What Is a Cost Code? How Coin Dealers Mark Cost

A cost code is a coin's cost written in letters, so your staff can read what you paid from the label and a customer cannot. You pick a 10-letter word with no repeated letters, and each letter stands for one digit. With the word LARGEMOUTH, L is 1, A is 2, R is 3, and so on to H for 0, so a coin that cost $125 is marked LAE and a coin that cost $420 is marked GAH.

Dealers have used cost codes for a long time on show floors and at counters, where a customer can read the label. The code lets anyone working the table see how far they can move on price without asking. This guide shows how to encode and decode, the extra rules many dealers add, how to pick a word, and where cost codes go wrong.

How a cost code works

Write the word out and number the letters from 1 to 9, then 0 for the last letter.

L	A	R	G	E	M	O	U	T	H
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0

To encode a cost, replace each digit with its letter. To decode, do the reverse.

Encoding examples

All of these use LARGEMOUTH, whole dollars, no other rules.

Cost	Digits	Code
$125	1 2 5	LAE
$380	3 8 0	RUH
$420	4 2 0	GAH
$500	5 0 0	EHH
$1,000	1 0 0 0	LHHH
$1,155	1 1 5 5	LLEE
$2,250	2 2 5 0	AAEH

Decoding examples

A label reads RTH. R is 3, T is 9, H is 0, so the cost is $390.

A label reads MEH. M is 6, E is 5, H is 0, so the cost is $650.

Once your staff have the word memorized, decoding a three- or four-letter code takes a second.

The rules dealers add

The plain code above works, but it has weak spots. Codes like EHH and LHHH show a pattern: a letter that keeps showing up at the end is almost certainly 0. Dealers use a few extra rules to hide that.

The repeat letter

Pick a letter that is not in your word, such as X. When a digit is the same as the digit before it, write X instead of the letter.

Cost	Plain code	With repeat letter X
$500	EHH	EHX
$1,000	LHHH	LHXX
$1,155	LLEE	LXEX
$2,250	AAEH	AXEH
$125	LAE	LAE

To decode, an X means "the same digit as the one before". LXEX reads 1, 1, 5, 5, so $1,155. LHXX reads 1, 0, 0, 0, so $1,000. A code never starts with the repeat letter, because there is no digit before it.

The repeat letter hides doubled digits, and it also means the same letter can stand for several different digits on different labels.

The zero letter

Some dealers use a separate letter for 0, such as Z, instead of the last letter of the word. With LARGEMOUTH and Z as the zero letter, $105 is LZE and $420 is GAZ.

If you use both a repeat letter and a zero letter, decide which wins when two zeros are next to each other. In CoinManagerPro's coding, the repeat letter wins: with X as the repeat letter and Z as the zero letter, $500 is EZX.

Starting the word at 0

Some dealers number the word from 0 instead of 1, so the first letter is 0 and the last is 9. With LARGEMOUTH that makes L 0, A 1, R 2, and so on. $125 becomes ARM, and $420 becomes ERL. Pick one and use it on every label. Mixing the two makes every code wrong for half your staff.

Whole dollars or cents

Most dealers code whole dollars and round the cost. A coin that cost $45.75 rounds to $46 and codes as GM. A coin that cost $45.49 rounds to $45 and codes as GE.

Coding cents makes the code longer, because every cost gets two more letters:

Cost	Whole dollars	With cents (repeat letter X)
$45.75	GM	GEOE
$45.00	GE	GEHX
$125.00	LAE	LAEHX

Code cents if you sell a lot of coins under a few dollars, where rounding hides real money. For most stock, whole dollars are enough. Whatever you pick, tell your staff, because GEOE read as whole dollars would be $4,575.

How to pick a word

A good cost code word:

1. Has exactly 10 letters. One letter for each digit.
2. Uses no letter twice. A repeated letter would stand for two digits.
3. Is easy to remember and spell. Staff decode in their heads. A word they have to look up is a word written on a sticky note under the register.
4. Has nothing to do with you. Your shop name, your street, or your kid's name are the first things someone will try.
5. Leaves good letters for a repeat or zero letter. Pick letters that are not in the word, such as X, Q, or Z.

LARGEMOUTH and BLACKHORSE are well-known examples, which also means some people already know them. With BLACKHORSE and repeat letter X, $125 is BLK, $420 is CLE, and $1,155 is BXKX. A less common word, or a two-word phrase that fits the rules, is harder to guess.

To check a word, write out the letters and cross each one off as you go. If you cross off a letter twice, the word does not work.

Training staff

A cost code is only useful if everyone who works the table reads it the same way.

• Teach the word, the starting digit, the repeat letter, the zero letter, and whether cents are coded. All five are part of the code.
• Practice on real labels. Hand a new hire five labels and have them decode each one before they work a show.
• Say what the code is for. The code tells staff what you paid. Your rules decide how close to cost they can sell: for example, "never under cost plus 15% without asking."
• Never say the code out loud in front of a customer. "This one's an LXEX" is a clue someone can write down.

Risks and limits

A cost code keeps a casual reader from seeing your cost, but a careful reader can work it out.

• Patterns leak. A customer who sees many labels and knows the rough cost of a few coins can work out letters. A repeat letter helps. A new word helps more.
• People leave. When someone who knows the word leaves, change the word and reprint your labels. Old labels still carry the old code until you replace them.
• Typed codes go stale. If staff write codes by hand and the cost changes later, for example after you add a grading fee, the label no longer matches the cost.
• Codes on the wrong label. A cost code belongs on the labels you use in the shop and at shows, never on a listing photo or anything you send to a buyer.
• Errors in the head. A code that is misread by one digit can turn a $420 coin into a $520 coin. Have staff check a large sale against the record.

How CoinManagerPro writes cost codes

In CoinManagerPro, you open Settings, then Cost codes, and type a 10-letter word with no repeated letters. You choose whether the first letter stands for 1 or 0, turn on Code cents if you want cents in the code, and add a repeat letter or a zero letter if you use them. The preview shows each letter with its digit and four sample costs with their codes before you click Save.

CoinManagerPro then writes each coin's code from its cost. Add the Cost code field to a label template and each label prints the code, and a change to a coin's cost changes the code on the next label you print. A code typed on a coin replaces the automatic one, and a coin import can bring in a Cost code column, so codes you already wrote by hand can stay. To read a label, type its code and CoinManagerPro shows the cost; the decode button is on the coin page, the labels page, and the settings page.

Only members with Manage settings can see or change the word. Members without the View cost permission do not see cost codes on the coin page or the coin list and cannot decode them, which you set in team permissions. Cost codes never go on a Flow Dealers listing, your online store, or the store search. If you turn cost codes off, CoinManagerPro deletes the word and labels print only the codes typed on coins, so write the word down first if you want it back.