OK - back to coins - What's the rearest coin you've ever held in your hand?

FC57Coins

For me it was an 1848 "CAL" quarter eagle - it was AU and beautiful. I could just imagine the history that little piece of gold contained!

Frank

ursabear

Frank - The very first coin I ever made goo-goo-eyes with that is considered rare was an AG 1916-D Winged Head Liberty Dime in the local coin shop in 1968. It was $90, the date was flat, the rims were mostly gone, and I had $3.50 to my name. The rest, as they say, is history - I've been a collector since.

goose3

I held one of the slabbed 1943 copper cents.....or it may have been a Steel 1944......can't remember.

asking price was 100K

FC57Coins

wouldn't you love to go back in time with the extra $86.50!

mbbiker

I got to hold a 1793 chain cent graded ms-61 I couldn't afford it then and i'm not any closer to being able to buy it now.

CalGold

From what some folks on this board are saying, it was probably a nice shiny new clad quarter that I spent- pick your date.

airplanenut

I held a pop 3/0 PCGS MS66 1937-D 3-legger buff with a PCGS MS65 example, too... $15,000 and $10,000, respectively... then I saw someone pay for them in cash... COOL! (brief case of stacks of $100s )

kranky

I have always liked those CAL $2 1/2s. A very historic coin, and the fact that the CAL was applied by hand while the coin was still in the dies is fascinating. I'd love to own one, but it ain't happening.

The two rarest coins I've ever held were an AU 1893-S Morgan and a MS65 1877 IHC.

Bustman

A capped bust proof SET!
All graded Pr65 /66. I don't remember the date, but I do remember drooling all over them. ( Don't worry, they were slabbed!)

ursabear

<< <i>wouldn't you love to go back in time with the extra $86.50! >>



I wish I could go back to that very shop at that very time with enough money to do just that. I would also pack enough extra to buy the 3 leg buffalo that was next to it.

LanLord

Jeeze, I haven't really had any of those kinf of opportunities. I saw a 1901s quarter while I was looking over someones shoulder at a coin show. That's it. All the rarities I've been able to hold I had to own, therefore, none really.

STOCKFORD

the rarest coin I ever held is the eliasberg 1913 liberty nickel when it was displayed along with all his coins wow!!!!!!!!!!!
the rarest one that I own is a 1878-s seated half slabbed by pcgs
I consider it rarer than mine 1916/16 double die buffalo

MrLee

I was at the local 7-11 talking with the owner, mentioned that I was collecting coins and he says he has a old US Coin the size of a silver dollar but really wasn't sure what it was. Naturally I offer to look at it for him and figure out what it was. The next time in, he has it with him. An 1803 Draped Bust Dollar in fine condition. He told me one of the customers spent it in his store to buy something a year or two before. I tried to buy it from him but he wanted to save it for his son. At the next coin show I picked up an airtite for him as it was being kept raw in his wife's jewelry box. He had a better find than he thought.

Bear

Many years ago on a hot , sticky summer day, we heard the bell

of the ice cream truck comming. Our two young sons ran into the house

and I gave them 4 Kennedy Half Dollars to buy ice cream. The look of sheer joy on their

faces made those half dollars the most valuable coins in the world

at that moment in time. Value is all in the eye and the heart

of the beholder. Bear

Conder101

These are the rarest but not the most valuable.

1794 NC-9 large cent, two known.
1794 NC-10 large cent Unique at the time a second one has come to light since then.
1794 NC-11 large cent Unique
1796 NC-6 (the 1 1/2 cent piece specimen) two known (I think its a fabrication.)
1797 NC-8 Unique

1787 Warwickshire 340bis two known (I cherried the finer of the two on eBay.)

There are probably some others.


I've always been interested in the 1848 CAL. quarter eagle and I've done a little research on it. I need to do more but I suspect the CAL. was NOT punched into the coins by hand. I've seen about 15 different specimens so far and I haven't detected any differences in the placement of the counterstamp.

Another interesting group I've had the opportunity to handle were the 1815 and 1825 E & L counterstamped quarters. I was able on those to prove that the counterstamps were not just done with similar style punches but the exact same punches.

MrLee

<< <i>Value is all in the eye and the heart of the beholder. >>


Oh so true Bear. The coins many of us have received from our parents and grandparents are the precious ones we have.

heavycopper

I examined a MS67 3-legged buffalo. According to the current owner, it is the finest known. He had gone to many shows and examined the other high end 3- legged buffalo nickels. His coin is raw. The owner said, why should I have some guys who know less than me grade it? He was offered $20,000 and declined.

FC57Coins

That's a fantastic grouping Conder. You know, I had heard that the CAL half eagles had been punched by hand, but the one thing that I wondered about was the fact that if it had been punched by hand, I would have thought that some bulging or something would have occurred on the obverse but the coin I looked at looked perfectly fine - almost as if the punch had actually been part of the reverse die. Anyway - it was interesting -too bad I'll probably never own one - unless maybe I buy a 7/11 and someone gives me one for a slurpee!

Frank

PS - Bear - you are soooooooo right about those Kennedy's!!! FC

MastaHanky

The guys at Angel Dee's let me hold a PCGS MS63FH 1918/7 Standing Liberty. The fact they let some young punk like me do that made me a lifetime customer for them.

oldcameoproofsguy

I hope that tradedollarnut displays his collection of trade dollars some day so that I can check out his Eliasberg 1885 NGCPR66 $1. I'd love to see that coin in person.

tristarz

1899 $2.50 Liberty PR67 - lost my mind and bought it.

