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50 Greatest Attainable U.S. Coins (non-gold) - By MidLifeCrisis & Keyman64
keyman64
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MidLifeCrisis started a thread on Monday, April 13, 2015 at 4:50 PM to spur discussion of the 100 Greatest Attainable US Coins. I was the first to chime in with an attempt at all 100. I clearly had too much time on my hands. There were 50 non-gold and 50 gold. It was a good thread where several people shared their thoughts. After reading the feedback of several and after many PMs back and forth with MLC, we have formed a list.
Do we claim the list to be perfect? No.
Will everyone agree with everything on the list? No.
Will most people agree with most of the coins on the list? We hope so.
Will I buy things not on the list? Yup!
This list is part type set, part semi-key/key/better dates, part cool factor, part popularity contest and part historically significant.
Some coins meet several of the criteria.
Although not the norm in the list, some coins are inexpensive for everyone, depending on grade of course.
Others are just challenging.
Others are expensive but we did form the list while keeping a desired cap of $10K for any one coin.
Heck, we even included a few tokens for good measure and their historical significance.
A couple of others may not be US Coins but we felt they needed to be included due to their significance. We are okay with that.
We even included the opportunities for a few proofs.
Many coins were considered but left out. I guess we could have made a list of 60+ in order to make more people happy but we really wanted to keep it to 50. It is plenty challenging and much smaller than a typical Type Set. We also enjoyed creating the list while providing choices. It makes the list more flexible and enjoyable. There are some common dates in the list but that is not the norm, providing you with a better than average chance not to lose your butt while enjoying the hobby over a very long period of time.
I believe I will focus on this list for many years to come. It will be a challenge and tons of fun.
When it comes to the coins where the options are fairly open-ended, we would suggest picking a better date.
We included the mintage figures where we could.
**********************************************************************
8 Reales Pillar Dollar, any date
1652 Pine Tree Coinage, Shilling Large Planchet
1787 Cent Massachusetts, Arrows in Left Talon (Horned Die Break of Not)
1787 Nova Eborac Copper (New York)
1786-1788 New Jersey
1785-1787 Vermont Copper (Any)
Circa 1785 Bar Copper
Washington Piece 1783-1795 (Any 1783 or 1791 Cent or Any 1792)
1787 Fugio Copper (Any Original)
1793 Half Cent (35,334)
1837 Half Cent Worth of Copper HTT
1840-1849 Half Cent (ANY ORIGINAL PROOF)
1793 Flowing Hair Cent (Chain 36,103 or Wreath 63,353)
1793 Liberty Cap Cent (11,056)
1796 Draped Bust Cent (363,375)
1804 Cent (Original 96,500)
1837 One Cent, Three Cent or 1864 Three Cent Feuchtwanger Token
1856 Flying Eagle Cent (2,000)
ANY DATED CWT
1877 IHC (852,500) or 1909S IHC (309,000)
1909S VDB Lincoln Cent (484,000)
1943 Zinc-Coated Steel Lincoln Cent (ANY MINT)
1955 DDO Cent
1864 Small Motto 2c or 1873, Close 3, 2c PROOF ONLY (600 MINTAGE)
3CS OPTIONS (ANY)
3CN OPTIONS (ANY)
1885 5c (1,472,700) or 1912-S 5c (238,000)
1916 DDO 5c
1937D 3-Legged 5c
1942-1945 5c Wartime Silver Alloy, ANY
1794-1795 Flowing Hair Half Dime (86,416 total for both years)
1796 10c (22,135)
1916-D 10c (264,000)
1875-1878 20c ANY
1804 25c (6,738)
1860S 25c (56,000)
1870cc (8,340) or 1871cc (10,890) or 1872cc (22,850) 25c ANY
1896S (188,039) or 1901S (72,664) or 1913S (40,000) 25c
1916 SLQ (52,000) 25c
1932D (436,800) or 1932S (408,000) 25c
1794 (23,464) or 1795 (299,680) 50c
1836 Reeded Edge Rev 50 CENTS (1,200+) 50c
1870cc (54,617) 50c
1921 (246,000) or 1921D (208,000) or 1921S (548,000) 50c
ANY CLASSIC COMMEM 50c
1795 Flowing Hair (42,738) $1
1870cc (11,758) or 1871cc (1,376) or 1872cc (3,150) or 1873cc (2,300) $1
1873-1885 ANY TRADE DOLLAR T$1
ANY CARSON CITY MORGAN DOLLAR $1
1921 Peace High Relief (1,006,473) $1
**********************************************************************
A few of the coins that were considered but left out:
1942/1 Merc. This even made me sad but I am okay with it. The 1955 DDO 1c is more significant.
