Coin Terminology and Glossary

The Coin Collecting Dictionary includes 546 titles used widely in the coin collectors community, and has received over 959247 search inquires.

Random 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) 54574  13.86%
Silver Clad 31618  8.03%
Coin Silver 23705  6.02%
Slabbed Coins 22564  5.73%
BN 22104  5.62%
Encapsulated Coin 21294  5.41%
RB 20486  5.20%
Deep Cameo (DC or DCAM) 17719  4.50%
PF (PF60, PF70) 17351  4.41%
Reeded Edge 16449  4.18%
Ultra Cameo (UCAM) 16401  4.17%
PQ 15235  3.87%
Rarity 15135  3.84%
PR (PR60, PR70) 15077  3.83%
MS (MS60-MS70) 15015  3.81%
Incuse 14231  3.62%
Coin drop 13969  3.55%
High Relief 13919  3.54%
Reverse Cameo 13492  3.43%
Obverse or Face side 13217  3.36%