Coin Terminology and Glossary

The Coin Collecting Dictionary includes 546 titles used widely in the coin collectors community, and has received over 1082903 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) 55700  13.44%
Silver Clad 32629  7.87%
Coin Silver 24709  5.96%
Slabbed Coins 23603  5.69%
BN 23205  5.60%
Encapsulated Coin 22160  5.35%
RB 21634  5.22%
Deep Cameo (DC or DCAM) 18623  4.49%
PF (PF60, PF70) 18564  4.48%
Reeded Edge 17443  4.21%
Ultra Cameo (UCAM) 17271  4.17%
PR (PR60, PR70) 16485  3.98%
Rarity 16423  3.96%
PQ 16190  3.91%
MS (MS60-MS70) 15907  3.84%
Incuse 15209  3.67%
Coin drop 15020  3.62%
High Relief 14852  3.58%
Reverse Cameo 14567  3.51%
Obverse or Face side 14262  3.44%