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 Replies: 25 / Views: 5,802 |
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Valued Member
Australia
354 Posts |
Hi all  . I was asked lately what is the Rarest Coin? I replied "which Country/Country's? I gave my thought's on our Coin's in this order, #1 The Holy Dollar & Dump. #2 1930 1d Penny. #3 1023 1/2 d Penny. So I stopped here because it was now Leading into Key Date's & Mixed Error coin's. I could have made a Top Ten of our Australian Currency. So the Question I thought to my self, What is the Current Top Ten list of World Coin's ie, #1 American Golden Double Eagle. $=? #2 Australian Holy Dump & Dollar. $=? and so forth. Im interested if Someone would Like to make this "List" in Order of there Rarity and of Value?  Just thought it would be an Interesting Task, as I my self a "L/Plater" would really not know where to start. Cheer's jpl.. Ps, Well not in a hurry anyway  . *** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. *** |
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Pillar of the Community
Russian Federation
5172 Posts |
It's hard to say which coins are "rarest" because there are too many (well over 10) that are literally unique (for whatever reason). As for the most expensive (aka "valuable") coins, a lot of them are expensive because of their high grade more than due to any particular rarity. Realistically, if you ignore grades, the top list would probably start like this: 1) 1933 double eagle 2) 1804 [US] dollar 3) 1913 Liberty nickelNo idea which coins will be numbers 4 to 10, though. And, as it is likely from your post, if you want a list of the rarest/most valuable types (as opposed to dates)... well, the Brasher Doubloon would probably be way up there (and if it doesn't take first place, the coin that does is going to be something even more obscure). |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
Whatever they are, ALL of the most rare coins would each be unique. It was something like this that I remember reading in an older copy of the Guinness Book of Records. Examples: 1954 British Penny, or an OFFICIAL Royal Mint Edward V111 gold type set. Some proofs and patterns are only known by single examples. Same applies to some ancient coins, although in this case it would be debatable due to lack of information. In terms of minor details, ancient coins are all unique in themselves. A bit like people I suppose, despite the fact that there are a lot of us. It's a bit like asking: "What is the fastest car?" Lots have been written and debated on this subject. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2805 Posts |
The most expensive coins from every country would be interesting.
In Canada, it is the 1911 silver dollar (2 silver specimens exist, and one lead trial: I got to see one of each kind on display in Ottawa, very exciting), followed by the 1936-dot cent (3 known to exist).
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Valued Member
 Australia
354 Posts |
Thank's January1may. I think I will have to do a Project for Each Country & Separate the Rare side & Value side into Two Category's then Try & work through the Varity/Error coin's separately aswell (that's a lot of Research). I think I might give this a try & start with Australia, ( what have I got into here )  jpl.. |
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Moderator
 Australia
16827 Posts |
The "rarest" coins are the ones which, officially and for all practical purposes, do not exist. Or rather, they once existed, but every single one of them has been lost or destroyed. The American 1964 silver dollar and the Mughal Empire gold 200 mohur come to mind. Many of the famous rarities also happen to almost fall into this category, in the sense that they were all ordered destroyed but a handful were saved - the American 1933 double-eagle comes to mind. Another factor to consider is "availability". There are some super-rare coins with only a handful of known specimens, every single one of which is in a museum. Collectors will never get the chance to try to buy one since the museums are never going to sell them, so how can one meaningfully give them a "value"? Another thing to consider: do you only wish to include coins actually struck for circulation, or will you allow NCLT and patterns? Eliminating patterns eliminates many of the super-rarities of numismatics (some Australian examples are the 1909 map florin, the 1937 coinage and the square nickel pennies of 1919-21), while some relatively recent concoctions made for collectors or as gimmicks are extremely low mintage, such as the super-large bullion "coins" that Perth Mint and RCM keep making, just to try to get themselves into the record books. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
856 Posts |
As others have said, there are quite a few unique coins. But some coins have notoriety making them desirable, even though there are a few. For example the British 1933 penny. None were needed, however there was a convention to place a set of coins under the keystone of new buildings and so three were made for this purpose. A couple of other examples were also struck for museums. So really there may be as many as 7, but of course, any penny collector would like one!
With older coins, so many were destroyed it's difficult to know how many remain. I have a coin of which only 4 examples were known. Then one day a metal detectorist found a hoard of coins and .. there were two more of them! So while I consider I know a fair amount about the coins I collect, I can never conclusively say that, even for the rarest, there might not be a few more somewhere out there!
