We sometimes find it difficult to believe that we can get more value out of our money than we are paid for it.
As we are about to demonstrate, it’s certainly possible, and all it really boils down to is factors such as age, rarity, printing errors, historical importance and factors such as age, rarity, etc.
You might have to wait a few centuries before you can bid on your money, but you’ll be able to make a fortune in the future!
The 20 Most Expensive Coins in the World
Here is a list we have put together based on sources including Money Inc, Mental Floss, and The Spruce Crafts.
1.Flowing Hair Silver/Copper Dollar (1794/5) – Cost: $10 Million
Country: the United States
Years Active: 1794- 1795
Value: 1 Dollar
Top Selling Price: $10 million
Metal Used: 89.2% silver and 10.8% copper
In terms of value, the most expensive coin in the world is the 1794/5 Flowing Hair Silver/Copper Dollar.
The U.S. federal government minted its first silver coin, according to several expert numismatic researchers.
Just over $10 million dollars was paid for it in 2013, setting a new world record.
Coins were only minted for two years, before silver coins began to be minted in the United States Mint in 1792.
The story and value of the coin have been preserved for over 200 years by coin collectors.
There was a coin sold for $10 million dollars in 2013 that was among the most expensive in the world, the Flowing Hair Silver/Copper Dollar.
02. Double Eagle (1933) – Cost: $7.6 Million
Country: United Stated
Years Active: 1933
Value: $20.00
Top Selling Price: 18.9 Million
Metal Used: 90% gold, 10% copper
Upon the presidential ban on gold ownership, which was enacted by Theodore Roosevelt, the next batch of Double Eagles were recalled from the general public and melted.
In order to help the financial crisis at the time, he purchased 1993 Double Eagle coins from the mint. However, some of them escaped from the vault.
Even though these coins were once legal, they’re now illegal, and if found, they’ll immediately be seized.
Despite the fact that the coin originated from King Farouk of Egypt, the U.S Mint forced one private owner to sell it and split the proceeds equally with them.
An auction in 2002 sold the 1933 Double Eagle for $7,590,020.
03. Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle (1907) – Cost: $7.6 Million
Country: United Stated
Years Active: 1907 -1933
Value: $20
Top Selling Price: $175000
Metal Used: 90% gold, 10% copper; 99.99% gold
Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle 1907 production was difficult due to various factors.
There was a pause in production because of its complicated design.
A coin without these words was chosen by “Charles Barber”, the U.S Mint’s chief engraver.
In spite of this, Congress was not pleased. Nevertheless, a new coin was created and after a few minor problems, the production process went ahead and the coin has now become worth an absolute fortune… $7.6 million to be exact!
04. Brasher Doubloon (1787) – Cost: $7.4 Million
Country: United Stated
Years Active: 1787
Value: $15
Top Selling Price: $15 million
Metal Used: 22-karat gold
New York State used copper coins instead of gold coins in 1787 as a result of one man’s effort.
Copper coins were not desired by the State, so Ephriam Brasher did not get the plan approved.
Despite the state’s objections, Mr Brasher minted new coins anyway, mostly in bronze, but also some 22-carat gold on the side.
It’s not surprising that these coins are considered to be extremely valuable and highly sought after because they’re rare and have an interesting story associated with them.
An investment firm on Wall Street purchased the coin in 2011 for $7.4 million.
05. Edward III Florin (1343) – Cost: $6.8 Million
Country: United Kingdom
Years Active: December 1343 to July 1344
Value: $6.8 Million
Top Selling Price: £460,000 (approx: $6.80 million)
Metal Used: gold
It is estimated that the oldest coin in our collection is worth just under $7 million, and is approximately 670 years old.
There are only three of these same coins thought to have survived the centuries, hence its value is primarily determined by its age.
There’s a high probability, however, that there will never be another coin just like it in the world, as it is one of the most expensive coins in the world and one of the rarest.
There was an auction in 2006 for the $6.8 million dollar coin that was found in 2006.
The British Museum currently displays the two coins found in 1857 along the River Tyne.
06. 723 Umayyad Gold Dinar – $4,800,000
Country: Unioted Kingdom
Years Active: first issued in AH 77 (696–697 CE) by Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan
Value: £1.4m-1.6m
Top Selling Price: 3.7 million pounds (about $6 million)
Metal Used: Gold
This gold coin, which has the marking “mine of the commander of the faithful” on one face, was made by the Umayyad empire in the year 723, and is considered one of the most important coins of the Islamic world.
A 2019 auction sold one of the few remaining examples for $4.8 million.
