Coin Market Fundamentals: What the Spec?

I was told as a young coin dealer that if you specialized in a particular area of U.S. coinage you might, after a substantial amount of study, become more knowledgeable in that type of U.S. coinage than 95% of full-time coin dealers.

Whether you specialize or not, breaking a topic down into manageable parts is often the best way to confront an objective or desire. Regardless of your level of knowledge on a given topic, exploring a new topic or coin you desire can very well leave you feeling like an individual who’s outside looking in.

Having resources to educate yourself is one thing, but knowing how to use those resources is another. When it comes right down to it, how can you look something up when you don’t even know what it is you are trying to look up?

Here at PCGS, we are constantly incorporating new information and data into the PCGS Price Guide and PCGS CoinFacts. We review recent sales and auction prices realized, which factor into the periodical adjustments to the prices we publish. Additionally, we are always hungry for new data that will allow us to add pricing to new coins or to expand the pricing information we currently have.

PCGS-graded coins feature two very important numbers on their holders in addition to the country of origin, date, mint, denomination, and grade. These two numbers are the unique certification number and the spec number, which usually appear near the bottom of the PCGS coin label above the bar code.

The unique certification number is usually seven or eight digits in length. This certification number is unique to that individual coin and is perfect for identifying that specimen for inventory purposes. The spec number is the specific number assigned to a particular coin which accounts for its country of origin, date, mint of production, and variety (if any). The two-digit numerical grade of that particular coin often follows the spec number, separated by a period.

Using the PCGS Certification Verification portal, enter the seven- or eight-digit certification number. The certification number will not only verify whether this coin was graded by PCGS, but from the certification number, the website will verify the date/mintmark, denomination, country, and grade. I’ve always found it very helpful comparing the coin’s image on PCGS Cert Verification to the “coin in hand” when using the website.

PCGS Cert Verification also provides the current PCGS Price Guide value if available and the population of that particular coin and grade. If the coin has been sold recently at a public auction, the prices realized for that particular coin are also provided. These auction prices realized (APRs) are crucial for determining the real market and, thus, the PCGS Price Guide value.

The spec number is what identifies the coin in relation to all the other coins produced in the world. The spec number is specifically designated to a particular date/mintmark, country, and variety (if any). For most U.S. classic coins issued prior to 1950, the four-digit 0000-9999 encompasses virtually all the coins produced by the U.S. Mint up until that time. Since 1986, some of the four-digit coin numbers have been augmented to reflect grading differentiations PCGS has added. For example, the DMPL designation for Morgan Dollars was edited by adding a “9” in front of the four-digit number for the PL example of that date.

7130 – MS 1881-S Morgan Dollar
7131 – PL 1881-S Morgan Dollar
97131 – DMPL 1881-S Morgan Dollar

For classic proof coins that often come with a Cameo (CAM) or Deep Cameo (DCAM) appearance, the four-digit code was augmented with a fifth digit with an “8” to designate CAM and a “9” to designate DCAM. For example, an 1880 Proof Liberty Seated Quarter will have these three possible spec numbers:

5581 – PR 1880 Liberty Seated Quarter
85581 – PRCAM 1880 Liberty Seated Quarter
95581 – PRDCAM 1880 Liberty Seated Quarter

The four members of the PCGS Price Guide team have well over 120 years of cumulative experience buying, selling, and pricing U.S. coinage. Regardless of how much experience we have, there are areas that need more data. Recently, Stack’s Bowers Galleries began auctioning the immense Sydney F. Martin Collection of Colonial and Early U.S. material. Just the scope and inclusiveness of this incredible collection provide us with data most often very difficult to find or not available at all.

Experience and expertise in U.S. coins are one thing, but how about our knowledge of other coin markets?

Besides maintaining prices that we currently list on the website, there are many areas in U.S. coinage we plan to both add to and expand. Like the aforementioned Sydney F. Martin Collection, new collections coming on the market allow us to not only fill in the blanks on many issues, but to also add new prices on items we’ve never had sufficient data to price previously.

One of the most important, and interesting (to me), aspects about numismatics is the vast amount of information encompassed by the field. There are “rabbit holes” aplenty!