 19712 6.65%
BN 17574 5.92%
Slabbed Coins 17163 5.79%
Encapsulated Coin 16976 5.72%
RB 16235 5.47%
Deep Cameo (DC or DCAM) 13242 4.46%
PF (PF60, PF70) 13030 4.39%
Reeded Edge 12681 4.28%
Ultra Cameo (UCAM) 12372 4.17%
PQ 11188 3.77%
MS (MS60-MS70) 11119 3.75%
PR (PR60, PR70) 10972 3.70%
High Relief 10278 3.47%
Incuse 10264 3.46%
Rarity 9645 3.25%
Coin drop 9612 3.24%
Obverse or Face side 9538 3.22%
Reverse Cameo 8665 2.92%