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Dictionary of Coin Collector Terms and Definitions:

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Abbreviations & acronyms

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Information about New Presidential Dollar coins:

~Unusual Edge Letters on Dollars

~US mint press release.

~Production Schedule of Dollars to be released

~Legislation Authorizing Presidential Dollars in 2007

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"A Glossary of Coin Collecting Words and Definitions"

Locate the meaning of coin dealer and numismatic words.

COIN COLLECTOR WORDS

that start with the letter

" 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".
Genuine: - Authentic. Minted by the issuing country. Not a counterfeit or fake coin.
Godzilla: - An outstanding coin. Often used to describe a coin of exceptional quality and appearance. Sometimes, but rarely used to describe a very large coin.
Gold Eagle: - Gold Eagle coins were first minted by the United States government in 1986. Intended to compete with the world bullion gold coins such as the Canadian Maple Leaf and South African Krugerrand, the gold eagles have become very popular gold bullion coins, with millions having been made by the US mint since their 1986 introduction. Today several sizes of gold eagle coins are made: 1/10 oz, fourth ounce, half oz. and one ounce coins. Sometimes these coins are called "American Eagles", GE, or AGE.
gold price: - the price of gold per troy ounce or killogram. For current spot gold prices click here.
goloid: - an alloy of silver, gold and copper. Goloid was a metal coin alloy proposed and patented by Dr. William Wheeler Hubbell in 1877. A goloid coin would contain about 3-4% gold, 9% copper and mostly silver. Dr. Wheeler proposed an international system of using goloid in coinage. This international push for "metric dollars" failed to result in world community acceptance. A number of prototype (pattern) US coins were made of goloid between 1878 to 1880, but none were ever released into circulation.
Goloid was not accepted as circulating coinage metal because it was difficult to distinguished from normal 90% silver coins. The fear was that counterfeiters might use a silver-copper alloy to make fake copies of any coins produced (without the 3-4% gold in them).
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 number scale system from 1 to 70, measuring coins from a low grade such as About Good -3 to the highest grade of Mint State Uncirculated-70.
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. Click here for more weight comparisons. Abbreviation = gm.
granular: - used to describe a porous appearance or surface, often visible under slight magnification. A granular appearance can be the result of many factors, such as oxidation of the metal, exposure to moisture, or chemicals intentionally or accidentally exposed to the coin.
greeddobo (greed-dough-bough): - term used by southern coin dealers for someone who is so caught up in making profits that they do stupid things.