Where do those rarity ratings come from? Like R3, R4, etc. For example, I just read on a website that the 1909-O Barber Half is a R4 (Very Scarce) rarity. Are these posted anywhere or is there some publication that lists this info?
There are many different Rarity Ratings, and each one has a different meaning. EX: R4 might mean less than 25, while when talking about Tokens R4 might mean 5,000-10,000. For a few years now everytime I see a Rarity Rating I copy it and save it on my hard drive....here is what I have so far: Fuld rarity scale for token coins: GEORGE FULD RARITY SCALE FOR TOKEN COINS RARITY ESTIMATED NUMBER IN EXISTENCE R - 1 Greater than 5000 (Relatively Common) R - 2 2001 to 5000 R - 3 501 to 2000 R - 4 201 to 500 R - 5 76 to 200 R - 6 21 to 75 R - 7 11 to 20 R - 8 5 to 10 R - 9 2 to 4 R - 10 1 Only The Sheldon Scale R-1 Common R-2 Not So Common R-3 Scarce R-4 Very Scarce (population est at 76-200) R-5 Rare (31-75) R-6 Very Rare (13-30) R-7 Extremely rare (4-12) R-8 Unique or Nearly So (1,2 or 3) The Universal Rarity Scale by Q. David Bowers URS-0 None known URS-1 1 known, unique URS-2 2 known URS-3 3 or 4 known URS-4 5 to 8 known URS-5 9 to 16 known URS-6 17 to 32 known URS-7 33 to 64 known URS-8 65 to 125 known URS-9 126 to 250 known URS-10 251 to 500 known URS-11 501 to 1,000 known URS-12 1,001 to 2,000 known URS-13 2,001 to 4,000 known URS-14 4,001 to 8,000 known URS-15 8,001 to 16,000 known URS-16 16,001 to 32,000 known URS-17 32,001 to 65,000 known URS-18 65,001 to 125,000 known URS-19 125,001 to 250,000 known URS-20 250,001 to 500,000 known From the degrees of Rarity as defined in Scholten in Coins of the Dutch Overseas Territories Scholten Description C Common N Normal S Scarce R Rare RR Very Rare RRR Extremely Rare RRRR Of the utmost rarity Michael Marsh in his book The Gold Sovereign expands the last rarity. Marsh Description R4 15 to 25 examples known R5 9 to 14 examples known R6 4 to 8 examples known R7 Highest rarity known Andrew Pollock in his book US Patterns uses the rarity as, Marsh Description R1 over 1250 examples known R2 500 to 1250 examples known R3 201 to 500 examples known R4 76 to 200 examples known R5 31 to 75 examples known R6 13 to 30 examples known R7 4 to 12 Highest rarity known R8 2 or 3 examples known Overton (and bust half collectors as a whole) use the Sheldon Rarity System where: R1 is common (1000+ pieces known) R2 is Slightly uncommon (501-1000 pieces known) R3 is Scarce (201-500 pieces known) R4 is Very Scarce (81-200 pieces known) R5 is Rare (31-80 pieces known) R6 is Very Rare (13-30 pieces known) R7 is Extremely Rare (4-12 pieces known) R8 is Unique or nearly so (1-3 pieces known) English Rarity Scale - from The English Silver Coinage from 1649 by Seaby & Rayner. R7 - only 1 or 2 examples known R6 - 3 - 4 R5 - 5 - 10 R4 - 11 - 20 R3 - Extremely Rare R2 - Very Rare R - Rare S - Scarce N - Normal, neither scarce nor common C - Common C2 - Very Common C3 - Extremely Common Hard Times tokens rarity scale R1 - common R2 - less common R3 - Scarce R4 - estimated 76-200 specimens survive R5 - estimated 31-75 specimens survive R6 - estimated 13-30 specimens survive R7 - estimated 4-12 specimens survive R8 - estimated 2 or 3 specimens survive R9 - Unique (only one known) Speedy
Wow Speedy! That list could save hours of time later! However, I don't think those fit what I was referring to. I saw the original mention of R4, etc. on coinfacts.com. Here is a link to them talking about Barber Halves: http://www.coinfacts.com/half_dollars/barber_half_dollars/barber_half_dollars.html If you don't want to go to the link, here is the text I'm referring to: "There are no true rarities in the lower grades (other than the 1892 micro-O), but three regular issues each have total mint state populations lower than that of the 1901-S quarter. Of the 73 regular issues, three are R6, 16 are R5, 10 are R4, 17 are R3, 15 are R2 and only 12 are R1. The micro-O, with only two coins certified, is R8 in mint state." Whet the heck they be talking about?
Interesting---I can't match that up with any of the ones I posted. I would be interested in knowing what RR they are talking about. Maybe Doug knows. Speedy
To maybe help out or at least add fuel to the fire, here is a partial quote from the 1909-O Barber Half: "1909-O has increased in rarity from R3 [Scarce] to R4 [Very Scarce] since 1991..." So it isn't static like being based on mintages. Somebody, somewhere must be judging this.....?
What that probably means is the number of known examples (or the estimated population) has been revised downward. You cannot go by population reports issued by PCGS and NGC because resubmittals and crossovers artificially inflate the pop numbers.
I realize this is a resurrected old thread, but here is a rarity scale of a type of token that I collect that might scare off some collectors that are a bit impatient. It can be found in the TAMS Journal Volume 31 Number 1(2) from Feb, 1991 and pertains to MITAD tokens. I started collecting them about six years ago and have acquired a little over a dozen of them. Very rare: 0 or 1 piece known (including types and varieties) Rare: 2 to 4 pieces known (including types and varieties) Scarce: 5 to 9 pieces known (including types and varieties) Common: over 9 pieces known (including types and varieties) It goes on to say that in general, no MITAD tokens are commonly found on lists of tokens being offered for sale. Quite often, while searching for them on ebay, no listings for them are found.
Great job! Very useful. If you have no objection, I would like to quote you when I am asked about rarity scales.