Coin Terminology and Glossary

The Coin Collecting Dictionary includes 546 titles used widely in the coin collectors community, and has received over 636123 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) 37396 13.37%
Silver Clad 26748 9.56%
Coin Silver 18928 6.77%
BN 16790 6.00%
Encapsulated Coin 16201 5.79%
Slabbed Coins 15821 5.66%
RB 15364 5.49%
Deep Cameo (DC or DCAM) 12519 4.48%
PF (PF60, PF70) 12145 4.34%
Reeded Edge 11943 4.27%
Ultra Cameo (UCAM) 11641 4.16%
PQ 10417 3.72%
MS (MS60-MS70) 10323 3.69%
PR (PR60, PR70) 10211 3.65%
High Relief 9601 3.43%
Incuse 9518 3.40%
Coin drop 8859 3.17%
Obverse or Face side 8827 3.16%
Rarity 8497 3.04%
Reverse Cameo 7876 2.82%