S	Mintmark is used by the San Francisco, California branch mint.
S VDB	Short for 1909-S VDB Lincoln Head cent.
S-Mint	A term applied to the coins struck at the San Francisco, California branch Mint.
SA	South Africa
Sac	Sacagawea Dollar
Sacagawea Dollar	The Sacagawea dollar is a one-dollar value circulating coin that was introduced in the year 2000. It is also called the golden dollar in the non-numismatic community because of its colour. The coin honours Sacagawea, a Shoshone Indian woman who was a guide and interpreter for the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804. Glenna Goodacre designed the obverse of the coin and Thomas D. Rogers created the reverse. Sacagawea dollars are struck for circulation at the Philadelphia and Denver Mints, while Proofs are struck in San Francisco.
Saint	Slang for the Saint-Gaudens-inspired double eagle struck from 1907 until 1933. (The 1933 issue is currently considered illegal to own as the government insists that none of this date was legally released.) This low-relief copy of the Extremely High Relief and High Relief designs was the work of Chief Engraver Charles Barber.
Saint-Gaudens	Last name of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, the preeminent sculptor of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. At the request of President Teddy Roosevelt, he redesigned the eagle and double eagle in 1907 although he died mid-production. Also, slang for the Liberty Head double eagle or Saint.
Saltwater Unc	A very deceptive term. Generally, a term to describe coins with a finely pitted surface, however, recent discoveries of coins that have been exposed to saltwater for over a hundred years have made this term inaccurate, if not obsolete. The sand, not the saltwater, likely does the pitting on gold and silver coins in the ocean. A better term for these coins would be sandblasted UNC or sand-damaged UNC’s.
San Francisco Mint	The United States branch Mint located in San Francisco, California struck coins from 1854 until 1955. After closing as a Mint, it served as an assay office until it reopened as a coinage facility in 1965. This facility manufactures annual proof coin sets, manufactures silver proof coin sets and manufactures commemorative coins. This mint uses the “S” mintmark.
Satin Finish	Another of the experimental Proof surfaces used on U.S. gold coins after 1907. The dies were treated in some manner to create the silky surfaces imparted to the coins.
Satin Luster	Fine, silky lustre is seen on many business strike coins, especially copper and nickel issues. Almost no “cartwheel” effect is seen on coins with this type of lustre.
Scratch	A detracting line that is more severe than a hairline. The size of a coin determines the point at which a line ceases to be viewed as a hairline and instead is regarded as a scratch; the larger the coin, the greater the tolerance. A heavy scratch may result in a coin not being graded by PCGS.
Screw Press	The first type of coining press was used at the U.S. Mint. Invented by Italian craftsman Donato Bramante, this press had a fixed anvil (or lower) die, with the hammer (or upper) die being attached to a rod with screw-like threads. When weighted arms attached to the rod were rotated, the screw mechanism quickly moved the rod with the die downward, striking the planchet placed into the lower die. The struck coin then was ejected and the process was repeated.
SD	Small Date
Seal	An official symbol or mark or could also mean protection by making it tamper-proof.
Sea Salvage Coin	A coin retrieved from the ocean, usually from a shipwreck.
Seated	Liberty Seated
Seated Coinage	A term commonly used for Liberty Seated coinage
Second Toning	Any toning, natural or artificial, that results after a coin is dipped or cleaned. This second toning is seldom as attractive as original toning, although some coins “take” second toning better than others.
Seignorage	The profit generated from the printing or coining of currency. This word also has many other related meanings, most often associated with taxes created through inflation.
Semi-common	Term to denote coins that are neither scarce nor common. An example would be Uncirculated 1903 Morgan dollars.
Semi-numismatic	A term indicating a coin that has a significant bullion value and some numismatic value. The most recognized examples are Liberty Head and Saint-Gaudens double eagles.
Semi-proof-like	A term used to describe a coin that has some mirror-like surface mixed with satin or frosty lustre. Reflectivity is obscured on such a specimen, unlike the reflectivity on proof-like and deep mirror-proof-like coins.
Series	A particular design or motif is used over a period of time. This can be used for a single denomination, or in some cases, used for several denominations. The Liberty Seated series encompasses five denominations, the Barber series three, etc.
Set	A term indicating a collection of coins in a series, a collection of types, or a collection from a particular Mint.
