Human beings have used coins for currency for thousands of years on nearly every continent on the planet. Each coin is a small piece of history that is tied to the economic and political movements of the time. This concept applies vastly more to some coins than it does for others. Every coin on this list is impressive and rare because of the events that were going on around the time they were created. To have just one of these coins would mean that your collection is a head and shoulder above most others. Here are 6 coins that any coin collector would love to have in their collection...
1. 1877 three-cent nickel
During the civil war, the previous three-cent piece was made of copper and silver, and had to be recalled due to a scarcity of available supplies during the war. This led to the replacement of the coin with an over-abundance of paper bills that were only worth three cents. These pieces of paper were essentially worthless and hated by the public, who dubbed them “shinplasters.” In 1865, at the urging of nickel industrialist Joseph Wharton, the U.S. created a new three-cent coin that was made primarily of nickel. The rarest of these coins is the 1877 version, where only a handful were ever minted, due to being replaced by the five-cent nickel.
2. 1933 Saint-Gaudens double eagle
In 1906, while Teddy Roosevelt was president, the renowned sculptor Saint-Gaudens was commissioned to create a new set of currency for the United States. At the time, it was widely regarded as the best designed currency in history. It used traditional Greek art techniques in a way that could be pressed to a coin, which had never been done effectively, before. This series ended in 1933 when, in the height of the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the treasury to cease paying out gold. There had already been nearly 450 thousand minted, but they were ordered to be melted back down to gold. However, 20 of these coins were smuggled out and stolen before they suffered that fate. To this day, the Secret Service has hunted down 19 of those coins, of which they destroyed 9. The final coin was recently sold in 2002 for $7.6 million.
3. A Brasher Doubloon
In 1787, goldsmith Ephraim Brasher wanted to mint a currency for the state of New York. He created a handful of golden “Brasher Doubloons” that he sent to the state for approval. While impressed, the cost to create the gold dollars was too great, and he was denied. However, the one’s that he had already created managed to circulate around the country, making these doubloons the first ever gold coinage in United States history. In 2012, one of the few Brasher Doubloons known to still be in existence was sold for $7.4 million.
4. Zhang Zuolin 50 yuan gold coin
Zhang Zuolin is one of the greatest “rags-to-riches” figures in Chinese history. Born to poor hunters, Zuolin became one of the most powerful warlords in China. He was notorious at the time for his willingness to ally with the Japanese, and his eventually conquering of Manchuria. After taking control of Tientsin and Beijing in 1926, Zuolin ordered the creation of a new series of coinage. These coins featured a portrait of the famed warlord on one side, and a design of a dragon and a phoenix on the other. Of these, the golden Zuolin 50 yuan coin is widely considered to be the rarest Chinese coin in existence. Currently, there are only 2 still known in the world.
5. 1794 silver dollar
Also known as the “flowing hair” dollar, the 1974 silver dollar was the first dollar coin issued by the federal government in U.S. History. At the time, each of the states dealt in its own currency, which had led to a host of problems when it came to inter-state trade. Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton knew that the country couldn’t reach the levels of economic growth that would be needed to survive as a young nation if this trend were to continue, and he released a report that urged Congress to sign into existence a federal currency that the entire country could unite around. This original dollar was 90% silver and 10% copper, and designed by Robert Scot. It features a portrait of Lady Liberty on one side, and an eagle with extended wings on the other. It is the rarest of all US coins, and sold for $10 million in 2013.
6. 1530 Mughal gold ashrafi
The story of this rare series of golden coins is one of family betrayal. Mughal leader Kamran Mirza took control of Badakhshan after turning on his brother, Hamayun, and siding with their longtime family enemy, Sher Shah Suri, a Pashtun noble. In 1530, Kamran began a bloody and oppressive 15 year reign upon several provinces in India, upon which he began having his own currency minted in solid gold. Hamayun, however, escaped from the clutches of his brother and the Shah, and fled to Persia, where he built up and consolidated his power over one of the newest Mughal armies. In 1545, he returned to India and defeated both his brother and the Shah. Despite the urging of his advisors, Hamayun refused to put his brother to death, but knew he had to be punished. Instead, Kamran was blinded and banished to the desert, sent on a religious pilgrimage. The remaining gold ashrafi’s of the period are a relic of this great family drama.
For some unusual U.S. coins that are still in circulation, check out this nifty article here.
