20 Greatest Individual US Coins

My first five:

1. 1794 $1 SP66
2. 1783 Plain Obverse Nova Constellatio Quint PCGS PR55 https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/985015/is-this-the-very-first-u-s-coin-1783-plain-obverse-nova-constellatio-quint
3. Childs 1804 $1
4. 1795 $5 BD-1 NGC MS66 - First US Mint gold coin, first die marriage, highest grade with fully prooflike fields and undoubtedly among the first few gold coins struck at the Mint https://coins.ha.com/itm/early-half-eagles/half-eagles/1795-5-small-eagle-bd-1-r5-ms66-ngc-pcgs-519849-/a/1216-4271.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515
5. 1822 $5 Pogue

I have been wanting to contribute to this great idea for a thread. Here goes:

1. Brasher Doubloon (Garrett)
2. 1804 $1 Childs
3. J 1776
4. 1794 $1 Cardinal Morelan
5. 1792 half disme Cardinal
6. 1822 $5
7. 1838-O half Green Baldenhofer
8. 1913 5C Eliasberg
9. 1933 $20 Farouk
10. Chain Cent "The Coin"
11. 1860 Clark Gruber $20 (NGC 64*)("I" in 0)
12. 1907 UHR Captain North plain edge
13. 1861 Pacquet Norweb
14. 1854-S 5$ Eliasberg
15. 1808 quarter eagle Pogue
16. 1894-S 10C Stack
17. 1796 25C PC67
18. 1885 Trade dollar Eliasberg
19. 1876-CC 20C Battle Born
20. 1838 10$ Proof Pittman

a few criteria: 1. No more than one per issue (so only one 1804 dollar). 2. Value 3. Rarity 4. Beauty 5 . Diversity across centuries, mints and face value.

@RedCopper said:
I would like to hear what John Albanese considers the 20 Greatest U.S.coins

I’d love to hear your top 20.

in terms of beauty its the 1907 Ultra High relief Saint Gardens

@SmEagle1795 said:
It's pretty remarkable that Heritage's top four US coins ever sold have sold within 2021:

Stack's is doing well for their top 4 as well. If only they auctioned the Farouk 1933 DE again this year.

@chesterb said:
Otherwise known as a list of coins I’ll never be able to own.

But you can vicariously own several of them through TDN

@tradedollarnut said:
A few of those are notoriously over graded

A couple aren't egregiously over-graded. That's a consoling thought

I think the strawberry leaf large cent should also be considered. There are some coins that being pictured in earlier redbooks have made them way more relevant. The fine12 example might be a million dollar coin

@WCC said:

@tradedollarnut said:
My list or rank would not be based upon specific coins in a particular quality.

But that’s the entire point of the thread. Specific coins of specific quality. Shrug

I'd still add the 1861 CSA half dollar and Garrett proof $50 slug. I consider all four CSA halves "greater" than most of the coins noted by anyone here. I know it technically isn't a US coin but then neither is the Brasher doubloon which is in my top five.

The ANS Confederate Half makes my top 10. The other three don’t come close.

@WCC said:

@MrEureka said:

@WCC said:

@tradedollarnut said:
My list or rank would not be based upon specific coins in a particular quality.

But that’s the entire point of the thread. Specific coins of specific quality. Shrug

I'd still add the 1861 CSA half dollar and Garrett proof $50 slug. I consider all four CSA halves "greater" than most of the coins noted by anyone here. I know it technically isn't a US coin but then neither is the Brasher doubloon which is in my top five.

The ANS Confederate Half makes my top 10. The other three don’t come close.

Guess I would have to see all four again, as I don't remember how all look. My recollection is one of the four is an XF but can't remember if it's the ANS. That's enough for me to still rank it first in US coinage, broadly defined.

One is lower than XF, but the I believe that is the one traced to Jefferson Davis. The original CSA half’s are great coins

@tradedollarnut said:
Ttt after all the recent sales

Thanks for the update. Just checked my list. Farouk-Weitzman 1933 DE is still number 1

@tradedollarnut said:

@Zoins said:

@tradedollarnut said:
Ttt after all the recent sales

Thanks for the update. Just checked my list. Farouk-Weitzman 1933 DE is still number 1

Actually a fairly common rarity with a hugely expensive monetization certificate

Someone had a great quote above

the rarest are not always the greatest, nor are the greatest always the rarest

For me, it’s not about monetization, it’s about enduring fame and place in history, including outside the coin community.

Of course, there are going to be differences in ranking as everyone is providing their lists and has differing criteria for their selection.

@TDN said:
Greatest is in the context of the ‘100 greatest us coins’ books. Enduring fame and desire from numismatists…nothing more, nothing less.

@Zoins said:

@tradedollarnut said:
No, because the rarest are not always the greatest, nor are the greatest always the rarest. In fact, the rarest are usually too esoteric to be the greatest.

Greatest is in the context of the ‘100 greatest us coins’ books. Enduring fame and desire from numismatists…nothing more, nothing less.

It would be useful to include the criteria used by the books.

