PCGS CoinFacts Rarity Scale™

The PCGS CoinFacts Rarity Scale™ is a tool that can be used to assess the relative rarity of all United States coins. The scale runs from 1.0 to 10.0. The coin issues that have the highest possible rarity, i.e. only one surviving specimen known to exist, are assigned the rarity of 10.0, expressed as "CFR 10.0." Any coin for which the estimated number of survivors exceeds one million specimens is assigned the rarity of 1.0, expressed as "CFR 1.0."

The PCGS CoinFacts Rarity Scale™ can be used to compare overall rarity of a coin in all grades or rarity in certain grades. For example, for many coins listed in the PCGS Rare Coin Market Report™ the rarity estimate is given for all surviving specimens in all grades ("All"), all surviving specimens that grade 60 or better ("60ob"), and all surviving specimens grade 65 or better ("65ob").

The figures for the survival estimates from which the PCGS CoinFacts Rarity Scale™ ratings are derived represent the consensus opinion of the PCGS CoinFacts Board of Experts. PCGS CoinFacts maintains an internal data base of survival estimates for all United States coins. Members of the PCGS CoinFacts Board of Experts (which include many of the top rare coin experts of all-time) list their estimates of survival rates in this data base. The figures used in the PCGS Rare Coin Market Report represent the average of the experts’ opinions. Note that the "survival rating for every U.S. coin" is an ongoing project which has just been recently started. There are a few coins in this initial issue of the PCGS Rare Coin Market Report that already have survival ratings. More will be added in each new issue as the experts continue their work, and rarity ratings may even change as experts compare notes and make adjustments.

Have fun reviewing the experts' ratings for your favorite coins!

RarityEstimated Survivors
10.10
10.01
9.92
9.83 to 4
9.75 to 6
9.67 to 9
9.510 to 12
9.413 to 14
9.315 to 16
9.217 to 18
9.119 to 20
9.021 to 25
8.926 to 30
8.831 - 35
8.736 - 40
8.641 - 45
8.546 - 50
8.451 - 60
8.361 - 70
8.271 - 80
8.181 - 90
8.091 - 100
7.9101 - 110
7.8111 - 120
7.7121 - 130
7.6131 - 140
7.5141 - 150
7.4151 - 160
7.3161 - 170
7.2171 - 180
7.1181 - 190
7.0191 - 200
6.9201 - 210
6.8211 - 220
6.7221 - 240
6.6241 - 260
6.5261 - 280
6.4281 - 300
6.3301 - 350
6.2351 - 400
6.1401 - 450
6.0451 - 500
5.9501 - 550
5.8551 - 600
5.7601 - 650
5.6651 - 700
RarityEstimated Survivors
5.5701 - 750
5.4751 - 800
5.3801 - 850
5.2851 - 900
5.1901 - 950
5.0951 - 1000
4.91001 - 1250
4.81251 - 1500
4.71501 - 1750
4.61751 - 2000
4.52001 - 2500
4.42501 - 3000
4.33001 - 3500
4.23501 - 4000
4.14001 - 4500
4.04501 - 5000
3.95001 - 5500
3.85501 - 6000
3.76001 - 6500
3.66501 - 7000
3.57001 - 7500
3.47501 - 8000
3.38001 - 8500
3.28501 - 9000
3.19001 - 9500
3.09501 - 10,000
2.910,001 - 15,000
2.815,001 - 20,000
2.720,001 - 30,000
2.630,001 - 40,000
2.540,001 - 50,000
2.450,001 - 60,000
2.360,001 - 70,000
2.270,001 - 80,000
2.180,001 - 90,000
2.090,001 - 100,000
1.9100,001 - 200,000
1.8200,001 - 300,000
1.7300,001 - 400,000
1.6400,001 - 500,000
1.5500,001 - 600,000
1.4600,001 - 700,000
1.3700,001 - 800,000
1.2800,001 - 900,000
1.1900,001 - 1,000,000
1.0over 1,000,000

The above represents a numerical approach to the relative rarity question.

For a descriptive approach, we would suggest the following adjectives.

Rarity Description
10.1No Known Examples
10.0Unique
9.0 to 9.9Ultra Rare
8.0 to 8.9Extremely Rare
7.0 to 7.9Very Rare
5.0 to 6.9Rare
3.0 to 4.9Very Scarce
2.0 to 2.9Scarce
1.1 to 1.9Common
1.0Very Common