What determines a coin common?

GottaGetCoins

Where do I get the numbers? Do you look at the mintage circulation? Is that the population?

www.coinfacts.com, gives you the mintage circulation. How do I determine if a coin is common or rare (other than price)

MadMonk

Well with some dealers, the M.O. seems to be:
If your selling it to them, it's common.
If your buying it from them, it's rare.

The "R" scale is sometimes published. I think Sheldon "invented".

Steve27

What counts is surviving population. The problem is, no one is sure of that number. There are also coins which are perceived to be rare, but aren't, such as the 1909-S VDB Lincoln, which was saved by collectors from the time they were first issued (there are about 800 graded MS65RD or higher by PCGS alone).

291fifth

Commoness is also relative to popularity. Many Morgan dollars that are considered scarce or rare would be considered common by the standards of most other series. It is just a matter of greater demand for Morgans.