Set Registry	Listing of registered PCGS-graded sets of coins. These include Morgan dollar sets, Proof Barber quarter sets, Mercury dime sets, etc.
Shaving	The process whereby someone fraudulently removed minor amounts of shaves & slivers of precious metal from the edge of a coin - reducing its weight but making it impassable and then profiting from the absconded metal.
Sheldon Scale	The 70-point scale was created by the late Dr William H. Sheldon and adopted by the numismatic industry for coin GRADING purposes: 1 Poor 2 Fair 3 About Good 4-6 Good 7-10 Very Good 11-19 Fine 20-39 Very Fine 40-49 Fine 50-59 About Uncirculated 60-70 Mint State
Shield	The emblem is used on certain issues that have horizontal and vertical lines in a shield shape.
Shield Nickel	A common name for the Shield five-cent coin struck from 1866 until 1883.
Shiny Spots	Areas on Matte, Roman, and Satin Proofs where the surface has been disturbed. On brilliant Proofs, dull spots appear where there are disturbances; on textured-surface coins such as Matte, Roman, and Satin Proofs, these disturbances create “shiny” spots.
Shotgun Rolls	This term has two definitions. The first refers to rolls of coins that contain double the normal amount of coins in a roll. For instance, a shotgun roll of silver dollars contains 40 coins. The name derives from the length of the rolls being similar to the length of a shotgun shell. These double rolls were common and popular during the great roll boom of the 1960s. The second definition of shotgun roll refers to a paper-wrapped roll that is machine-crimped like the end of a shotgun shell.
Show	The common term for a bourse or coin show.
Sight Seen	A term to indicate that the buyer of a particular numismatic item in a particular grade wants to view the coin before he buys it. He may have a customer who wants an untoned coin – or a toned coin, or some other specific requirement.
Sight Unseen	A term to indicate that the buyer of a particular numismatic item in a particular grade will pay a certain price without examining the item.
Silver	Term to indicate coins struck in silver (generally 90% silver and 10% copper but there are a few exceptions).
Silver Commem	Short for silver commemorative coins.
Silver Commemoratives	Any coins that are stuck to commemorate a special event or person. Every country mint their own silver commemoratives.
Silver Dollar	A coin of the one-dollar denomination that is struck in a composition of 90% silver (or so) and 10% copper. The silver USA dollar was minted from 1794. Modern dollar coins are sometimes called silver dollars, even though the pieces struck for circulation contain no silver.
Silver Nickel	Jargon for the Wartime nickel.
Silver Plug	On certain early American coins, a silver plug was inserted into a hole in the centre of the coin. This silver was then flattened out when it was struck. The plug added weight and value to the coin to align it with the correct specifications. Examples: 1792 Silver-Center Cent Specimen 1794 Silver Dollar varieties of 1795 Silver Dollars.
Silver-Clad	A term used for the Kennedy half dollar(1965 to 1970). Silver-Clad was made of 40% silver and 60% copper. The coins have two outer layers containing primarily silver (80%) and are bonded to a core made primarily of copper (79%).
Skirt Lines	The lines are demonstrated on the Walking Liberty half dollars of the folds on Miss Liberty’s flowing gown.
SL	Small Letters
Slab	Numismatic jargon for the holder in which a coin is kept or encapsulated by a grading service. Slabbed refer to the coin being encapsulated.
Slabbed	The process of sending a coin to a third-party grading service and receiving it back after it has been authenticated, graded, and encapsulated in a sealed holder.
Sleeper	Refers to a coin which appears undervalued when compared to its peers.
Slider	A term used to describe an AU coin that looks, or can be sold as, Uncirculated. Occasionally used as a reference to another grade; a slider EF coin, for example, would be a VF/EF coin that is nearly EF.
Slug	Slang for the octagonal and round fifty-dollar gold coins struck during the California gold rush. Example: The 1915 Pan-Pac fifty-dollar commemorative issues.
Small Cent	Those cents of reduced size, replacing the large cent.
Small Date	A term referring to the size of the digits of the date on a coin. This term is used when other sizes(Large or medium) dates exist for that particular coin or series.
Small Eagle	The plain eagle on a perch was first used on the 1794 half dime and half USA dollar.
Small Letters	A term referring to the size of the lettering of the date on a coin in comparison with other size letters of the particular coin or series.
