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In the wonderful world of numismatics, you will hear many terms for the gold and silver that you purchase, and some of the terms that you may hear could be PROOF, BRILLIANT UNCIRCULATED or BU, and BULLION. Here is a quick guide to the differences between the three.
Following on from our blog ‘Coin Collecting Glossary – The In’s and Out’s’, we take a look at some more of the terms that you may find useful if you are starting out in the wonderful world of numismatics.
Having researched the best place to put the money that you have diligently saved, you decide, quite wisely, that gold may be a viable option, and a Hattons of London advert for their latest sovereign appears on the television and it sparks your interest.
In Britain, the original grading scale classed every coin as either ‘Fine’ or ‘Extremely Fine’ – these were the only options. As times changed, extra steps were added into that scheme: ‘Good’ and ‘Very Good’, both below Fine, and ‘Very Fine’, below Extremely Fine. That created five grading steps, which was even further expanded over time by dealers by adding ‘Almost’ or ‘Good’ to any of those grades, with ‘Almost Fine’ being less than Fine and ‘Good Fine’ being better than Fine, but less than ‘Almost Very Fine’.
For over one hundred years this was the grading scheme in Europe, and it didn’t include the grade ‘Uncirculated’, for the simple reason that it was considered that any coin that came from circulation couldn’t be ‘uncirculated’.
If you’re interested in starting coin collecting, but want to do a bit of research beforehand, we think the perfect place to start is learning some of the key terms.
Coin collecting can be both rewarding and intimidating at the same time, with it often seeming like coin collectors are speaking their own unique language. With that in mind, we have put together a glossary of terms to help you along the way and to allow you the best possible chance of starting and progressing your coin collection.