1918/7 Again, other more significant varieties are included.
1922, No D 1c. Expensive but not great enough for the list. Heck there are many coins with missing elements.
Shield Nickels. Not exactly the most popular coinage, not the best of designs, nothing that screamed at us to include them.
1969-S DDO 1c and 1972 DDO 1c...considered but we already have the more significant 1955 DDO 1c
Cheerios Dollar, expensive, in demand, rare enough but not GREAT ENOUGH as the variety is pretty minor in our view.
Reverse Proof Modern Bullion, they might be neat but....we just say no to bullion.
We just could not convince ourselves to bump a coin in the list for a 1965-Present non-gold Modern.
Kingdom of Hawaii 1847-1883
Philippine Issue 1903-1919 or 1944-1945
Error Coin
Pattern, maybe even a 1942 1c pattern.
1812 50c to honor the War of 1812
Connecticut Copper - Blessed by the General Assembly of Connecticut which is good. Imperfect Planchets stinks so you have to spend a lot more and pray to find a better one.
Machin’s Mills Copper - we tried to avoid British Penny (and other non-USA-denomination things of the sort)
Virginia Halfpenny - we tried to avoid British Penny (and other non-USA things of the sort)
St. Patrick Farthing or Halfpenny - we tried to avoid British Penny (and other non-USA things of the sort)
Yes, there were plenty of other coins considered.
Please comment on the effort, the list etc...
Do we claim the list to be perfect? No.
Will everyone agree with everything on the list? No.
Will most people agree with most of the coins on the list? We hope so.
Will I buy things not on the list? Yup!
This list is part type set, part semi-key/key/better dates, part cool factor, part popularity contest and part historically significant.
Some coins meet several of the criteria.
Although not the norm in the list, some coins are inexpensive for everyone, depending on grade of course.
Others are just challenging.
Others are expensive but we did form the list while keeping a desired cap of $10K for any one coin.
Heck, we even included a few tokens for good measure and their historical significance.
A couple of others may not be US Coins but we felt they needed to be included due to their significance. We are okay with that.
We even included the opportunities for a few proofs.
Many coins were considered but left out. I guess we could have made a list of 60+ in order to make more people happy but we really wanted to keep it to 50. It is plenty challenging and much smaller than a typical Type Set. We also enjoyed creating the list while providing choices. It makes the list more flexible and enjoyable. There are some common dates in the list but that is not the norm, providing you with a better than average chance not to lose your butt while enjoying the hobby over a very long period of time.
I believe I will focus on this list for many years to come. It will be a challenge and tons of fun.
When it comes to the coins where the options are fairly open-ended, we would suggest picking a better date.
We included the mintage figures where we could.