07. Liberty Head Nickel – Morton-Smith-Eliaspberg (1913) – Cost: $4.5 Million
Country: United Stated
Years Active: 1883–1913
Value: 5 cents (.05 US dollars)
Top Selling Price: $5,262,000
Metal Used: 75% copper; 25% nickel
The Morton-Smith-Eliaspberg Liberty Head Nickel fetched $4,560,000 in an auction in 2018.
It is the finest specimen known on the planet, and it is one of only five known specimens.
The mirror-like surface is part of what makes this item valuable and rare.
Collectors and coin enthusiasts will find it even more valuable since it’s the only one like this out of five.
There is some controversy surrounding this coin since there are no official mint records.
8. Professional Coin Graders graded it from MS-62 to Proof 64.
Country:United Stated
Years Active: 1980-1986
Value: $21
Top Selling Price: 40 million
Metal Used: hard acrylic plastic
Next time this one comes up for auction, be sure to keep that in mind!
This item is priced at $4.1 million since it is part of the Watters-Childs Specimen.
Our list of the world’s most expensive coins is rounded out by the Silver Dollar Class 1, 1804.
“King of U.S Coins” became the world’s most famous example of the 1804 Silver Dollar in August 1999 when it sold for $4.1 million dollars.
Initially priced at $8,000, this coin was rated proof-68 by the Professional Coin Grading Service, making it the world’s most expensive coin of all time. It was graded proof-68 by the Professional Coin Grading Service and graded proof-68 by the Professional Coin Grading Service.
As a result of the coin’s ownership history, Virgil Brand, The Sultan of Muscat, and the Poque family were some of its most notable owners.
A $10,575,000 offer was made for the coin in 2016, which was the largest price ever paid for a coin.
The auction reserve price was not met, so the coin did not sell for that price.
Consequently, the Watters-Childs Specimen of the 1804 Silver Dollar still commands a $4.1 million value.
09. $1 Million Gold Canadian Maple Leaf (2007) – Cost: $4.02 Million
Country: Canada
Years Active: 1
Value: 1000000 Canadian dollar
Top Selling Price: $3.5 million
Metal Used: 999.99/1000 gold
During the Dorotheum Auction House’s Vienna, Austria sale in June 2010, an astounding $4,000,020,000 was achieved by the Gold Maple Leaf coin at the auction.
As the world’s first million-dollar coin, it was created in 2007 by the Canadian Mint.
Featuring a weight of 100 kilograms and a purity of 99.999%, this coin is made from ninety nine percent pure gold.
Originally created as a promotional tool to introduce the Royal Canadian Mint’s 99.999% pure gold bullion coins, these coins are now available.
In the current state of affairs, only five of these coins have been acquired by coin collectors worldwide.
10. 1804 Bust Dollar – Mickley-Hawn-Queller Specimen – $3.87M
Country: United States
Years Active: 1795 to 1803
Value: 1 us doller
Top Selling Price: $7.68 million
Metal Used: 90% Ag, 10.0% Cu
Similarly, in 2013, a third 1804 Bust Dollar auctioned at Heritage Auctions in Dallas for a similar price, $3,877,500, which belonged to another legendary numismatist, Joseph J. Mickley.
11. Bust Dollar (1804) – Cost: $3.8 Million
Country: United Stated
Years Active: 1804, into the 1850
Value: $30,000
Top Selling Price: $7.86 million
Metal Used: Silver (.892) (.1076 copper) · 26.96 g.
Our next coin is a $3.8 million 1804 Bust Collar, Class 1.
Because of its long history and the small “D” on the reverse of the coin, this coin is extremely valuable and unique, as it belonged to James V. Dexter, a very wealthy Numismatist.
Coin collectors prize this coin as only eight class 1 coins have ever been discovered in Germany, dating back to 1804.
On March 31st, 2017, Stack’s Bowers Galleries & Sotherby’s auctioned off the Bust Dollar Class 1, which was coined approximately 183 years ago.
12. Liberty Head Nickel (1913) – Cost: $3.7 Million
Country: United Stated
Years Active: 1883–1913
Value: 5 cents
Top Selling Price: $5,262,000
Metal Used: 75% copper; 25% nickel
Hawai Five-O used one of these nickels in the 1970’s TV series.
The coin was mainly used for close-up work because using a coin of lesser value would be more dangerous, and potentially devalue it.
Several coins were stolen from the Mint by an ex-employee who has been accused of entering private auctions and collecting coins that were stolen from the Mint by the ex-employee. The coins eventually made their way into private collections and auctions.
