What is the most valuable U.S. coins at 2013 auctions?
Last year we saw several record breaking auctions for high-quality and historic United States rare coins.
The winner for coins purchased by winning bidders in 2013 auction is certainly the 1794 Flowing Hair silver dollar sold for $10,016,875 by Stack's Bowers Galleries.
Most of the coins in the list are auction by Heritage Auction.
Last year we saw several record breaking auctions for high-quality and historic United States rare coins.
The winner for coins purchased by winning bidders in 2013 auction is certainly the 1794 Flowing Hair silver dollar sold for $10,016,875 by Stack's Bowers Galleries.
Most of the coins in the list are auction by Heritage Auction.
Here are Top 10 Most valuable U.S. coins at 2013 auctions:
1. 1794 Flowing Hair silver dollar-$10,016,875
(Stack’s Bowers Galleries)
The 1794 silver dollar sold for USD$10,016,875 in Stack’s Bowers Cardinal Collection auction on 24 January 2013.
The 1794 Flowing Hair silver dollar is the finest known example of its kind, graded Specimen-66 by the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) and the Certified Acceptance Corporation (CAC), leading certifiers of a coin's condition.
A close study of its characteristics suggests that it may well be the first specimen struck of the first year of the silver dollar, and was carefully preserved for posterity.
The coin shows a profile of Miss Liberty facing right surrounded by stars representing each state in the union. The design was only used in 1794 and briefly the following year.
You can read more about it here; 1794 silver dollar sells for US$10mil.
2. 1804 Type I silver dollar-$3,877,500
(Heritage Auctions)
The Mickley-Hawn-Queller specimen of the 1804 $1 silver dollar or known among collectors as "KING OF AMERICAN COINS" sold for $3,877,500 including buyer premium in Heritage Auction Platinum Night event on 9 August 2013.
The 1804-dated U.S. silver dollar specially made on behalf of America President Andrew Jackson. It was intended to be given as a diplomatic gift on behalf of President Andrew Jackson by State Department representatives on trade missions to the Middle East and Asia.
The front of the coin depicts the symbolic Miss Liberty, the date 1804 and the word, LIBERTY. The back has an eagle, 13 stars to represent the original 13 colonies, and the words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and the motto, E PLURIBUS UNUM (Latin for "one from many" or "one out of many").
You can read more about it here; KING OF AMERICAN COINS sold for $3,877,500.
3. 1913 Liberty Head nickel-$3,172,500
(Heritage Auctions)
The 1913 Liberty Head nickel sold for $3,172,500 including buyer premium in Heritage Auctions' Central States Numismatic Society U.S. Coins Signature® Auction on 25 April 2013.
The coin believed to have been lost in a fatal car crash and was mistakenly declared to be a fake.
The 1913 5C Liberty, PR63 PCGS, one of just five known 1913 Liberty Head nickel sold to a winning bidders, Jeff Garrett of Lexington, KY and Larry Lee of Panama City, FL, who purchased the coin in partnership.
One side of the coin features the Liberty Head and the 1913 date, while the reverse has the "V" and the words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CENTS.
You can read more about it here; ‘Lost’ Nickel Sells For $3.17 Million.
4. 1880 Coiled Hair gold $4 denomination Stella-$2,574,000
(Bonhams)
The $4 dollars 1880 Coiled Hair Stella sells for $2,574,000 in the 23 September 2013 Coins and Medals auction by Bonhams.
Only 425 Stellas were produced in total, and none were ever approved for circulation. Stellas are therefore "pattern coins," meaning that they were produced purely for the purpose of evaluation and not authorized for use as currency.
Two different Stella patterns were produced, both featuring a profile of Lady Liberty and a star on the reverse. One type shows her with long, flowing hair while the other type features a tightly coiled updo.
The coin obverse show the Head of Liberty facing left, wearing diadem inscribed LIBERTY, her hair braided and tightly coiled on top of her head; around. The reverse show Large five-pointed star inscribed in incuse: ONE / STELLA / — / 400 / CENTS, in five lines; around outer rim: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA — FOUR DOL.; around, within outer legend: E – PLURIBUS – UNUM — DEO – EST – GLORIA.
You can read more about it here; 1880 Coiled Hair gold coin sells for $2.5mil.
5. 1796 silver quarter-dollar-$1,527,500
(Heritage Auctions)
The 1796 B-2 Quarter Dollar graded MS67 by NGC sold for $1,527,500 in Eric P. Newman Collection Part II Signature Auction on 15 November 2013.
