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Scarce or Rare ?

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Dominic T:
Hello. Since English is not my mother tongue, could someone explain me the difference between “scarce” and “rare” when we are talking about ancient coins ?
What is the subtile “nuance” between these 2 terms ? Thanks
DT

Enodia:
Scarce is less rare than rare. Scarce means uncommon, while rare means seldom seen at all.
An intelligent politician is scarce. An honest politician is rare!

- Peter

Dominic T:
I really appreciate your explanation ( and your joke) Enodia. Now I can go to bed with the feeling that I’m more intelligent.... 
DT

Meepzorp:
HI DT,

Enodia is correct. A rare coin is rarer than a scarce coin.

To explain it in more detail, in terms of rarity, ancient coins are usually graded on the following scale:

Common (C)
Scarce (S) or Not Common (NC)
Rare (R1)
Very Rare (R2)
Extremely Rare (R3)

Meepzorp

Dominic T:
Those informations will be very useful Meepzorp. Thanks for taking the time to answer my question.
DT

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