The United States is young by the standards of nations.
Its motherland, the UK, had been issuing coins for around 1,200 years by the time the United States mint fired up for the first time.
Of course, the nations of the American continent had used sorts of currency well before Europeans arrived.
Most famously, the shell-derived “wampum” beads.
Shells were the raw material for pre-European American money.
It took the new United States until 1792 to open its national mint.
And, at first it struggled to keep up with demand. Coins from colonial powers (British, Spanish, German) still circulated in the new United States well after its foundation.
Dollars from Spain were popular, but traders needed a pair of metal clippers if they wanted to give change of less than a dollar. Lower value coins were in very short supply.
The federal nature of the new country caused confusion as early attempts to mint American money were devolved to the states.
In 1787 the first national coin, the Fugio cent, was minted.
But it didn’t get very far, as political divisions made tough going of producing a national currency.
Finally, in 1792 the Coinage Act set the standard that is still largely in use today: a decimal system linked to the Spanish dollar, and producing 200th, 100th (half cents and cents), 20th and 10th (half dime and dime), quarter (quarter), half (half dollar) and full dollar coins. Multiples of dollars were the quarter eagle, worth 2.5 dollars, a half eagle at 5 dollars and the full eagle worth 10 dollars.
The first nationally circulating coins were minted on march 1, 1793 when over 11,000 cents, made of copper, hit the American economy.
United States coin collectors have thousands of subsequent desigs to choose from.
Most are very common. And collectors can start a fairly comprehensive survey of US coinage without breaking their own bank.
Some, usually through accidents of history, have become extraordinarily rare and valuable though.
These 5 are the cream of the crop: The United States most valuable historic coins.
1 - 1933 St Gaudens Gold Double Eagle $20 coin
Wonderful work. And almost never seen.
This is one of the most famous American coins of all.
Although nearly half a million were minted none of them went out.
It was 1933. The Great Depression was at its worst. So President Roosevelt basically outlawed gold coins.
The lovely new double eagle (90% gold, 10% copper) was wasted and taken back into the Federal Reserve as gold bullion. Two were preserved for national museum collections and, it turns out, 20 were stolen from the mint somehow.
They got into collectors circles and were sold and resold until 1944 when the Secret Service started to take an interest in them. Coins they recovered were melted down.
King Farouk of Egypt had one, which America tried hard to get back. They finally got their hands on it via a legal settlement in 2001 and the government sold it by auction in 2002.
Another 10 coins were found in 2005 and the US Government was granted ownership of them. If you’re ever offered one you should expect to pay over $21 million.
2 - 1849 Coronet Head Gold Double Eagle $20 coin
A glut of gold meant the US needed to make bigger gold coins.
Valued at over $18 million it’s believed there is just one of these coins in existence, and you’ll need to go to the Smithsonian to see it.
It was never circulated, being made as a test for a new denomination. The Double Eagle, worth $20 is just one of the effects of the California gold rush.
California claims were producing so much gold (and the US Government was getting enough of it) that it was no longer practical to limit coins to a top denomination of $10.
This design was a proposal produced by the US Mint for the new Double Eagle.
3 - 1794 Flowing Hair Dollar with Silver Plug
The condition of this coin has made it very highly valued.
The value of this coin lies largely in its date and an extraordinary claim about it.
The silver plug was added to the coin to make it up to the right weight - overweight coins would be filed down.
That makes it very rare indeed. But the unique claim for this example is that it was the first ever of its type that was struck.
Possibly smashed out on brand new dies on October 15, 1794.
Since that strike it’s been very well preserved and cared for.
The first-strike claim is essentially unprovable, but the plug dollar remains a unique find and sought after enough to make over $10 million at auction. It has a catalogue value of over $12 million.
4 - 1822 Capped Bust Gold Half Eagle $5 coin
Those who melted their half eagles down would be proved wrong in the long run.
Gold coins are at the mercy of economies.
That precious metal, often in very pure form, is very tempting. And it doesn’t always survive depression or disaster.
In 1834, the US started to cut the amount of gold in their coins. So the older ones became more valuable as bullion than at their face value. And the logical thing to do in that case is to melt them down.
So, the 18,000-ish coins minted in 1822 became the 3 that are known to exist today.
Two are in the Smithsonian’s collections. The one in private hands made $687,500 in 1982 and was listed with an estimate of $10 million in 2017 and is currently valued for just under that amount.
5 - 1870 S Indian Princess Head Gold $3 coin
The work of one of the most famous US coin engravers is typically fine in this unique coin.
Another unique coin, this one was made for a special purpose.
James Longacre engraved it. He worked for the US Mint from 1849 and is responsible for some of America’s most famous and important coins.
This one was a special favour for the San Francisco mint’s superintendent (that’s the S in the coin’s name). He wanted to put a unique coin in the cornerstone of the mint’s new building.
In 1911 another example was proclaimed.
This one, which has some damage, was bought in 1946 for $11,500, and today is valued at around $6 million.
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We love rare American coins and often have them in our coin store.
