News-Antique.com - Oct 28,2011 - 10) 1907 Rolled Edge Eagle
This highly rare gold coin, the best known example of its kind, came from the personal collection of Frank A. Leach, Director of the United States Mint from 1907 to 1909.
It was sold as part of the Colonel George M Monroe Collection at a Heritage auction in January 2011 for a price of $2,185,000, making it one of only 9 coins ever sold at auction for over $2 million.
9) 1804 Class III Silver Dollar
The 1804 Class III Silver Dollars were struck illegally by the U.S Mint employee Theodore Eckfeldt sometime between 1858 and 1860, in a plot to sell versions of the highly rare 1804 Class I Silver Dollar to coin dealers.
The die used to make the coins was seized by Mint Director James Ross Snowden in 1860, but several examples had already made it out of the mint and into the hands of collectors.
Of the seven examples known to exist today, most are owned by national institutions. The last to appear at auction was the ‘Adams - Carter Specimen’, which was sold by heritage in April 2009 for a price of $2.3 million.
8) The 1787 Brasher Doubloon EB Punch on Wing
The Brasher Doubloon is a legendary American coin made famous by its appearance in Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe novel ‘The High Window’. It was privately minted in the late 1780s by the goldsmith Ephraim Brasher, who struck a number of copper and gold coins during the period and always included his ‘EB’ stamp.
He applied for a licence to mint coins but was denied by the State of New York, and many believe the gold doubloons were created from copper coin dies as bribes for state officials in an attempt to win the licence.
Three versions of the doubloon were sold during a Heritage auction in January 2005. An example with Brasher’s ‘EB’ mark on the wing sold for a price of $2,415,000.
7) 1907 Ultra High Relief Double Eagle
The 1907 Ultra High Relief Double Eagle is a pattern-issue $20 coin struck to test the design created by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. After coins proved difficult to strike the relief was lowered, but around 20 high-relief pieces remained and have become some of the most sought after coins in U.S numismatics.
The highest-ever rated example of this coin was sold in 2005 during a Heritage sale of the Phillip H. Morse Collection of Saint-Gaudens Coinage, for a record price of $2.99 million.
6) 1787 Brasher Doubloon EB on Breast
The second Brasher doubloon to appear on the list was also sold at the Heritage auction in January 2005 which saw the ‘EB on wing’ version sold for $2.41 million.
This was beaten by a version with the ‘EB’ mark situated on the Eagle’s breast, which sold for a record price of $2,990,000.
5) 1913 Liberty Head nickel
The 1913 Liberty Head nickel is a highly rare U.S coin that technically doesn’t exist. The Liberty head design was replaced
