The Most Expensive: Coins in the World

Many coins are worth a fortune today, but these specimens are at the very top: we present the 10 coins that sold for the highest sums throughout the world.

Included are all results that we were able to determine, including primarily auction results, but also private transactions. The indicated prices include auction fees. Coins that would have made the list more than once, identical coin types and years were cut to avoid repetition.

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01
01USA. St. Gaudens Double Eagle $20, Ultra High Relief, 1907, PCGS PF68. Sold in a private transaction from Heritage Auctions to Great Collections Coin Auctions in 2021. Photo: Heritage Auctions.Top 10: 4,750,000 dollars.
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02USA. Liberty Head Nickel, 1913. PCGS PR66. Out of the 5 known 1913 Liberty Head Nickels, this is the one of the best quality. Ex Eliasberg. Direct sale by Bruce Morlean to an unknown party, 2007. Top 9: 5,000,000 dollars.
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03USA. Turban Head Eagle $10, 1804, Proof. PCGS PR65+. From Heritage auction #1326 (2021), lot 3049.Top 8: 5,280,000 dollars.
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04
04Umayyad Empire. Yazid II. Denarius, AD 723. Extremely fine. From Morton & Eden auction 48 (2011), lot 12.Top 7: 6,029,400 dollars.
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05
05USA. Paquet Reverse Double Eagle $20, 1861. PCGS MS67. From Heritage auction #1333 (2021), lot 3471.Top 6: 7,200,000 dollars.
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06
06USA. Draped Bust Silver Dollar, 1804, PCGS PF68. From Stack’s Bowers’ August Auction (2021), lot 4114.Top 5: 7,680,000 dollars.
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07
07USA. Capped Bust Half Eagle $5 1822, PCGS AU50. Only one specimen in private hands is known of. From Stack’s Bowers’ March Auction (2021), lot 4149.Top 4: 8,400,000 dollars.
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08Privately minted. Brasher Doubloon 1787, punch EB on wing, MS-65. From Heritage’s FUN US Coins Signature Auction #1326 (2021), lot 3934.Top 3: 9,360,000 dollars.
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09
09USA. Flowing Hair Silver Dollar 1794. Specimen-66 (PCGS). The first issued US Dollar. Direct sale to GreatCollections by Bruce Morelan, January 2022. Photo: Stack’s Bowers Galleries.Top 2: 12,000,000 dollars.
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10
10USA. St. Gaudens Double Eagle $20 1933. PCGS MS 65. Famous specimen from the collection of King Farouk of Egypt. Only example of this coin authorized for private ownership. From Sotheby’s Auction Three Treasures – Collected by Stuart Weitzman (2021), lot 1. Photo: Sotheby’s / Squaremoose.Top 1: 18,900,000 dollars.

The fact that 7 out of 10 all-time records were set in 2021 and 2022 says a lot about the current state of the market. Moreover: almost all results were achieved by US dealers and auction houses and – what’s more – 9 of these 10 coins are US coins.

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