**********************************************************************
8 Reales Pillar Dollar, any date
1652 Pine Tree Coinage, Shilling Large Planchet
1787 Cent Massachusetts, Arrows in Left Talon (Horned Die Break of Not)
1787 Nova Eborac Copper (New York)
1786-1788 New Jersey
1785-1787 Vermont Copper (Any)
Circa 1785 Bar Copper
Washington Piece 1783-1795 (Any 1783 or 1791 Cent or Any 1792)
1787 Fugio Copper (Any Original)
1793 Half Cent (35,334)
1837 Half Cent Worth of Copper HTT
1840-1849 Half Cent (ANY ORIGINAL PROOF)
1793 Flowing Hair Cent (Chain 36,103 or Wreath 63,353)
1793 Liberty Cap Cent (11,056)
1796 Draped Bust Cent (363,375)
1804 Cent (Original 96,500)
1837 One Cent, Three Cent or 1864 Three Cent Feuchtwanger Token
1856 Flying Eagle Cent (2,000)
ANY DATED CWT
1877 IHC (852,500) or 1909S IHC (309,000)
1909S VDB Lincoln Cent (484,000)
1943 Zinc-Coated Steel Lincoln Cent (ANY MINT)
1955 DDO Cent
1864 Small Motto 2c or 1873, Close 3, 2c PROOF ONLY (600 MINTAGE)
3CS OPTIONS (ANY)
3CN OPTIONS (ANY)
1885 5c (1,472,700) or 1912-S 5c (238,000)
1916 DDO 5c
1937D 3-Legged 5c
1942-1945 5c Wartime Silver Alloy, ANY
1794-1795 Flowing Hair Half Dime (86,416 total for both years)
1796 10c (22,135)
1916-D 10c (264,000)
1875-1878 20c ANY
1804 25c (6,738)
1860S 25c (56,000)
1870cc (8,340) or 1871cc (10,890) or 1872cc (22,850) 25c ANY
1896S (188,039) or 1901S (72,664) or 1913S (40,000) 25c
1916 SLQ (52,000) 25c
1932D (436,800) or 1932S (408,000) 25c
1794 (23,464) or 1795 (299,680) 50c
1836 Reeded Edge Rev 50 CENTS (1,200+) 50c
1870cc (54,617) 50c
1921 (246,000) or 1921D (208,000) or 1921S (548,000) 50c
ANY CLASSIC COMMEM 50c
1795 Flowing Hair (42,738) $1
1870cc (11,758) or 1871cc (1,376) or 1872cc (3,150) or 1873cc (2,300) $1
1873-1885 ANY TRADE DOLLAR T$1
ANY CARSON CITY MORGAN DOLLAR $1
1921 Peace High Relief (1,006,473) $1
**********************************************************************
A few of the coins that were considered but left out:
1942/1 Merc. This even made me sad but I am okay with it. The 1955 DDO 1c is more significant.
1918/7 Again, other more significant varieties are included.
1922, No D 1c. Expensive but not great enough for the list. Heck there are many coins with missing elements.
Shield Nickels. Not exactly the most popular coinage, not the best of designs, nothing that screamed at us to include them.
1969-S DDO 1c and 1972 DDO 1c...considered but we already have the more significant 1955 DDO 1c
Cheerios Dollar, expensive, in demand, rare enough but not GREAT ENOUGH as the variety is pretty minor in our view.
Reverse Proof Modern Bullion, they might be neat but....we just say no to bullion.
We just could not convince ourselves to bump a coin in the list for a 1965-Present non-gold Modern.
Kingdom of Hawaii 1847-1883
Philippine Issue 1903-1919 or 1944-1945
Error Coin
Pattern, maybe even a 1942 1c pattern.
1812 50c to honor the War of 1812
Connecticut Copper - Blessed by the General Assembly of Connecticut which is good. Imperfect Planchets stinks so you have to spend a lot more and pray to find a better one.
Machin’s Mills Copper - we tried to avoid British Penny (and other non-USA-denomination things of the sort)
Virginia Halfpenny - we tried to avoid British Penny (and other non-USA things of the sort)
St. Patrick Farthing or Halfpenny - we tried to avoid British Penny (and other non-USA things of the sort)
Yes, there were plenty of other coins considered.
Please comment on the effort, the list etc...
"If it's not fun, it's not worth it." - KeyMan64
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
0
Comments
<< <i>Wow. You have too much time on your hands.
You noticed that too, huh?
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
Latin American Collection
What do you think?
<< <i>Good list, now how about some gold! >>
My very initial effort that included 50 gold was in This Thread. I'd be happy to PM back and forth the merits of what I listed there, revising the list and attempting to finish it in the same way. Or you could revise and PM me and we can chat. Whatever. I'm poor so I am not a gold collector but will have a few select pieces in my collection one day.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
<< <i>It seems that we all focus on famous key coins too much. To me, "Attainable" means reasonable pop numbers, say 50+ or 100+ and "Greatest" means famous.
