10 most expensive coins

1. 10 most expensive coins Rank 01 – 1794 Flowing Hair Dollar - $7,850,000 Rank 02 – 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle - $7,590,020 Rank 03 – 1804 Class I Silver Dollar - $4,140,000 Rank 04 – 1804 Class I Silver Dollar from Queller’s Collections - $3,737,500 Rank 05 – 1913 Liberty Head Nickel - $3,737,500 Rank 06 – 1787 Brasher Doubloon EB on Breast - $2,990,000 Rank 07 – 1907 Ultra High Relief $20 – Double Eagle - $2,990,000 Rank 08 – 1787 Brasher Doubloon EB on Wing - $2,415,000 Rank 09 – 1804 Class III Silver Dollar - $2,300,000 Rank 10 – 1907 Rolled Edge Eagle – $2,185,000

2. Rank 01 - 1794 FlowingHairDollar - $7,850,000– more… • Contursi specimen 1794 Flowing Hair silver dollar has been sold for $7,850,000, setting a new record as the worlds most valuable rare coin. • Graded PCGS Specimen-66, it is the finest known 1794 dollar and believed by several prominent experts to be the first silver dollar ever struck by the United States Mint. • It was sold by Steven L. Contursi, President of Rare Coin Wholesalers of Irvine, California, to the nonprofit Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation (CCEF) in Sunnyvale, California. Collector and numismatic researcher Martin Logies represented the foundation of which he is a director and its numismatic curator. The private sale was brokered by Greg Roberts, President and Chief Executive Officer of Spectrum Group International of Irvine, California.

3. Rank 02 - 1933 Saint-GaudensDoubleEagle - $7,590,020– more… • The 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle is the rarest coin in United States History. This original $20 coin was sold at an auction for over $7 million dollars. Today less then 12 of these coins are known to exist. During the Great Depression all gold coins were recalled for melting including the Double Eagles. Only twelve of the coins did not make it back to the mint and were thought to be smuggled out by the employees working there. Today, most of the dozen coins have not been recovered or found and are still out there lost and forgotten. • Some of the Double Eagles Escaped the Melt Down:  Two of the 1933 specimens were given by the Mint to the U.S. National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institute. These were the only two legal specimens to ever become part of a coin collection; however, by 1952, the Secret Service had confiscated 8 more 1933 Double Eagles!  How did they leave the Mint  Why weren't they melted down • We may never know for certain how these coins left the Mint, but there is a general consensus among scholars that a Mint cashier by the name of George McCann exchanged about 20 1933's doomed for destruction and replaced them with earlier dated Double Eagles. This way, the accounting books would balance and nobody would realize that anything was amiss. What we do know for sure is that a Philadelphia area jeweler by the name of Israel Switt came into possession of at least 19 of the coins. • Israel Switt sold at least 9 of the 1933 Double Eagles privately to collectors, one of which found its way into the collection of King Farouk of Egypt. When the Secret Service discovered that these coins had surfaced, they confiscated them all because they were considered to be stolen property of the U.S. Mint. However, King Farouk had legally exported his coin before the theft was discovered, and the Secret Service was unable to recover his specimen through diplomatic channels.

4. Rank 03 - 1804 Class I SilverDollar - $4,140,000– more… • This 1804 silver dollar is another one of the rarest and most expensive coins in the United States? History. On August 30th, 1999 this coin sold for $4.14 million dollars at an auction. There are only eight 1804 silver dollars left in the entire world and are all worth well over one million dollars. The few people that own these one of a kind coins, are dedicated collectors who are proud to own a piece of U.S. history.

5. Rank 04 - 1804 Class I SilverDollarfromQuellerisCollection - $3,737,500– more… • The King of American Coins • The Mickley-Hawn-Queller 1804 Silver Dollar Class I Original, PR62 NGC • It is currently not the most expensive American coin-merely the most famous • The 1804 silver dollar has long been renowned as the King of American Coins. Well before such latter-day rarities as the 1913 Liberty nickels, the 1894-S Barber dimes, or the 1907 Ultra High Relief double eagles, the 1804 silver dollars were acknowledged as the most famous U.S. coins, yardsticks by which great American numismatic collections were measured. • Acquisition of an 1804 silver dollar-especially an Original or Class I example-bestows immediate numismatic immortality upon its possessor. The Class I Originals were legitimately struck in proof format at the U.S. Mint, apparently intended for presentation to foreign dignitaries. Some, however, soon found their way into commercial and collector channels. Their long and illustrious pedigrees have names tying them to foreign royalty, exotic destinations, captains of industry, and the luminaries of U.S. numismatics: the King of Siam, the Sultan of Muscat, Joseph J. Mickley, Matthew Stickney, Louis Eliasberg, John Work Garrett, Col. E.H.R. Green, Lorin G. Parmelee.