Pushkin

Pushkin

This is the most expensive: $60,000

1856_Flying_Eagle

The rarest is one of my own - an 1857 Flying Eagle Obverse Clashed Die with $20 Liberty. It is also the lowest known grade coin of the $20 clashed dies, which makes it unique (in an odd sort of way ).

numobri

The one that makes it into my bank account,spend most on coins.

oreville

I have held an aluminum pattern 1872 $20 proof double eagle. It is currently in a Northeast collection and the only pattern slabbed by PCGS or NGC (of any grade).

dragon

I've held the following:

1894-S $5.00 Liberty NGC MS69
1893 Morgan PCGS PR69 (i held it when it was only a PR68 though)
1896-S Morgan PCGS MS69
1893-O Morgan PCGS MS65DMPL
1884-S Morgan PCGS MS67
1908 Wells Fargo Saint PCGS MS69
$10.00 Indian NGC PR68 (forget the date)
1879 Flowing Hair Stella PCGS PR66
$5.00 Indian NGC MS68 (forget the date)


these were the most memorable at least.

Dragon

Coppernicus

The rarest I have held (as opposed to seeing) was a 09-S VDB (raw) which I think would conservatively grade an MS66. I gotta tell you, I was very nervous so I didn't hold it very long. I was young (many years ago) but I have never forgotten the incident.

Rarer ones I have seen, but not held!

kranky

Tradedollarnut, you ought to be posting in this thread!

MastaHanky

<<1893 Morgan PCGS PR69 (i held it when it was only a PR68 though)
1896-S Morgan PCGS MS69>>

I've seen both of these, and they will both leave you speechlist. The 1896 is so pristine, your mind can't even comprehend a circulation strike coin of that size surviving in that condition for over 100 years.

KlectorKid

I held a XF raw half disme... not as expensive as some of the others but great to hold none the less.

MadMarty

The rarest coin I have held (and owned) was a 1895 Proof Morgan PCGS PR63... Really hated to sell off that one, but wanted to pay off the house!!!

Conder101

On the lack of bulge on the 1848 CAL quarter eagle (and the counterstamped bust quarters): Normally when you punch something into a finished coin you get a bulge and flattening on the opposite side. This is because that side is not fully supported. The coin rests on the surface below it but just touches on the high points of the devices or rim. When the coin is punched the devices start to flatten and the fields on that opposite side deform until they make contact with the surface below thus forming the "bulge". If the coin is held in the die that was used to strike the coin the die conforms to the surfaces of the coin and supports it at all points so that when the punch is applied there is no movement of the metal on the underside and no bulge is formed. (if the punch is heavily applied the coin may dish slightly and a very slight buldge may be seen.)

JNADAD

1896 Quarter Eagle

coinguy1

The rarest? I handled a few "good" ones while grading at NGC! For sheer rarity, probably some patterns that were either unique or one of two or three known and some unique branch-mint proof coins and proof commemoratives (and I don't mean modern ones!). Most valuable? The PR66 1913 Liberty nickel; a couple of examples of a better date bust dollar - 1804, to be exact; a couple of Ultra High Reliefs. Maybe a few other "toughies" I can't recall.

CLASSICS

the rarest coin i ever had was the 1804 silver dollar i received in my change, after i bought the 1933 double eagle 20.00 dollar gold coin at a local flee market, and then i woke up from the best dream i ever had.

RLinn

The rarest coin I ever held in my hand was a 1987 Jefferson nickel with a plug in it. Rare because my wife had not yet spent it. In my hand because she didn't realize I still had a plug nickel to my name.

freeblue

huh? rearest?

coin toss-- head or rear?

ARCO

Uh...I breathed on the glass case covering the famed 1913 Nickel recently sold at the ANA convention in 2001. I begged to hold it, but as I went to reach for it three armed security guards made very menacing gestures as they reached for their sidearms, so I had to be content just breathing on the glass.

There was a gem 1897-S Barber Half that I liked better anyway...I did get to hold that baby in my hand. It isn't terribly rare, but it is rare to me.

Tyler

calgolddiver

PCGS pop 5 - cal small denomination - BG 1023 - 1/2 dollar

PCGS pop 9 - cal small denomination - BG1206 - period 2 round dollar

both in my collection

calgolddiver

ttt - back to coin discussions

shirohniichan

I don't think I've held many really rare coins. Probably the rarest is either the 1876 II/II trade dollar (25 or so know) or another odd variety. I'm sure lathmach (like Conder) owns or has held some really rare varieties.

MadMarty

Sorry, but I couldn't resist...

My Pissing Minuteman quarter... Hey I heard it's worth $144,000...

mdwoods

A choice VG 10 PCGS 1793 Liberty Cap cent. The dealer wanted around 11 thousand. I think it was worth it, but I couldn't afford it.

lordmarcovan

I held a (the?) MS67 Chain cent. And a Panama-Pacific $50 octagonal which was raw, making holding it all the more interesting. Talk about heavy! Whoa!

EVillageProwler

I've held, as in during a lot viewing or just on display, quite a few rarities: the Norweb '84 Trade Dollar; three 1804 dollars (two T1, one T3); the 2nd finest 1870-S dollar; and, several high R.7 and R.8 ED's and patterns (from the Bass collection).

I've also held, or owned, several high priced items: three of TDN's Trade Dollars (before they became his); a several original 1851 and 1852 dollars; unc specimens of the '71-CC and '73-CC dollars; many of the unc CC Seated dimes, quarters and halves; and, the Amon Carter 1797 Bol.2 dollar.

EVP

cdmead

I'm holding an 1854-O $20 in a PCGS AU50 holder as I type.

Too bad I don't own it though...

KINCOIN

FOR ME IT WAS A 2000 S SILVER MASSACHUSETTS PISSING MINUTE MAN.

Kingcoin king of coins

DoubleDime

For me it was a 1876-CC 20c Piece "Double Dime" at a Wasington D.C. coin show in 1979.