Coin collecting, or numismatics, is a popular and potentially lucrative sort of collection. Even if you are not a coin collector, you may be interested in the history of certain coins. It can be especially exciting to wonder if you may have a highly valuable piece of currency without knowing it! Coin values are broadly determined by a few different factors. These include the initial number the mint produced, the surviving number, the composition/meltdown value, and the condition. Some types of currency have surprisingly high values, such as these 3 types of highly valuable rare coins:

1. 1794 Flowing Hair Dollar

This type of coin is extremely rare and holds the record for the highest selling price in American numismatic history. It is made of silver and the design is based on the Spanish dollar, with a woman with flowing hair on the front and an eagle on the back. The 1794 version is the most valuable, although later versions of the same Flowing Hair Dollar do exist.

The main reason this is so valuable is because of its unique contribution to history. This was the very first American dollar coin that the brand-new National Mint produced. The 1794 Flowing Hair Dollar sold at the Stack’s Bowers Galleries auction in 2013 for over $10 million.

2. 1913 Liberty Head Nickel

Only five specimens of this nickel exist, and it’s highly likely that these five were the only 1913 Liberty Head Nickels the United States Mint produced. Some claim that Samuel Brown, the initial collector and a mint employee, created them off the record. Other theories state that the five specimens were tests for the dies.

Of the five known 1913 Liberty Head Nickels, the so-called Eliasberg specimen is the highest quality. Any one of these nickels, though, is worth quite a bit of money. In 2010, for example, one sold at an auction for $4 million. You will not find these in circulation, though, as the five copies are either in private collections or museums.

3. 1927 D St Gaudens Double Eagle

This is a gold coin with a face value of $20. There were originally 180,000 of these circulating, so they were not originally rare. The main reason these are valuable today is that very few copies survived a 1933 executive order that required citizens to exchange gold coins for paper currency. The government then melted these coins into gold bars.

Numismatic experts estimate that only 11-15 of this particular coin survived. This case, mint marks are very important to consider. The most valuable 1927 St Gaudens Double Eagles came from the Denver mint. In 2002, one of these gold coins sold for over $7.5 million.

While you probably don’t have these incredibly rare coins in your collection, you may have others that are worth a significant amount of money. If you don’t want to go through pricing guide after pricing guide to try to determine what your gold coin collection is worth, Precious Metals Refinery can help. We buy rare coins and will pay top dollar for your collection. Visit us today to see what we can offer you!