Coin Terminology and Glossary

The Coin Collecting Dictionary includes 546 titles used widely in the coin collectors community, and has received over 888676 search inquires.

Selected 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) 53452  14.32%
Silver Clad 30696  8.22%
Coin Silver 22722  6.09%
Slabbed Coins 21565  5.78%
BN 20969  5.62%
Encapsulated Coin 20402  5.47%
RB 19379  5.19%
Deep Cameo (DC or DCAM) 16753  4.49%
PF (PF60, PF70) 16313  4.37%
Reeded Edge 15497  4.15%
Ultra Cameo (UCAM) 15444  4.14%
PQ 14247  3.82%
MS (MS60-MS70) 14104  3.78%
PR (PR60, PR70) 14071  3.77%
Rarity 13835  3.71%
Incuse 13149  3.52%
High Relief 12981  3.48%
Coin drop 12963  3.47%
Reverse Cameo 12404  3.32%
Obverse or Face side 12271  3.29%