Rare American Coins and their Values

Rare American coins make good investments as their value tends to appreciate more over time than the more common numismatic coins. They make great collectors coins and as they become rarer and their demand increases this drives prices up further.

While rare American coins are usually considered rare if few were minted relative to their series rarity scales such as the Sheldon rarity scale and the Universal rarity scale are also usefull when assigning rarity to a coin

The Sheldon rarity scale was developed by William Herbert Sheldon in 1958 and consists of eight levels of rarity from R1 to R8. R8 is "unique, or nearly so" with R1 being "Common, readily available".

The universal rarity scale was developed in 1992 by Q. David Bowers and is a scale from 0 to 20. URS 0 means that there are no coins known to exist. A scale of URS 20 means 250,001 to 500,000 are in existence.

Rare US coins are identified by their mint mark. The mint mark provides the initials of the mint branch where they were made. Rare US coins are said to have been minted on "key dates". A key date coin is usually the lowest mintage of the denomination or series. Here are some rare US coins and their coin values.

Rare Morgan Silver Dollars
Morgan silver dollars are one of the most popular, well researched and collectable US coin and there are a number of dates in the Morgan Dollar series that are considered key dates. Here are the mintages and estimated values for these coins at grade VF-20

• Morgan Dollar 1889-CC: Mintage of 200,346 - $2000
• Morgan Dollar 1893-S: Mintage of between 77,000 and 100,000 - $8000
• Morgan Dollar 1895 Proof: 12,880 (880 Proofs + 12,000 Business Strikes) - $40,000

The 1895 Proof is considered the most valuable with a PF-65 coin worth $100,000 according to the 2009 Red book. It is believed by many that the 1895 dollars were melted shortly after their minting or never struck which could mean that a maximum number of 880 proof coins may exist. I say maximum because many of these coins may not have stood the test of time, particularly coins in the highest grades.

The rare 1893-S Morgan Silver Dollar is another Key date to the series with a mintage of 100,000. The 1893-S Morgan silver dollar is rare in all grades.

Rare Saint–Gaudens Double Eagles (1907-1933)
These are the most beautiful American Bullion coins ever created and one of the most rare American gold coins because of the great gold meltdown during Roosevelt’s time. Rare American gold coins such as the saint-Gaudens Double Eagle can fetch high prices becuase due to their bullion and numismatic value.

This American Bullion coin obverse features the image of Miss Liberty striving gloriously into the future holding a torch in her right hand. To the lower left, nearly concealed by her flowing gown, the dome of the U.S. Capitol Building is visible. The reverse features the majestic flying eagle bathed in sunlight.

The rare Saint-Gaudens double eagle gold coins are valued in thousands of dollars if in good condition. St. Gaudens' work on the high-relief $20 gold piece is considered to be one of the greatest pieces of art on any American coin. The mint eventually insisted on a low-relief version, as the high-relief coin took up to eleven strikes to bring up the details and didn't stack correctly for banking purposes. Only 12,367 of these coins were struck in 1907. These coins easily top the $10,000 price in circulated grades, but can reach nearly a half million dollars in the best states of preservation.

Saint-Gaudens double eagle gold coins, particulrary the rarer minteages make great investments as they are likely to appreciate more than other numismatic holdings.

• Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle MCMVII (1907-P) - High Relief
• Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle 1908-S
• Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle 1920-S
• Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle 1921-P
• Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle 1927-D
• Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle 1927-S
• Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle 1929-P
• Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle 1930-S
• Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle 1931-P
• Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle 1931-D
• Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle 1932-P

Rare Mercury Dimes (1916–1945) Key Dates
The Mercury Dime features a battle-ax to signify military readiness, placed next to an olive branch to express hope for peace.

Mercury Dimes depict horizontal bands holding together the rods. If they are fully separated and rounded they can generate significantly more than coins of the same date and mintmark.

Here are some Rare Mercury Dimes from Key dates and their estimated value

• Mercury Dime 1916-D - $1750
• Mercury Dime 1921 - $1750
• Mercury Dim 1921-D - $150
• Mercury Dime 1942 / 1-D - $650

Rare Indian Head Cents (1859-1909) Key Dates
The Indian head cent was released in 1859, made of 88% copper and 12% nickel. The metal in the cent was worth nearly the same as its face value at the time. Today some rare Indian head cents fetch hundreds of dollars and their value has increased significantly over the last few years. This makes them good coin investments. Key dates and their values in 2010 in Good-4 condition are included below:

• 1877 Indian Head Cent: $1000
• 1908-S Indian Head Cent: $75.00
• 1909-S Indian Head Cent: $650

Rare Lincoln Wheat Cents (1909–1958) Key Dates
While most Lincoln Wheat Cents are only worth a few dollars the rare Lincoln Wheat Cents minted on the Key dates below can fetch hundreds of dollars. The following provides the wholesale coin value in dollars for Lincoln Wheat Cents minted on these key days. The wholesale coin value is said to provide a more reliable estimate of their worth than the retail coin prices found in nearly all other coin price guides.

• 1909-S - 1.8 million - $47.00
• 1909-S VDB - 0.5 million - $550.00
• 1914-D - 1.2 million - $125.00
• 1922 (No mint mark) - unknown (D is missing) - $415.00
• 1931-S - 0.9 million - $50.00

Rare Buffalo Head Nickels (1913-1938) Key Dates
Buffalo Nickels also called Indian Head Nickels are worth at least seven times their face value if they have a readable date. Rare Buffalo Nickels from key dates are worth hundreds or even thousands of time their face value.

• 1913-D Type II - $50.00
• 1913-S Type II - $120.00
• 1916 Doubled Die - $1,200.00
• 1918-D 8 over 7 - $550.00
• 1921-S - $45.00
• 1937-D 3 legs - $180.00

Rare Walking Liberty Half Dollars Key Dates (1976–1947)
The Walking Liberty Half Dollar was a silver half dollar coin issued by the United States Government and equal to fifty cents.

In the series there are some difficult rarities and some low-mintage (less than one million made) dates.

The rarities include the 1946-P error coin. The more difficult rarities to find have five key dates:

• Walking Liberty Half Dollar 1916-P
• Walking Liberty Half Dollar 1916-S
• Walking Liberty Half Dollar 1921-P
• Walking Liberty Half Dollar 1921-D
• Walking Liberty Half Dollar 1938-D