Coin Terminology and Glossary

The Coin Collecting Dictionary includes 546 terms used widely in the coin collectors community, and has received over 631762 search inquires.

Selected term: 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 terms

Definition	Searches	Percentage
Specimen Proof (SP-70 or PF-70)	37201	13.39%
Silver Clad	26647	9.59%
Coin Silver	18839	6.78%
BN	16696	6.01%
Encapsulated Coin	16114	5.80%
Slabbed Coins	15705	5.65%
RB	15286	5.50%
Deep Cameo (DC or DCAM)	12433	4.48%
PF (PF60, PF70)	12048	4.34%
Reeded Edge	11863	4.27%
Ultra Cameo (UCAM)	11557	4.16%
PQ	10340	3.72%
MS (MS60-MS70)	10224	3.68%
PR (PR60, PR70)	10116	3.64%
High Relief	9520	3.43%
Incuse	9427	3.39%
Coin drop	8778	3.16%
Obverse or Face side	8754	3.15%
Rarity	8362	3.01%
Reverse Cameo	7782	2.80%