6. Rank 05 - 1913 LibertyHeadNickel - $3,737,500– more… • This 1913 Century Liberty Head Nickel also has a gigantic price tag. In a recent auction someone bought this coin for over 3 million dollars. These nickels are so rare because only 5 of the 1913 edition were made and introduced to public. Today all five of the nickels are in the hands of hardcore collectors and are a very interesting piece of history. Good luck getting your hands on one of these valuable babies.

7. Rank 06 - 1787 BrasherDoubloon EB onBreast - $2,990,000– more… • Unique 1787 Brasher Doubloon, EB on Breast, Garrett Specimen • America's First Gold Coin Struck • Pronounced by Numismatic experts as America is most famous and significant coin, this unique doubloon is also widely accepted as the very first gold coin struck by the United States of America. One of only seven examples known, this specimen is unique in that the EB counterstamp (initials of silversmith Ephraim Brasher, who made the coin) is on the shield over the eagles breast. The other six examples carry the EB stamp on the eagles wing. • A coin of unparalleled historic importance, this precious rarity has been a classic since the earliest days of coin collecting in the United States.

8. Rank 07 - 1907 UltraHighRelief $20 (DoubleEagle) - $2,990,000– more… • The Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle gold coin features a full length image of Miss Liberty walking forward, as if she is ready to step out of the coin. She holds aloft in her right hand a torch of enlightenment and her left hand presents an olive branch symbolic of peace. To the lower left, nearly concealed by her flowing gown, the dome of the U.S. Capitol Building is visible. The reverse is dominated by a majestic eagle in flight, bathed in sunlight. The inscriptions UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and TWENTY DOLLARS are arranged in two concentric arcs located above the eagle. • The first trial samples of the Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle were struck in early 1907 and were characterized by their extremely high relief. These patterns were quite stunning in beauty and detail, but required nine hits on the coining press to achieve the desired effect. Of the two dozen or so double eagles struck during the experimentation phase, all but one of them displayed on the edge the Latin motto E PLURIBUS UNUM (translation: Out of Many, One). Every coin of this trial set carried the date in Roman numerals, MCMVII, to remind observers of the artists classical inspiration, and have sold at auction for as high as $3 million. • Among American coin collectors, the Saint-Gaudens ultra (or extremely) high relief double eagle coin may be the most recognized coin ever produced. There are other great rarities of outstanding reputation, but no other combines the beauty, rarity and the story of collaboration between President Theodore Roosevelt and Augustus Saint-Gaudens as this coin does, commented Rohan.

9. Rank 08 - 1787 BrasherDoubloon EB onWing - $2,415,000– more… • Struck in 1787, the gold doubloons by Ephraim Brasher are among the rarest and most desirable of all United States coins. • Brasher was also responsible for a unique Half Doubloon, he was involved with the New York Excelsior Coppers, the Nova Eboracs, and his hallmark appears on a number of foreign gold coins that circulated during his tenure in business.

10. Rank 09 - 1804 Class III SilverDollar - $2,300,000– more… • Heritage Auction Galleries Central States Numismatic Society Convention Platinum Night Auction on Thursday, April 30, 2009 sold the Adams-Carter specimen of the Class III AU 58 PCGS 1804 silver dollar for $2.3 million dollars (including buyers premium). • The Class III specimens were produced sometime between 1858 and 1860, also made by Theodore Eckfeldt. Although similar to the Class I coins, there are differences. There are seven known Class III specimens, which can be distinguished from Class I pieces by their reverse design, lettered edge found on Class I, and weak design. The die from which the Class III specimens were made was seized by Mint Director James Ross Snowden in 1860, but by this time several were in collectors hands.

11. Rank 10 - 1907 RolledEdgeEagl - $2,185,000– more… • An NGC-certified 1907 Rolled Edge Eagle sold for $2.185 million during Heritage Auction is Platinum Night offerings at the FUN 2011 Convention in Tampa, Fla. The 1907 $10 Satin PR 67 with Periods Rolled Edge was one of five gold coins in the sale that belonged to Mint Director Frank A. Leach.