Rare U.S. Coins

There are a number of rare U.S. coins and U.S. coin patterns. But only a few of them have captured the imagination of collectors everywhere. Below is a list of ten U.S. coin rarities sought-after by the coin specialists of the highest order. My list of ten may not be everyone’s definitive list of U.S. coin rarities, but I think most would be on anyone’s list.

New England Shilling
This coin is so rare, it’s pretty reasonable to abandon all hope of ever owning one. Why they are so rare, I’m not sure— perhaps most were melted in order to coin the later silver coins of Colonial Massachusetts. But if a genuine New England silver coin were to appear on the market, there would be a lot of high-priced bidding going on. These simple, hammered silver coins were the very first coins struck in the United States. They were, in fact, the first coins ever struck in British America, period. The New England silver coins of Massachusetts were struck in the 1650’s and employ a crude and simplistic design: “N.E” stamped on one side, and the denomination (“VI”, “XII”) stamped on the other. You see them turn up on eBay quite regularly. Rest assured, they are all fake.

1792 half disme
Many consider this the first official coin of the U.S. Mint. It was not struck AT the U.S. Mint facility, as the facility was not ready in 1792. The 1792 half disme WAS, however, struck by U.S. Mint officials. But should the 1792 half disme be classified as a “pattern” or experimental coin, or a full-fledged circulating coin? The half disme was not the only 1792 piece struck – there were a few other 1792 pattern coins, such as the 1792 Birch Cent and the 1792 Dickinson Quarter. But only the 1792 half disme was struck in enough numbers for many coin experts to classify it as a circulating coin. How many half dismes were struck? Just 1,500, which does make it pretty rare. Still, judging by the amount of circulated examples that exist today, it is clear that some, or maybe most, 1792 half dismes got into circulation, whether by intention or not. Enough survive today that even the layman collector has a chance to own one, if they can part with at least a couple of thousand dollars for a worn example.

1794 Dollar
There are hordes of silver dollar collectors out there. So it’s natural that there would be huge demand for the very first silver dollar struck by the U.S. Mint. Unfortunately, that silver dollar would be the 1794 Flowing Hair dollar, and only 1,750 of those were struck. Most collectors have to be satisfied with owning a 1795 Flowing Hair silver dollar, (425,000 struck) so they can at least say they own the first U.S. silver dollar TYPE. Suffice it to say, the 1794 Flowing Hair dollar is a costly coin in any condition.

1796 Quarter
There has been an explosion of interest in U.S. quarters since the start of the U.S. state quarter program in 1999. Starting in 1999, thousands of new collectors began collecting the state quarters by state and mintmark. Many of those collectors went on to try and collect the older Washington quarter issues going back to 1932. And now, by 2006, a good many of THOSE collectors have elected to collect the older U.S. quarter types as well. So naturally, many longing eyes are cast towards our nation’s very FIRST quarter: the 1796 Draped Bust quarter. Though the Draped Bust quarter obverse design was used through 1807, the 1796 Draped Bust quarter is considered by many to be a one-year type coin, since it employs a “scrawny eagle” reverse. All other Draped Bust quarters (1804-07) employ the Heraldic Eagle reverse. Combine the fact that the 1796 U.S. quarter is the first twenty-five cent piece struck by the U.S. Mint, with the fact that it’s also a one-year design type, with the fact that there are millions of quarter collectors out there… the result is a huge winner if you happen to be lucky enough to own one. It unfortunately also means you’re going to have to dig down deep to own one. There were just over 6,000 1796 quarters struck. Obviously a goodly portion of those were lost or destroyed over the years. So huge numbers of collectors are competing for a very finite number of this historical coin.