Small Motto	A common short name such as the inscription “IN GOD WE TRUST” or the word “SOLI DEO GLORIA” on the USA and South African R1.
Small Size	A term referring to the particular diameter of a coin in a series.
SMS	Special Mint Set
SP	Specimen Strike
Spark-Erosion Die	The die is made by an electrolytic deposition method. The surfaces of such a die are normally rough and have to be extensively polished to remove the “pimples.”
Spark-Erosion Strike	The coins are made from spark-erosion dies. These are characterized by the telltale “pimples” noted mainly on the areas in relief.
SS	Specially Select
Specially Select	Used to describe coins in the crown series. These coins are handpicked by the Mint and then put into Special Mint sets. SS coins often present “brush marks” in the fields.
Special Mint Set	A set of specially selected coins that are carefully minted and packed in sets.
Specimen	A term used to indicate special coins struck at the Mint. PCGS designates these coins SP.
Specimen Strike	Prototype/example of proposed coins for discussion, testing and approval.
Split Grade	Until the mid-1980 it was common practice to assign a separate grade to both the obverse and reverse of a coin. For example, if the front of a coin is graded 65 but the reverse is only graded 63 then it would be assigned a grade of 65/63.
Splotchy Toning	Colour that is uneven, both in shade and composition
Spot	Any discoloured area on a coin. This can be a small dot of copper staining on a gold coin or a large, dark “tar” spot on a copper coin.
Tagged Ear	Refers to the South African, 1966 “Tagged Ear” of the Springbok on the one Rand (R1) coin. At least 8 coins exist.
St. Gaudens	Short for Augustus Saint-Gaudens or jargon for the Standing Liberty double eagle or Saint.
Standing Liberty	Motif with Miss Liberty in an upright front-facing position.
Standing Liberty quarter	The common name of the Hermon MacNeil designed quarter dollar(1917 to 1930)
Staple Scratch	A scratch on a coin results from scratching the coin on a staple when it is removed from the two-by-two cardboard-type holder. Always remove staples completely to prevent this from happening.
Star	A term for the five-pointed and six-pointed devices used on many U.S. coins.
Steam-Powered Press	Any coining press is driven by a steam-powered engine.
Steel Cent	Any coins minted in steel, these coins are sometimes plated to improve their appearance with zinc.
Steelies	Slang for coins made from steel.
Stella	A term applied to the experimental four-dollar gold coins struck by the U.S. Mint between 1879-1880. The coins had a large star on the reverse.
Sterling Silver	Sterling silver is a composition of 925 parts pure silver with 75 parts of copper. This is usually defined as .925 fine silver. Sterling silver is used to make jewellery and some household items, most notably silverware (knives, forks, etc.).
Stock Edge	A counterfeit edge collar is used for various-dated fakes.
Store Cards	Merchant tokens, usually composed of copper, helped alleviate the small change shortage during the nineteenth century. These were widely accepted in their immediate areas as a form of currency or value.
Stress Lines	An alternate form of “flow lines.”
Striations	A term for the incuse polish lines on the die which result in raised lines on coins. These are usually fine, parallel lines though on some coins they are swirling, still others with criss-cross lines. Planchet striations are burnishing lines not struck away by the minting process and are incuse on the coins.
Strike – n	Term to indicate the completeness, or incompleteness, of a coin’s intended detail.
Strip	The flat metal is rolled to the correct thickness, from which planchets are punched from.
Struck	Describe a coin that is produced from dies and the coining press.
Struck Copy	A replica of a particular coin made from dies is not necessarily meant to mislead.
Struck Counterfeit	Refers to a fake coin produced from untruthful dies.
Struck Thru	An error was caused by a foreign object that got between the dies and the planchet when a coin was struck.
Successful Bidder	The buyer of a particular lot from an auction succeeds in winning the bid. Bidding is done via the internet or in person and the bidder has to agree to certain conditions.
Surface Preservation	Refers to the surface condition of the coin.
Surfaces	The entire obverse and reverse of a coin, or the field areas.
Sweating	This procedure involved putting coins of value (like gold coins) into a bag and shaking it vigorously to knock off small pieces of metal. These bits of precious metal were then gathered, melted and sold for an income. The used coins(with nicks) used in this process were then returned to circulation at face value.

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