How Rare Is A Rare Coin? How Experts Rate Rare U.S. Coins

But some some rare coins are more rare than others.

The Sheldon-Breen rarity scale, named for legendary numismatists Dr. William Sheldon and Walter Breen, helps coin collectors to discover just how scarce their coins really are.

The Sheldon-Breen rarity scale was devised in 1958. The rarity scale attempts to rate a coins scarcity based on how many coins of a certain date and type are estimated to still exist.

Though, of course, no one can ever really know for sure how many coins survive, but estimates at least give us some idea.

There are 9 levels on the Sheldon-Breen rarity scale:
(Remember, the number of coins below refer to estimates!)

R-8: This is a unique coin; only 1 exists
R-7 High: A coin that’s excessively rare; 2 to 3 exist
R-7 Low: An extremely rare coin with 4 to 12 remaining known
R-6: A very rare coin with 13 to 30 known specimens
R-5: 31 to 75 coins exist, classifying it as rare
R-4: A very scarce coin with 76 to 200 examples left
R-3: With 201 to 500 estimated pieces, this is a scarce coin
R-2: A coin that is not common, with 501 to 1250 coins in existence
R-1: With at least 1251 coins remaining, this is a common coin

Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez( Senior Editor )

I’m the Coin Editor here at TheFunTimesGuide. My love for coins began when I was 11 years old. I primarily collect and study U.S. coins produced during the 20th century.

I’m a member of the American Numismatic Association (ANA) and the Numismatic Literary Guild (NLG) and have won multiple awards from the NLG for my work as a coin journalist. I’m also the editor at the Florida United Numismatists Club (FUN Topics magazine), and author of Images of America: The United States Mint in Philadelphia (a book that explores the colorful history of the Philadelphia Mint). I’ve contributed hundreds of articles for various coin publications including COINage, The Numismatist, Numismatic News, Coin Dealer Newsletter, Coin Values, and CoinWeek.

I’ve authored nearly 1,000 articles here at The Fun Times Guide to Coins (many of them with over 50K shares), and I welcome your coin questions in the comments below!