Coin Auction Terms, Explained

Terms About the Sale

These are the words that describe how a sale is put together and paid out, from the day a collection arrives to the day the checks go out.

Lot

A single item or group of items sold together under one number in the sale. A lot can be one Morgan dollar or a cigar box of wheat cents; either way it sells as a unit, to one bidder, at one price.

Catalog

The listing of every lot in a sale, with photographs and written descriptions. Careful bidders read the catalog the way a horse buyer walks the stable: decide what you want, and what it is worth to you, before the bidding ever starts.

Consignment

Coins placed with an auction house to be sold on the owner's behalf. The house photographs and catalogs the coins, runs the sale, and takes an agreed fee out of the proceeds; the consignor receives the rest.

Reserve

A confidential minimum a lot must reach before it will sell. If bidding stops short of the reserve, the lot passes and goes home with the consignor. The terms of sale state whether an auction carries reserves, so read them before you plan around a low opening.

Opening bid

The amount where bidding on a lot starts. In our weekly sales most lots open at $5, whether it is a circulated Buffalo nickel or a gold double eagle.

Hammer price

The winning bid at the moment the auctioneer closes the lot. It is the number the gavel confirms, before the buyer's premium or shipping is added, and it is the figure auction records are built on.

Buyer's premium

A fee added to the hammer price and paid by the winning bidder, spelled out in the terms of sale before the auction begins. Our buyer's premium guide covers the why and the arithmetic with real numbers.

Prices realized

The published results of a sale, lot by lot. We post prices realized after every auction, and they make the most honest price guide in the hobby, because every figure on the list is a real transaction between a willing seller and the high bidder.

Settlement

The money side of the sale after the last hammer falls. Buyers pay their invoices, consignors receive their proceeds on the agreed schedule, and the books on that auction close.

Terms About Bidding

Five words carry almost everything that happens between your decision to bid and the coins arriving at your door.

Absentee bid (maximum bid)

Your ceiling, entered before the session starts. The platform bids on your behalf in increments, only as far as the competition pushes, and nobody ever sees your top number. It is the calm way to bid, and the one we recommend to anyone who cannot sit through a live session.

Live webcast

An auction streamed over the internet in real time, with the auctioneer calling lots and online bidders competing at the same moment. Our sales run this way every week on HiBid, and absentee bids compete right alongside the live clicks.

Bid increment

The set step bidding advances by, which grows as the price climbs. The platform always shows the next asking price on screen, so you never have to guess what your click commits you to.

Fair warning

The auctioneer's last call before the hammer falls on a lot. When you hear it, the lot is one breath from selling: bid that instant or let it go.

Invoice

The bill a winning bidder receives after the sale, itemized on one page: hammer prices, the buyer's premium, and any shipping. Pay it and your coins ship to your door or wait for pickup.

Terms About the Coins

The catalog describes every coin with the same handful of words. Here is what they mean when they show up in a lot description.

Obverse and reverse

The front and back of a coin. The obverse is heads, carrying the main portrait or design and usually the date; the reverse is tails.

Mint mark

A small letter on a coin showing which mint struck it, such as the CC of Carson City or the S of San Francisco on a Morgan dollar. The same date from two different mints can differ in price by a hundred times.

Key date

The scarce, expensive date in a series, the one collectors hunt longest to find. The 1909-S VDB Lincoln cent and the 1916-D Mercury dime are the famous key dates of their series, and a catalog line that names one deserves a second look.

Mint state

A coin with no wear from circulation, graded MS-60 through MS-70 on the grading scale. A mint state coin can still show marks from striking and bagging at the mint; it just never bought anything.

Certified (slabbed)

Graded and authenticated by a third-party service such as NGC or PCGS, then sealed in a hard plastic holder collectors call a slab. The grade on the label travels with the coin, which is why certified lots draw bidders who never see the coin in hand.

Raw

Not certified. A raw coin comes with no holder and no third-party grade, so its condition rests on the buyer's own eye and the seller's honesty.

Grade

The condition of a coin, expressed as a number from 1 to 70 that reflects wear and preservation. Our coin grading guide explains the scale and why one grade point can double a price.

Type coin

A coin bought as one example of a design rather than for its date and mint mark. A type collector wants one handsome Barber quarter, not all seventy-odd of them, so common dates in high grade suit the purpose well.

Bullion

Coins, bars, and rounds that trade on their metal content rather than collector demand. American Gold Eagles and Krugerrands sit in this camp, and they appear often in our gold coin auctions alongside the numismatic material.

That is the whole working vocabulary. We checked these definitions against the Coins.com numismatic glossary, so what you read here matches what the wider hobby means by each word. The rest of the Learning Center goes deeper on grading, the premium, and buying strategy, and the fastest teacher is still a live session: our weekly sales give you a fresh catalog of lots every few days to practice on, most of them starting at $5.

Glossary Questions