Coin Terminology and Glossary

The Coin Collecting Dictionary includes 546 titles used widely in the coin collectors community, and has received over 1026932 search inquires.

Selected title: Anvil Die (Bottom die)
Explanation: A coin is struck using two dies. One for the obverse (front) of the coin and another for the reverse (back). The anvil die is the one on the bottom, which is usually the reverse. The term comes from when the die was placed on an anvil with the coin blank (planchet) on top. The hammer die (top die) was placed on top of the coin and struck with a hammer.

Most popular coin titles

DefinitionSearchesPercentage
Specimen Proof (SP-70 or PF-70) 55168 13.63%
Silver Clad 32135 7.94%
Coin Silver 24215 5.98%
Slabbed Coins 23143 5.72%
BN 22714 5.61%
Encapsulated Coin 21749 5.37%
RB 21162 5.23%
Deep Cameo (DC or DCAM) 18192 4.49%
PF (PF60, PF70) 17925 4.43%
Reeded Edge 16970 4.19%
Ultra Cameo (UCAM) 16851 4.16%
PR (PR60, PR70) 15906 3.93%
Rarity 15835 3.91%
PQ 15736 3.89%
MS (MS60-MS70) 15492 3.83%
Incuse 14797 3.66%
Coin drop 14520 3.59%
High Relief 14417 3.56%
Reverse Cameo 14093 3.48%
Obverse or Face side 13822 3.41%