In 2007 Heritage Auctions sold the Liberty Head Nickel for $3,737,500 at auction.
13. 1894 S Barber Dime – $1.99M
Country: United Stated
Years Active: 1894
Value: 0.10 U.S. dollars
Top Selling Price: $1.3 million
Metal Used: 90% Silver, 10% Copper
Only 24 were minted in 1894, and 9 of them are still around today. While rumors abound regarding the reason for the limited number, no one knows for sure.
A rare piece of art that priced at $1,997,500 in 2016 is the only thing we know for sure.
14. 1943 Lincoln Head Copper Penny – $1.7M
Country: united stated
Years Active: 1909 to 1958
Value: 1 Cent
Top Selling Price: $1.7 Million
Metal Used: low-grade steel coated with zinc, instead of the previously 95%-copper-based bronze composition
In the same batch of copper pennies accidentally made during World War II, a 1943 Lincoln Head Copper Penny graded D by PCGS MS64 Brown sold for no less than $1,750,000.
15. 1943 S Lincoln Wheat Penny – $1M
Country: United Stated
Years Active:1943
Value: $0.01
Top Selling Price: $7000
Metal Used: Bronze/Copper
During World War II, the production of coins switched from copper to steel with a zinc coating. From that period, however, one batch of bronze planchets – the round discs that preceded actual coins – accidentally entered the process, were turned into coins, and entered circulation.
1943 S Lincoln wheat pennies cost $1 million in 2012 when one of them sold for $1 million.
16. 1893 Morgan Silver Dollar – $550,000
Country: united stated
Years Active: 1878–1904, 1921, 2021–present
Value: $0.01
Top Selling Price: $37500
Metal Used: 90.0% Silver, 10.0% Copper (1878–1904, 1921),99.9% Silver (2021–present)
Many Morgan Silver Dollars sell on eBay for several thousand dollars, and even tens of thousands of dollars, since they were first minted in 1878 and 1904, respectively.
It is believed that 100,000 of the 1893 Variant were minted, with many melted down or lost over time. Today, only a handful remain and are valued at up to $550,000.
17. Sacagawea Cheerios Dollar – $25,000
Country: United Stated
Years Active: 2000–2001; 2009-2011 (circulation) 2002–2008; 2012-present (collectors only)
Value: 1.00
Top Selling Price: $29,900
Metal Used: 88.5% Cu, 6% Zn, 3.5% Mn, 2% Ni
Back in the early 2000s, a rare coin was discovered inside a cereal box you wouldn’t think to look in.
Five hundred boxes of Cheerios also contained Sacagawea dollars that were part of a promotion by the U.S. Mint for the release of its new “Golden Dollar”
The value of these turkeys varies from $5,000 to $25,000 depending on their condition and grade. Approximately 60 to 70 of these were found with enhanced tail feathers.
18. 1787 Fugio Cent – $10,000+
Country: United Stated
Years Active: 1787
Value: 0.01 U.S. dollar
Top Selling Price:
Metal Used: cu
Fugio cents, also known as Franklin cents, were the first coins issued in the newly formed United States.
On the bottom is the Latin motto “fugio,” which means “flee” on the 1787 coin, as well as “mind your business.” An image of a sun and sundial along with the motto “We are one” is on the reverse, along with a chain symbolizing the first 13 states in the United States.
In exceptional cases, the coin can be worth $10,000 or more. There can be a wide range of prices for similar items, depending on their condition.
19. 1879 $4 Gold Stella – $2,500
Country: United Stated
Years Active: 1879–1880
Value: 4 United States dollars
Top Selling Price: 2.5 Million
Metal Used: 85.7% gold, 4.3% silver, 10% copper
At one point in the past, Europe had a monetary union called the Latin Monetary Union. Gold Stellas were designed in 1879 to match their other coins, the Austro-Hungarian 8 florins, which were used to establish a single currency in Europe for the first time in 1879.
Due to the coin’s non-production status, collectors have become wealthy with this set of two coins.
20. 1795 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar – $2,500
Country: United States
Years Active: 1794–1795
Value: 1 Dollar
Top Selling Price: $1080000
Metal Used: ag,cu
A reverse view of the first silver dollar, the Flowing Hair silver dollar shows Lady Liberty with her flowing hair.
However, there are two varieties. One is the 1794 variety, which is rare, and the other is the 1975 variety that is more common. You can still get some good money for the 1975 version, which still tallys some good money online even though it is one of the top three owing to its immense value. On eBay, almost $2,500 was paid for a coin of this type back in September 2021.