What do you think? >>
We tried to do the best of all worlds...the best we could while keeping in mind the criteria list above. I know we can't please everyone with our list but we figured we would please a lot of people for sure. If we wanted a list of things that only Uber Rich people could do then we would have done that or focused on the already impossible 100 Greatest Registry Set.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
See http://www.doubledimes.com for a free online reference for US twenty-cent pieces
<< <i>Yea! The double dime made the list! >>
And I just bought one!
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
My Adolph A. Weinman signature
<< <i>IMO this list is.........ordures...
That is an interesting word to describe your spelling.
I think you mean the adjective, ordurous?
As for the list, to each their own for sure. Thanks for chiming in. Anything constructive to share?
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
<< <i>Why the 1932D quarter instead of the lower mintage 1932S? >>
The 32-D is a bit more rare in higher grades.
It could easily be changed to a choice of either one....good thought.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
<< <i>A quibble really, but If you are going to avoid "British thingies" you should avoid "spanish thingies" as well. I would have put one of each on there, probably added a Machins since they are US made. >>
Point certainly taken, thanks. We certainly discussed the Machins a couple of times. Some choices were tougher than others. The 8 Reales Spanish Milled Dollar is much more Historically Significant and it bullied its way onto the list. It is always the first coin discussed in the Red Book. It's a pretty big deal.
I guess we could have taken some other silly coin off the list and replaced it with the 1822 Dime to make Realone happy since he has one in MS70 or something like that.
Not everyone will agree with everything, that's for sure! That's okay.
Like I said, a list of 60 would be easier.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
<< <i>1863-1872 business strike 3sc >>
That is in the list as 3CS OPTIONS (ANY).
The better ones that I picked out, that might make it to my collection are as follows:
3CS OPTIONS
1872 (1,000)
1870 (3,000)
1871 (3,400)
1868 (3,500)
1867 (4,000)
1865 (8,000)
1855 (139,000)
1854 (671,000)
1851O (720,000) Only 3CS with Mint Mark and 1st Year of Issue
1873 3CS, Close 3 PROOF ONLY
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
It would be a neat set though.
Better have BJ build one in the Registry.
I don't understand the criteria being used to define 'greatest' in this context.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
<< <i>Title says "non-gold" and this means no Saints.
Well, it looks like I will have to put my bifocals on to actually READ this thread.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
The 1860-s may or not be the top coin after say the rare CC's. It may not even be the top "S" mint. I'd consider the 72-s as comparable or better. Most collectors don't have a clue as to either one.
1870-cc half is fine for a key date half dollar. But in comparison to the quarters, it wouldn't even place in the top 15....though it's arguably in the top 3-5 of collectible seated halves. And at one time (or currently?) there is/was a hoard of 50 or more pieces. You can't do that with 1860-s or 1872-s quarters. The CC collectors see the 70-cc as the key date CC half. But it ranks well behind the four collectible 70-73 "CC" quarters as well as these quarters: 42-0 sd, 49-0, 51-0, 52-0, 53 na, 60-s, 64-s, 66-s, 67-s, 71-s, and 72-s quarters....which may not be all of them. But, I won't disagree that people love the 70-cc half and 1804 quarter....even if the coins listed above are scarcer.
Overall it's a great list. But I would only consider it attainable if those were the only coins I could ever go after.....a collection unto itself. It's not for your "everyman." Probably in the top 1% of all collectors/collections. An 1801 or 1802 half could go in there as a choice....same for 1839-0 in place of the 1836 RE making it somewhat more affordable.
<< <i>I like that a couple seated key date coin made the list.
The 1860-s may or not be the top coin after say the rare CC's. It may not even be the top "S" mint. I'd consider the 72-s as comparable or better. Most collectors don't have a clue as to either one.