This quarter was purchased by the 102 year-old Mr. Newman for $100 in the 1930s. The Newman 1796 quarter ranks as the most beautiful surviving example and exhibits quintessential Wayte Raymond album toning, gorgeous gunmetal-blue at the borders, gradually changing through orange-gold to nearly brilliant silver at the centers.
Only a total of 6,146 coins was minted through the use of two obverse dies and one reverse die by The Philadelphia Mint.
The coin obverse features the Liberty Head and the 1796 date. On reverse the words "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" encircle the wreath with eagle on center of the coin.
6. 1792 silver half disme-$1,410,000
(Heritage Auctions)
The 1792 silver half disme sold for $1,410,000 at Heritage Auctions' U.S. Coin Florida United Numismatists (FUN) Signature® Auction in Orlando on 10 January 2013.
The 1792 half disme (pronounced "deem") was an American silver coin with a face value of five cents.
The coin, previously owned by Floyd Starr, is graded Specimen-67 PCGS. The mintage of these coins is variously estimated at 1,500 to 2,000 coins, based on documentary evidence left by Thomas Jefferson, though only an estimated 250 or so of them survive to this day, and none of them in better shape than the coin sold.
The obverse featured a head of Liberty, as the Birch cents with lettering LIB. PAR. OF SCIENCE & INDUSTRY (Liberty Parent of Science and Industry). The reverse shows an eagle in flight. ettering is on the obverse, being “LIB. PAR. OF SCIENCE & INDUSTRY” (Liberty Parent of Science and Industry).
7. 1796 silver dollar-$1,175,000
(Heritage Auctions)
The 1796 silver dollar selling for $1,175,000 at the Heritage US Coin Signature Auction in Chicago on 25 April 2013. The 1796 silver dollar in this auction, is the highest certified of all 1796 silver dollars, regardless of variety. The coin is NGC graded MS-65 and has a sticker of approval from the CAC.
This piece shows surfaces of marvelous beauty, deeply but engagingly toned throughout. Both sides display an inner circle of pinkish toning ceding to peripheral rings of blue. The obverse shows more of a transitional purple-colored ring between the two prevailing colors, and many of the stars, the date, and other raised devices on each side show small "shadows" of silver to one side or the other.
8. 1783 Nova Constellatio Quint Type II-$1,175,000
(Heritage Auctions)
The unique Type Two 1783 quint from the collection of Walter Perschke sold for USD$1,175,000 the Heritage US Coin Signature Auction in Chicago on 25 April 2013. The first time this coin has been offered at public auction since its appearance in the Garrett Collection sale 34 years ago.
The coin obverse show the All-Seeing Eye in a glory of rays at the center with 13 stars with no inscription. The coin reverse show U.S (no stop after S) and denomination enclosed by an olive wreath at the center with LIBERTAS JUSTITIA and the date 1783 around.
The Nova Constellatio patterns were struck by personnel hired by the U.S. government, acting on instructions from Congressional representatives. The coins represent the prototypes for the first system of American coinage ever conceived. They have serious claims to being the first U.S. pattern coins although they were struck under the authority of the Articles of Confederation, before the Constitution was written.
9. 1792 half disme-$1,145,625
(Stack’s Bowers Galleries)
The 1792 half disme graded MS-68 by the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) sold for USD$1,145,625 in Stack’s Bowers Cardinal Collection auction on 24 January 2013.
The 1792 half disme was the first federal coin issued after the passage of the Mint Act of April 2, 1792, and was struck prior to the completion of the US Mint in Philadelphia, in the cellar of John Harper’s workshop in Philadelphia; the issue was even mentioned by George Washington in his address to Congress, where he declared in part:
“There has been a small beginning in the coinage of half dismes, the want of small coins in circulation calling the first attention to them."
10. 1852 Humbert $10 gold coin-$1,057,500
(Heritage Auctions)
1852 Humbert Ten Dollar sold for USD$1,175,000 the Heritage US Coin Signature Auction in Chicago on 25 April 2013. The coin is NGC graded MS-68 and has a sticker of approval from the CAC.
The obverse depicts an eagle above a shield with wings spread, its head turned toward its left wing, arrows in one talon, an olive branch in the other talon, holding a ribbon inscribed LIBERTY in its beak. Below the eagle, the denomination is expressed as TEN DOLS. with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA around. The reverse has a central block for its inscription: AUGUSTUS HUMBERT. / UNITED STATES ASSAYER / OF GOLD. CALIFORNIA. / 1852.
Augustus Humbert is the United States Assayer of Gold in California for The United States Assay Office under Moffat & Co.
