The Universal Rarity Scale

The Universal Rarity Scale was developed by Q. David Bowers. The scale can be used for anycoin or any item where rarity is important. In the June 1992 issue of the Numismatist, Bowers outlined this scale and it has since been widely used in the industry.

It is important to remember that rarity not only differs from coin type to coin type but from grade to grade. Condition rarity occurs when few examples of a coin exist above a certain grade. For example: The mintage figures for the 1893 2 ½ Shilling is 137 472. Of these, only 1 specimen exists in an MS condition. This coin would then be classified as URS-1.

URS - 0

URS - 1

URS - 2

URS - 3

URS - 4

URS - 5

URS - 6

URS - 7

URS - 8

URS - 9

URS - 10

URS - 11

URS - 12

URS - 13

URS - 14

URS - 15

URS - 16

URS - 17

URS - 18

URS - 19

URS - 20

None Known

1 known - Unique

2 known

3 - 4 known

5 - 8 known

9 - 16 known

17 - 32 known

33 - 64 known

65 - 125 known

126 - 250 known

501 - 1 000 known

501 - 1 000 known

1 001 - 2 000 known

2 001 - 4 000 known

4 001 - 8 000 known

8 001 - 16 000 known

16 001 - 32 000 known

32 001 - 65 000 known

65 001 - 125 000 known

125 001 - 250 000 known

250 001 – 500 000 known