The term “BU” gets thrown around a lot in coin listings, but it doesn’t mean what most people think. It stands for “Brilliant Uncirculated,” but there’s no official standard behind it, and sellers use it loosely. This post breaks down what BU really means, how to spot a true uncirculated coin, and how to avoid listings that lean on buzzwords instead of condition.
If you’ve spent any time looking at coin listings or browsing collector forums, you’ve probably come across the terms “uncirculated” and “mint state.” They get tossed around a lot, sometimes as if they mean the same thing, other times like they’re completely different. And depending on who you ask, you might get a different answer…
The fields of a coin are the smooth, flat areas that surround the main design. On most coins, this means the space behind the portrait on the obverse and the background around the eagle, building, or symbol on the reverse. They might look like empty space, but fields are one of the first places a…
Some coins earn their color the hard way. They sit in envelopes, albums, or mint sets for decades, slowly picking up hues from their environment. Others take a shortcut. They get dunked in sulfur, baked in ovens, or blasted with heat just to grab attention and a higher price tag. That’s fake toning. At first…
Every now and then, you’ll come across a U.S. coin that looks a little too shiny for its own good – mirror-like surface, strange hue, sometimes even “golden.” If it’s a common date, has no mint error, and doesn’t make sense for the coin type… odds are you’ve found a plated coin. A plated coin…
Acetone gets thrown around a lot in coin forums. Sometimes as a miracle fix, sometimes as a dangerous tool for people who don’t know what they’re doing. The truth is somewhere in the middle. Acetone is a solvent that can safely remove certain types of surface contaminants without damaging the metal underneath, if it’s used…
Tarnish has a way of pushing collectors toward bad decisions. You pick up a coin that should have nice details, but it’s dulled with a layer of dark gray or brown. It looks dirty. You know it’s just surface buildup, so why not clean it? This is one of the most common traps newer collectors…
Tarnish is the thin layer of surface discoloration that forms on a coin when it reacts with elements in the environment like oxygen, sulfur, or moisture. It’s not deep corrosion, and it doesn’t usually eat into the metal. Instead, tarnish sits on the surface and changes the coin’s color. Sometimes slightly, sometimes dramatically. It’s most…
In the world of coin collecting, the line between “tarnish” and “toning” is surprisingly thin, and often debated. Both are surface changes caused by chemical reactions, usually with sulfur or oxygen, but one is often seen as damage while the other might add hundreds (or thousands) of dollars in value. So what’s the real difference?…
Not all discoloration on a coin is bad, but it’s not all good either. Tarnish is one of the most common surface changes collectors encounter, especially on silver coins. It’s the dull film that creeps across a coin’s surface over time, shifting its luster and tone without necessarily damaging the metal itself. This post is…