Most Valuable U.S. Coins
Zack O'Malley Greenburg, 04.23.09, 06:00 AM EDT
Who says American currency is worthless? These pieces are worth millions.
In Depth: Most Valuable U.S. Coins As the federal government prints billions of dollars to prop up a sagging economy, some worry that a dollar just isn't worth anything these days. They've probably never seen an 1804 Silver Dollar.
A specimen in good condition is worth $10 million, making it America's most valuable coin. With only 19 copies known to exist, it's also the envy of numismatists across the country.
Yahoo! Buzz"The major collectors who don't have one just sort of put their heads down," says John Albanese, president and founder of Certified Acceptance Corp., under whose auspices he has bought and sold more than 20 seven-figure coins.
In Depth: Most Valuable U.S. Coins
The 1804 Silver Dollar is one of four coins worth more than $5 million in good condition. The star-crossed 1933 Double Eagle is second on the list at $8.5 million, followed by the 1913 Liberty Nickel at $5.9 million--bizarrely, one of the only legal coins ever produced without the knowledge of the U.S. Mint. Rounding out the top five is the $4.4 million 1861 Double Eagle, of which only two examples are known to exist.
Behind the Numbers
Our values of these rare coins are courtesy of Nostomania.com, a collectibles evaluator run by software developers and engineers that generates pricing data by processing actual-sales figures through a set of proprietary algorithms. These are theoretical values--they assume that each coin has a grade of MS-63 (on a 1-70 scale), numismatic lingo for very good condition. Some of these coins are not known to exist in this precise condition, but this is the only way to make an apples-to-apples comparison.
With the stock market tanking, many high-net-worth investors have started paying attention to rare coins because they have some degree of inherent value. David Albanese, president of coin dealer Albanese Rare Coins (no relation to John Albanese) estimates that rare coin values are up by almost 25% over the past year.
"If you buy $1 million worth of stocks, it could go down to $20,000," he says. "That just doesn't happen with coins. They really are artifacts, and there are a finite number of the rare ones left."
Zack O'Malley Greenburg, 04.23.09, 06:00 AM EDT
Who says American currency is worthless? These pieces are worth millions.
In Depth: Most Valuable U.S. Coins As the federal government prints billions of dollars to prop up a sagging economy, some worry that a dollar just isn't worth anything these days. They've probably never seen an 1804 Silver Dollar.
A specimen in good condition is worth $10 million, making it America's most valuable coin. With only 19 copies known to exist, it's also the envy of numismatists across the country.
Yahoo! Buzz"The major collectors who don't have one just sort of put their heads down," says John Albanese, president and founder of Certified Acceptance Corp., under whose auspices he has bought and sold more than 20 seven-figure coins.
In Depth: Most Valuable U.S. Coins
The 1804 Silver Dollar is one of four coins worth more than $5 million in good condition. The star-crossed 1933 Double Eagle is second on the list at $8.5 million, followed by the 1913 Liberty Nickel at $5.9 million--bizarrely, one of the only legal coins ever produced without the knowledge of the U.S. Mint. Rounding out the top five is the $4.4 million 1861 Double Eagle, of which only two examples are known to exist.
Behind the Numbers
Our values of these rare coins are courtesy of Nostomania.com, a collectibles evaluator run by software developers and engineers that generates pricing data by processing actual-sales figures through a set of proprietary algorithms. These are theoretical values--they assume that each coin has a grade of MS-63 (on a 1-70 scale), numismatic lingo for very good condition. Some of these coins are not known to exist in this precise condition, but this is the only way to make an apples-to-apples comparison.
With the stock market tanking, many high-net-worth investors have started paying attention to rare coins because they have some degree of inherent value. David Albanese, president of coin dealer Albanese Rare Coins (no relation to John Albanese) estimates that rare coin values are up by almost 25% over the past year.
"If you buy $1 million worth of stocks, it could go down to $20,000," he says. "That just doesn't happen with coins. They really are artifacts, and there are a finite number of the rare ones left."