1870-cc half is fine for a key date half dollar. But in comparison to the quarters, it wouldn't even place in the top 15....though it's arguably in the top 3-5 of collectible seated halves. And at one time (or currently?) there is/was a hoard of 50 or more pieces. You can't do that with 1860-s or 1872-s quarters. The CC collectors see the 70-cc as the key date CC half. But it ranks well behind the four collectible 70-73 "CC" quarters as well as these quarters: 42-0 sd, 49-0, 51-0, 52-0, 53 na, 60-s, 64-s, 66-s, 67-s, 71-s, and 72-s quarters....which may not be all of them. But, I won't disagree that people love the 70-cc half and 1804 quarter....even if the coins listed above are scarcer.
Overall it's a great list. But I would only consider it attainable if those were the coins I could ever go after. And even then I'm not sure I could or would want to afford them all. It's not for your "everyman." >>
Thank you so much for the good feedback! How does all of what you just said play out with the idea of trying to keep a $10K Max limit on each item in the list? Thank you!
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
<< <i>Putting that set together would cost a fortune!
>>
In comparison to the 652 coin set you are putting together?
There are certainly some expensive coins here but it is nothing in comparison to what you are doing.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
<< <i>Thank you so much for the good feedback! How does all of what you just said play out with the idea of trying to keep a $10K Max limit on each item in the list? Thank you! >>
The coins would probably cost less. The 1860-s quarter probably costs more than an 1872-s in the higher grades. The 60-s is quite a challenge in problem free VF-XF....and just may cost you $10K as it approaches XF or XF+. I think even most of those quarters I listed cost LESS than a 70-cc half. All of them are easily obtainable for much less than $10K. Nice F-VF specimens of any of those alternative dates I listed are buyable in the $3K to $5K range. Speaking of 1870-cc halves, I bought my first one in 1975 or 1976 in FINE 12 via a Coin World mail bid sale....paid $175. I tried like the dickens to sell that coin to anyone in the LSCC club for $225....with no takers. I finally found a dealer who was willing to pay that (ie and mark it up more). What are those now? $3,000-$5,000? Per PCGS price guide the 70cc half in Fine 12 is just about $5,000. Every O, S and P mint quarter I listed previously has a price guide level at 20-50% of the 70cc....yet they are in same cases 2X or more rarer. Much of that is due to the CC collector influences.
<< <i>I like the list, but sad to not see a bust dollar but the upside is we have the same views (i have a few of them) Now if you have more time you could list the cost of each in say VG? I wish i had that kind of time on my hands. >>
I agree, leaving out a bust dollar stinks. Hmmm, that might be something to revise. Maybe drop the 3CN since we have a 3CS and add a Bust Dollar. Feedback like this is important. Please let us know! What specific suggestion would you make?
As for the cost, I plan to do something like that for myself, picking certain grades for each coin that I might initially aim for. I will create a couple of different lists and post them.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
That 01s is a pop 25 in VG-10 with that 10K price. An ok coin for sure, and possibly nice detail with five letters of LIBERTY but I'd be an advocate of the other two in case of a 3 way tie.
<< <i>Thanks roadrunner! We will take a little closer look and might PM.
No problem. I was wondering if a seated half dime or dime should be on the list. But I'm ok with it. I find the 40-0 wd, 46, and 53-0 NA half dimes....and 43-0, 46, 60-0, and 85-s dimes interesting. Though "interesting" does not necessarily mean underrated or under-priced. A decent 74-cc dime even in Good might not make the $10K cut off. But a 74-cc half would be a decent substitute for the 70-cc half, even if not quite as scarce.
The CC seated dollars are neat (and often expensive).....skewed up in price by our CC collectors. Suitable alternatives imo would be the Philly coins VF-AU of the run from 1854-1868, and preferably the 1854 or 1855 which are sort of like semi-keys....and those are much desired by seated dollar collectors. The 1850-0, 1850, 1859-s, and 1872-s are also interesting dates that stick out from the others....seated dollars tend to be lacking for mint marks. I would think any of these would be prime examples of Fine-XF seated dollars and not break the bank like a 71-cc or 73-cc. Money left over for more coins.
And if you're going after a 20c piece, get anything but a 75-s. Circs of 1875-cc and 1876 are both somewhat challenging and interesting.
Not a fan of the 01-s Barber quarter because they tend to only be available in AG-Good conditions. A FINE specimen is probably over $10K.