Coin Glossary

You can find most popular coin collecting phrases in this coin glossary.

Coin Glossary

G

Gem - a beauty of a coin.  One with unusually high quality.

Gem BU - A beauty of a coin ! Means GEM quality Brilliant Uncirculated coin. Indicates that this uncirculated coin shows mint brilliance and is extremely attractive for the type of coin. Some might say it sparkles like a "GEM". See Coin Grading

gouges - heavy marks on a coin where the metal was gouged out from coming in contact with something. Typically worse than "contact marks" or "bag marks".

grade - a rating or clarification that indicates how much wear a circulated coin has. Grades can also indicate the degree of perfection for uncirculated coins. Two popular grading guides are Photograde and the ANA Grading Guide. Both use a scale system from 1 to 70, measuring coins from About Good -3 to Mint State Uncirculated- 70. See Coin Grading

grading standards - a set of criteria indicating how much wear a coin shows.

gram - weight.  Metric system of measuring weights.  Approximately 31.1 grams are in one troy ounce.

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Coin Collecting News
06/19/2018
$2 coin celebrates 30th birthday at Royal Australian Mint
You may not have as many jingling in your purse or pocket as you did a few years ago, but the durability of the $2 coin means it could be around for decades to come, despite Australia's shift towards a cashless society. It's 30 years today since the small ... more info

06/18/2018
How a Few Nickels Grew Into a Multi-Million Dollar Coin Collection
In the late 1980s, William Morton-Smith, a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based doctor, was rummaging through a garage that contained some of his deceased parents’ belongings. He opened the drawer of an old desk, and “there was a bunch of loose coins,” says ... more info

06/19/2018
How a coin led Ace Staffing Unlimited's top exec to move to Florida (Video)
Two decades ago, Tanya Meyer knew she wanted to leave Wisconsin. But she wasn't sure where to go. So she took a personal risk and based that decision on a coin flip: heads, Florida; tails, California. "It was heads." Today, she is president of Mount Dora ... more info