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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Racketeer Nickel

In 1883 the American government issued new five-cent pieces lacking a CENTS denomination. The coin's reverse displayed a large V. One rascal gold plated a number of these and cleverly passed them off to unsuspecting merchants as $5 gold pieces. He would purchase a 4-cent item, hand the merchant the gold plated coin, and await his change, either 1 cent or $4.96. When exposed, he held that he never claimed the coins to be five dollar gold pieces! The government quickly added the word CENTS to the design. A similar gold plating trick cropped up in regards to England's 1887 one-shilling coin.

Rarity

Part of the particularization process in United States numismatics, there are currently two rarity schemes in use. The senior and foremost was popularized by Dr. J. Hewitt Judd (may he rest in peace) in his book United States Pattern, Experimental and Trial Pieces, more commonly referred to by its popular name, the Judd book.

Judd separated rarity into eight classes: Rarity-8 (2 or 3 known); Rarity-7 (4 to 12 known); Rarity-6 (13 to 30 known); and so on. Market participants have since particularized the most highly prized rarities into High and Low, such as in High Rarity-7; some take another tack and add a plus or minus sign, as in Rarity-2+. (Thus, in a sub variety of 1793 large cent we might find this enlightening description: "1793 Wreath. Vine and bars edge. Sheldon-9b. Rarity-4+."

It should be understood that rarity numbers using Judd's system derive from educated guesses, i.e., participant experience.

Following the debut of slabbing came so-called grade-rarity, the second method of determining a coin's rank, and much more amenable to price manipulation. Grading services compile large pools of data. Their published census figures for each grade give a helpful, though oftentimes skewed look at the rarity of various coins in various conditions. Naturally, this latter system leaves something to be desired, but who has anything better to offer? It fails to include coins from competing services, or coins that have been submitted for grading more than once; worse, it ignores raw coins. And it fails to take into account the observed fact that many people dispute a coin's assigned grade. But, what the heck! See pop.

Raw

A raw coin is one that has not been graded by one of the recognized grading services, ANACS, PCGS, or NGC. First heard in January 1987 on the coin circuit, barely six months after the arrival of slabbing. (Notice how quickly slang terms evolve to meet changing conditions.)

Rays Nickel

The first five-cent pieces, issued in 1866 and 1867, had rays interspersed between the 13 stars on the reverse. Early die wear and breakage led the mint to delete these rays on the remaining coins of 1867-1883.

Red Book

The Guide Book of United States Coins, issued each year since 1947, has a bright red cover and, thanks to fiat money, an ever-increasing cover price. The coin collector's Bible.

Rounds

Any of a number of (usually) one-ounce silver ingots issued by numerous private mints on round planchets. Rounds gained popularity in the late 1970s. By the eighties and nineties jillions were being sold annually. Every sort of event and personage gets commemorated on these.

Forerunners to rounds were rectangular one-ounce bars that hit collectors' fancies beginning in 1972. This earlier craze got out of hand when untold thousands of types were stamped out and sold to unwitting guppies at delightfully obscene markups. As with all such fads, this one imploded and left investors counting up their losses.

For a time in the mid-1980s, five-ounce rounds were all the rage. Then, in the 1990s, came government mints issuing twelve-ouncers as well as kilo rounds in such metals as gold, platinum, palladium, and, it is rumored but not verified, protactinium. In the January 18, 1993 issue of Coin World is reported the sale of a 5-kilogram (11-pound) gold round or Panda of China. "The coin was reported sold for $147,000" to an American buyer. (Are hundredweight rounds next? And how about plutonium?)

Rub

Light friction, usually noticeable on an otherwise fully Uncirculated coin. A blazer that might fetch $10,000 drops to perhaps $1000 with rub. This encourages profit-hungry dealers and collectors to hide the rub, to artificially enhance the coin's appearance, by either cleaning it or toning it. Others just claim the rub is a minting characteristic! Rub is also known as friction, handling, or "cabinet friction". In the true and proper sense of the latter word, cabinet friction describes a coin which was stored in a coin cabinet before the mass marketing of various specialty holders first became available in the 1930s. Coins housed in such cabinets tended to slide to and fro when the drawers were opened, putting wear on the highest points. In the early 1970s Bowers and Ruddy Galleries used the silly term "Brilliant Uncirculated, light rub" in their advertisements to describe such "super sliders". I know. I was there and had to type it. See Bow-Wow, nice.

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