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.

DiggFacebookRedditTwitter
Coin Collecting News
12/15/2018
Another gold coin worth $1.2K left in Salvation Army Red Kettle
The Gold Coin Phantom has struck again, conspicuously dropping a gold coin worth around $1,200 into one of the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle donation buckets in Springfield, Ohio. This is at least the t... more info

12/16/2018
Heads or Tails? What to do if the Steelers win the coin toss
There are many reasons NFL teams have a specific philosophy on whether to receive the opening kickoff or to defer to the second half. Some coaches prefer to try to get a lead right away. Other coaches ... more info

12/15/2018
Battered by inflation for decades, defiant Sh1 coin refuses to die
A shopper at a supermarket in Nairobi. Customers rarely get Sh1 coin change. If you were around in 1973 and a loyal customer of this paper, then known as East African Standard, you probably remember b... more info