1799 Cent
The 1799 Draped Bust large cent is the highest-mintage “rare” coin on this list. Still, it’s a well-known U.S. rarity. It’s especially sought-after because there are so many cent collectors out there who collect by date. And they ain’t gonna complete their set without a 1799 large cent. There is some air of mystery about the 1799 cent. Just 42,540 (though some experts claim as many as 100,000 were struck) were struck, such low mintages. But even with a small mintage of 42, 000, there ought to be more survivors than there are. The 1799 cent first became famous when a 19th century collector was frustrated in his attempts to find a 1799 cent to complete his large cent collection. So he advertised for one, thus bringing the attention of this coin to the public. What happened to all the 1799 cents? No one knows for sure, but one popular theory is, a huge shipment of 1799 cents were being transported by ship and were lost at sea.

1804 Dollar
“The King Of Silver Dollars!” “The King Of U.S Coins!”  To many collectors, this coin is IT! The rarity of all rarities. THE ultimate coin you must own for your U.S. coin collection. Yes, it’s all true. But it’s actually not the rarest of U.S. coins. It IS, perhaps, the most famous of U.S. coin rarities, if only because you need an 1804 U.S. dollar to complete your collection of U.S. silver dollars. About 30 of the 1804 dollars were struck. Interestingly enough, they were NOT struck in 1804! They were struck in the early 1830’s! The U.S. Mint struck the 1804 silver dollar to be included in a special coin set as a gift to the King of Siam. But in 1832, the U.S. Mint was not striking silver dollars. That meant, the old Draped Bust silver dollar dies of 1795-1803, had to be employed again to strike a “new” 1804 silver dollar to be included in the ‘King of Siam Set.’ Today, it’s not impossible to own one—they come up for auction on occasion. Just be prepared to fork over a few million dollars or so.

1856 Cent
Only 1,500 1856 Flying Eagle cents were struck. This coin, like the 1792 half disme, straddles the fence between “pattern” coin and “official” circulating coin. In other words, some experts say the 1856 Flying Eagle cent was just an experiment piece, not meant to circulate. That means cent collectors DON’T have to own one to have a complete date-set of U.S. cents. But many other collectors consider the 1856 Flying Eagle cent to be a rare, but official circulating coin, as many did appear to reach circulation. That means you MUST own one to complete a date-set of U.S cents, U.S. small cents, and U.S. Flying Eagle cents. Not only that, the Flying Eagle cent series is popular not just because of its majestic flying eagle design, but also because it was a short-lived series (1856-58).

1894-S Dime
Only twenty-four 1894-s Barber Dimes were struck, and just nine of those are accounted for today. This coin has a charming (and apparently true) story that goes with it. It seems that a handful of 1894-S dimes were struck and distributed to friends of a banker. The ten year-old daughter of one of those fortunate few got hold of this rare dime, and used it to buy ice cream at the local ice cream parlor! Ahhhh, little kids. The value of that dime in today’s market: approximately $5 million. That’s one expensive ice cream sundae!

1913 Nickel
Definitely one of the Top Three U.S. coin rarities. Some even place it higher than the 1804 silver dollar. That would be logical, since some thirty 1804 silver dollars were struck, compared with only FIVE 1913 Liberty Head nickels struck! This would be another coin you should probably forget about owning… unless your name happens to be Donald Trump or William Gates. None are “floating around” out there—all are accounted for.

1933 $20 Saint-Gaudens Gold Double Eagle
THIS is considered by many, perhaps by most, to be the pinnacle of all U.S. coin rarities, with a surviving total population of ONE! Look at what all this coin has going for it: even before the rarity factor, you have a high-denomination gold coin with the most beautiful design ever employed on a U.S. coin. That gives you a lot just to start with. Now add to those factors THIS intriguing background story: In 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt took the U.S. off the gold standard. At the time, the U.S. Mint had already begun production of 1933-dated Saint-Gaudens $20 gold coins, but all had to be recalled and melted. Fast-forward to 1944, when King Farouk of Egypt applied to have a 1933 $20 gold coin exported to Egypt. Through some huge erroneous error, that application was not only granted, but a 1933 $20 gold coin was actually struck. The government intercepted the coin before it could be delivered, but fortunately the coin was not destroyed. It exists today as perhaps the most well known U.S. coin rarity.