And remember. Rarity doesn't necessarily equate to value! There are some common coins that lots of people want and will cost you. Whereas there are some coins where only a handful are known, but if all the collectors that want one already have an example, they would sell for surprisingly little!
Edited by Tom Goodheart
01/11/2014 04:25 am
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Bedrock of the Community
United Kingdom
17930 Posts |
There are quite a few British coins that are believed to be unique:
Pennies: 1808, 1952 and (as sel 691 says), 1954
Halfcrown: 1952
There are many others, like the famous 1933 penny, the 1937 Edward VIII coins, the 1798 'Dorrien & Magens' shilling, 1952 English shilling - of which only a handful exist.
Going back into the hammered series there must be lots of coins that are known only from one or two specimens - including some of the Charles I Civil War siege pieces.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
Sap: The unique Perth Mint ONE TONNE one million dollar gold coin comes to mind. It IS legal tender, and it IS actually available for sale. Probably on the edge of what I call 'quasi numismatics', in my mind, at least. |
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Moderator
Australia
16827 Posts |
Anyway, here's my attempt at making a list of "top 10 coins"; I've used a combination of rarity, value and what we'll call "fame" - coins that are famous or notorious in some way. The list does not include only-found-in-museums coins, those no-longer-existing, errors/varieties, patterns, proofs or NCLT coins, even if such rarities occasionally actually slipped out into circulation (such as the British Edward VIII pattern threepence).
1. United States gold $20 1933
2. England gold douple-leopard of Edward III, c. 1344
3. Umayyad Caliphate gold dinar AD 723
4. United States cupronickel 'Liberty' 5 cents 1913
5. United States silver dollar 1804
6. Australia gold sovereign 1920-S
7. Great Britain copper penny 1933
8. Australia silver Holey Dollar 1813
9. Rome silver 'EID MAR' denarius of Brutus c.42 BC
10 England gold 50 shillings of Cromwell 1656
The 1930 penny doesn't get a guernsey, despite two other Australian coins making my top 10. It's just too common.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
1041 Posts |
I see 2 coins from the 1933 are in t5he list the 30s must have been a very hard time across the world
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
1682 Posts |
The Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek Single 9 made in 1899 has a mintage of 1. "King of South African Coins," the unique and historic 1898 Single 9 Pond, sells for a record multi-million rand price and is certified by NGC. - link to article: http://www.ngccoin.com/news/viewart...Article=1589Ken |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
750 Posts |
What a great article Kena, thanks for posting the link!
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
852 Posts |
There are literally thousands of coins with a single known example. Either they were a one off coin (patterns and presentation pieces) or the minted coins have been lost in wartime (mint burnt down, ship torpedoed), melted for their metal (Double Eagle) or destroyed after a revolution makes them a symbol of the former regime. The Mughal coin was only known from a single example that was stolen and never seen again (probably melted down).
Sap, how can the Holey Dollar make the list? There are over 100 still about. Wouldn't the halfpenny mule be a better example?
Some coins are so rare that there very existence is unknown. I have a 1187 year 7 Islambol Mint Zeri Mahbub (a gold coin)that is not in any catalogue as it was only identified a month ago. My catalogues also lists dozens of other Ottoman coins as "Reported, not confirmed". That probably applies to many other countries as well.
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Valued Member
Australia
354 Posts |
Quote:
Anyway, here's my attempt at making a list of "top 10 coins"; Thank's Sap  for your Top Ten. I am still trying to write down our Australian coin's. #1 1813 Holly Dollar & Dump. (Fame) #2 1855 Half Sovereign. (Date) #3 1855 Full Sovereign. (Date) #4 1930 1d Penny. (Fame) #5 1925 1/2d Penny. (Date) #6 1915 "L" 3d Pence. (Date) #7 1918 "M" 6d Pence. (Date) #8 1915 "B" Shilling. (Date) #9 1915 "L" Florin. (Date) #10 1938 "M" Crown. (Date) I am not sure if this list is even correct? Still Fun! Today I might try a Top Ten list of our Error Coin's! jpl.. Edited by jpl
01/11/2014 11:31 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
541 Posts |
These are pretty rare:   |
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Replies: 25 / Views: 5,802 |
Posted 01/10/2014 10:08 pm
