The PCGS Million Dollar Coin Club™ Coins
The Ten Most Valuable United States Coins
The ten most valuable United States coins are as follows below. Of the 10 coins, five are privately held and five are in the Smithsonian Institution museum. You can read all about these 10 coins, including pedigrees and auction records at pcgs.com/coinfacts.
1849 $20 Liberty gold piece, PR64 (PCGS estimated grade) - $20,000,000.
The first $20 gold piece struck at the U.S. Mint. This piece is struck in proof
and is unique. This incredible piece of numismatic history is in the Smithsonian
Institution. In 2010, we asked coin trader extraordinaire Kevin Lipton what he thought
this coin was worth, his answer was, “The most.” When Kevin was doing his
pricing input for the Million Dollar Coin Club he called this ultra rarity “
The
Coin.” Last year, we had “The Coin” priced at $15 million. This year all
of our experts felt that it would bring at least $20 million if ever auctioned.
PCGS Coin# 71908
1907 Indian Head $20 St. Gaudens gold pattern, PR69 (PCGS estimated grade) - $15,000,000. This unique gold pattern was designed by famed sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. It marries Saint-Gaudens’ $10 Indian Head obverse design to his $20 reverse design. Some numismatists refer to this coin as “Teddy’s coin” in reference to President Theodore Roosevelt’s involvement in coaxing Saint-Gaudens to redesign our nation’s $10 and $20 gold pieces. Kevin Lipton calls it “the other coin.” This artistic masterpiece is privately held and the owner has reportedly turned down an offer of $15 million. PCGS Coin# 62238
1877 gold pattern $50 (J-1546) PR67 (estimated grade) - $15,000,000. This is the famous “Half Union” pattern $50 gold piece. It is unique and in the Smithsonian Institution. Both this coin and the one $50 Half Union that follows are up from last year’s estimate of $10 million in the minds of our experts. PCGS Coin# 61890
1877 gold pattern $50 (J-1548) PR67 (estimated grade) - $15,000,000. A variation on the design of the $50 gold pattern listed above. This one is also unique and in the Smithsonian Institution. PCGS Coin# 61892
1907 Double Thick Extremely High Relief $20 St. Gaudens, PR69 (estimated grade) - $8,500,000 (two coins). Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ “Extremely High Relief” design for the $20 gold piece is arguably the most beautiful coin ever made. Saint-Gaudens’ design was struck in several variations including two examples that were smaller in diameter and “double thick.” Both of these “double thick” gold patterns are in the Smithsonian Institution. PCGS Coin# 81952
1794 Silver dollar, SP66 (PCGS grade) - $10,000,000. Silver dollars were first struck in 1794 and this is believed by some to be the very first one struck. On January 24, 2013 this coin (graded PCGS SP66) sold at a Stack's Bowers auction realizing a record price of $10,016,875. This makes it the first coin to ever sell at auction for over $10 million and the current record holder for the highest priced U.S. coin ever sold at public auction. PCGS Coin# 86851
1804 Silver dollar, “Original” or Class I, PR68 (PCGS grade) - $7,500,000. The 1804 silver dollar is one of the most famous United States coins. A small handful of these coins were struck (actually beginning in 1834 and back-dated) for presentation to dignitaries including the King of Siam and the Sultan of Muscat. The finest is the Sultan of Muscat-Virgil Brand-Walter Childs specimen graded PR68 by PCGS and now in a private collection. PCGS Coin# 6907
1804 Silver dollar, “Original” or Class I, PR67 (PCGS grade) - $6,500,000. This is the specimen in the still-intact King of Siam proof set. PCGS Coin# 6907
1822 $5 gold piece, EF45 (estimated grade) - $6,000,000. There were 17,796 $5 gold pieces struck in 1822, but only three survive today. Two are now in the Smithsonian Institution and this coin, the finest of the three, is now in a private collection. This coin was last sold in the October, 1982 auction of the Louis Eliasberg gold coin collection where it realized a then-record $687,500. Our pricing experts feel it would bring nearly ten times that price today. PCGS Coin# 8130