Many people with even a mild interest in rare coins will inevitably ask the question “What are the rarest coins of them all?” In the United States, the following are the top ten rarest coins in existence. 

1943 COPPER PENNY

The tenth rarest coin in the United States is the 1943 Copper Penny. Due to the rationing of copper during the Second World War, most of these coins were actually made from a brass-steel alloy rather than copper, but a few were made from the copper alloy known as bronze and today, these are worth big money. It is easy to check to see if you have such a rare one, as the common version will stick to a magnet – while the rare one will not.

1776 SILVER CONTINENTAL DOLLAR

The ninth rarest coin in the United States is the 1776 Silver Continental Dollar. The first example of true American currency, the coin features a quirky design including the words “fugio” (which means “time flies”) as well as “mind your business”, plus thirteen rings that are interlocked, intended to represent the colonies. A couple of dozen of the pewter versions of the dollar remain, and may be worth something in themselves, but the silver version is extremely rare and very valuable indeed.

1866

The 1866 silver coin is the eighth rarest coin in the United States. There are only a few dominations of this rare coin, and most likely just the one Du Pont version of the coin, which were produced minus the traditional “In God We Trust” slogan back in 1866. As a result, this version is extremely rare.

1870 SAN FRANCISCO COINS

Almost any coin which was manufactured in San Francisco in the year 1870 is now considered to be very rare indeed, and collectively, judged to be the seventh rarest coins in the United States. The three most sought after coins from that time and city are the 1870-S Half Dime, the 1870-S Silver Dollar, and the 1870-S three dollar coin.

1913 LIBERTY HEAD NICKEL

The sixth rarest coin in the United States is the 1913 Liberty Head Nickel, and with good reason. The Liberty Head Nickel officially ceased to be manufactured in 1912, and yet five of these five cent pieces were struck a year later and as a result, just one of the five coins was valued at approximately three million US dollars.