Ebay Terminology?

There is no consistency to the terms used on ebay. The only way to shop on ebay is to educate yourself at a reliable source other than ebay and then apply that education directly to the coin your are looking at on ebay. There are many ebay descriptions that are misleading.

I think you have to apply Real Estate type terminology to ebay listings, you know:

Close to transportation = The train runs through the back yard
Needs a little work = buy it before the last nail holding this shack together falls out
An absolute gem = it was, once upon a time

Be careful on ebay. I was ready to bid on a proof set today that said "silver proof set". The problem is the set was in a blue box. The word silver simply referred to the color of most of the coins, not the metal silver. And this is a common thing.

My method on ebay is if I find a person trying to trick me on one auction, I pass on all of that seller's auctions. If a person gets silver money for base metal I consider it close to stealing, and once trust is lost I will not buy.

But some code words help you. Look at the feedback. Many people leave positive feedback for everything, a carryover from when the seller could destroy the buyer's feedback. If too many people leave lukewarm comments like "as described" or "ok" and there are no really positive feedbacks to establish the seller, I would be wary of such a seller.

In general, ignore adjectives in the description and really look at the coin.