I might use something like stack ranked most desired coins. If you could put together a list of coins and you would get them with an arbitrary cutoff you won’t know beforehand, how would you rank them.

What is the listing in the latest edition of Ron Guth's and Jeff Garrett's "100 Greatest U.S. Coins?"

Here are the top 20 in the 2nd Edition beginning with the 1804 Capped Bust Silver Dollar as number one and ending with TDN's coin being a representative of the 1794 Flowing Hair Silver Dollars at number twenty.

1804 Capped Bust Silver Dollar
1913 Liberty Head Nickel
1933 Double Eagle
1849 Double Eagle
1907 Ultra High Relief Double Eagle
1894-S Barber Dime
1907 Indian Head Double Eagle Pattern
1943 Bronze Cent
1822 Half Eagle
1885 Trade Dollar
1872 Amazonian Gold Pattern Set
1776 Continental Dollar
1877 Half Union $50 Gold Coins (Type One)
1909-S V.D.B. Lincoln Cent
1793 Chain Cent
1876-CC Twenty-Cent Piece
1907 Ultra High Relief Peifort
1792 Half Disme
1838-O Half Dollar
1794 Silver Dollar (Flowing Hair)

@WCC said:

@MrEureka said:

@WCC said:

@tradedollarnut said:
My list or rank would not be based upon specific coins in a particular quality.

But that’s the entire point of the thread. Specific coins of specific quality. Shrug

I'd still add the 1861 CSA half dollar and Garrett proof $50 slug. I consider all four CSA halves "greater" than most of the coins noted by anyone here. I know it technically isn't a US coin but then neither is the Brasher doubloon which is in my top five.

The ANS Confederate Half makes my top 10. The other three don’t come close.

Guess I would have to see all four again, as I don't remember how all look. My recollection is one of the four is an XF but can't remember if it's the ANS. That's enough for me to still rank it first in US coinage, broadly defined.

Here's the ANS coin.

@wondercoin said:
“The ANS Confederate Half makes my top 10. The other three don’t come close.”

Andy. Don’t forget the Unique 1907 United States / Philippine (bi-National) Proof Peso. Could be in some collectors’ Top 6 or 8 US Classic rarities.

Wondercoin

I don’t agree but I am not knocking the hustle

@MrEureka said:

@WCC said:

@MrEureka said:

@WCC said:

@tradedollarnut said:
My list or rank would not be based upon specific coins in a particular quality.

But that’s the entire point of the thread. Specific coins of specific quality. Shrug

I'd still add the 1861 CSA half dollar and Garrett proof $50 slug. I consider all four CSA halves "greater" than most of the coins noted by anyone here. I know it technically isn't a US coin but then neither is the Brasher doubloon which is in my top five.

The ANS Confederate Half makes my top 10. The other three don’t come close.

Guess I would have to see all four again, as I don't remember how all look. My recollection is one of the four is an XF but can't remember if it's the ANS. That's enough for me to still rank it first in US coinage, broadly defined.

Here's the ANS coin.

Nice coin.

It has the following provenance:

1. Benjamin Franklin Taylor, MD
2. Ebenezer Locke Mason, Jr.
3. J.W. Scott
4. Thomas Lindsay Elder
5. John Sanford Saltus, donates to ANS
6. ANS

Here are some links:

• ANS: http://numismatics.org/collection/1918.153.1
• Bonhams: https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21792/lot/1355/

@tradedollarnut said:
Restrike? Pfffft

If you're referring to the Bonhams restrike link, that's just to provide the lot description which has a lot of history.

The ANS link above it is to the Saltus-ANS original specimen attributed to CSA coiner Dr. Benjamin Franklin Taylor.

@koynekwest said:
Any unique regular issue coins would occupy the top spots on my list.

Can any unique coin be considered a regular issue?

@Crypto said:
I think the strawberry leaf large cent should also be considered. There are some coins that being pictured in earlier redbooks have made them way more relevant. The fine12 example might be a million dollar coin

Is the origins of this still a mystery?

Did any of the founding fathers or their families have an affinity for strawberries?

Here's the TrueView for @DLHansen's PCGS VG10 BN, Ex. Lorin Gilbert Parmelee.

Zoins- The phenomenon rise in the price of silver during the years 1905-1907 was, at the core, responsible for the creation of two Unique US Pesos struck in 80/20 silver and 90/10 silver by the US Mint. I believe you show the Coinfacts picture of the PCGS graded Gem quality 80/20 composition silver coin. The other Unique coin is part of the Manila Money Museum Coin display and a recent picture I received from an avid coin collector visiting the museum shows a very low quality example (one-sided, as the coin is displayed “flat” by the museum) of the 90/10 composition silver example.

The story of silver around this time period is a fascinating story in itself (I believe about 75% produced simply as a by-product of the mining of other metals, just a few companies running much of the silver smelting business of the world, methods of buying and selling silver at that time very unusual, etc). It is a very interesting story behind the creation of the Unique 1907 US Pesos that needs to be told one day in great detail ! Wondercoin.