Thursday, November 01, 2007
Annals of numismatics: The rarest U.S. coins
One of our regular commenters -- GreenmanTim -- pointed us to a story at LiveScience that purports to name the "ten rarest U.S. coins." The very rare 1943 copper cent appears at right, and you can scroll through photographs of the others at the link.
Conspicuously missing, however, is the 1964-D Peace Dollar. Many thousands were minted in 1965 for reasons that are lost to time, but supposedly they were then melted down. Rumors of a few survivors have persisted for years, but none have surfaced. Either there are no remaining pieces or their owners have not revealed them for fear that the government would confiscate them. The romantic in me hopes the latter.
6 Comments:
By 
, at
Thu Nov 01, 03:51:00 PM:
I remember in my optimistic youth going through untold numbers of steel cents looking for, expecting one day to find, that oh-so-elusive 1945 copper penny.
In retrospect, I wish now I'd simply had sense enough to hang onto those steel pennies.
By , at
Thu Nov 01, 04:23:00 PM:
It'd be cool to own one, on the rarity/exclusivity factor, but the reality is that coins are like baseball cards. Variations exist that were (in some cases) not authorized. The story about the 5? 33 double eagles was cool, and disheartening to see them confiscated.
I really dig going to the Smithsonian. Their collection of US gold is incredible. Likewise, just walked the ancient coin museum in Athens, which was fantastic.
By 
Unknown, at
Thu Nov 01, 05:19:00 PM:
I have a 1944 penny, but I think it's copper (doesn't stick to a magnet), so it's essentially worthless.
By Purple Avenger, at
Thu Nov 01, 07:46:00 PM:
The problem with "rare" coins is that many in "circulation" are counterfeit.
I've read there's like 10X more counterfeit 1909 S's in the market than real ones.
Doesn't take much, some dies, a 50 ton hydraulic press from Harbor freight, a media tumbler to age them, and you're on the way.
The multi-thousand dollar stuff people will check out more carefully, but $50 moderately rare coins could be knocked out like M&M's and nobody will scrutinize a worn specimen too hard.
By , at
Thu Nov 01, 09:50:00 PM:
So right. As a collector of vintage watches, I frequently note the fake early Rolex Oyster "bubblebacks" offered on ebay. With the fall of the iron curtain, the opportunity cost for guys who could work machines came down enough that they started making watch cases.
With coins you're left to the grading services, hoping they're right, and stuck with a coin slabbed in an ugly plastic thing. Personally, I want to be able to touch the coin, not just look at it.
Virtually all of my Lincolns came out of rolls I picked thru in the 60s, but my 08-s and 09-s indian heads were bought from a dealer. Hopefully they're legit...
JT
By , at
Fri Nov 02, 12:37:00 AM:
My brother has a indian head penny but i cant remember what year it was and i have a old english coin from over a hundred years ago becuae it has QUEEN VICTORIA on it
