Coin reference › All-time U.S. coinage: colonial roots and major rarities
All-time U.S. coinage: colonial roots and major rarities
The coins at the top of American numismatics - the 1804 dollar, the 1913 Liberty Head nickel, the 1933 double eagle - are not coins anybody finds. They are worth knowing because they are the yardstick the rest of the field is measured against, and because their fakes are everywhere.
| Coin | Year | Mintage | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1652 Massachusetts New England silver coinage | 1652 | N/A | Colonial reference |
| 1787 Brasher doubloon - EB punch on wing | 1787 | N/A | Documented auction result |
| 1793 P AMERI in Legend | large-cents-flowing-hair | 1793 | N/A | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1793 P AMERICA With Periods | large-cents-flowing-hair | 1793 | N/A | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1793 P AMERICA Without Periods | large-cents-flowing-hair | 1793 | N/A | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1794 Flowing Hair dollar | 1794 | N/A | Documented auction result |
| 1796 P 15 Stars | half-dollars-draped-bust | 1796 | 3,918 | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1796 P 16 Stars | half-dollars-draped-bust | 1796 | N/A | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1797 P 15 Stars | half-dollars-draped-bust | 1797 | N/A | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1804 Draped Bust dollar - Class I | 1804 | N/A | Documented auction result |
| 1806 P Knobbed 6 - Stem Not Through Claw | half-dollars-draped-bust | 1806 | N/A | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1822 Capped Bust half eagle | 1822 | N/A | Documented auction result |
| 1861 Paquet Reverse double eagle | 1861 | N/A | Documented auction result |
| 1895 P Proof Only | Morgan dollar | 1895 | 880 | Proof collector issue |
| 1907 P High Relief - Roman Numerals MCMVII - Plain Edge | Saint-Gaudens $20 | 1907 | 1 | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1907 P Ultra High Relief - Lettered Edge - MCMVII | Saint-Gaudens $20 | 1907 | 17 | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1913 P | Liberty nickel | 1913 | 5 | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1927 D | Saint-Gaudens $20 | 1927 | 180,000 | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1933 P | Saint-Gaudens $20 | 1933 | 445,500 | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1933 Saint-Gaudens double eagle - authorized private specimen | 1933 | 445,500 | Documented auction result |
| 1943 D Bronze/Copper | Lincoln Wheat cent | 1943 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1943 P Bronze/Copper | Lincoln Wheat cent | 1943 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1943 S Bronze/Copper | Lincoln Wheat cent | 1943 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1944 S Steel Cent | Lincoln Wheat cent | 1944 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1958 P Doubled-Die Obverse | Lincoln Wheat cent | 1958 | N/A | Die variety: doubling |
What to look for
Provenance, mostly. A coin at this level is known individually and its history is documented; an example with no history is a problem rather than a discovery.
The difficulty
The problem at this level is not identification but provenance. Every one of these coins is known individually, and a coin with no documented history is a problem rather than a discovery. Ordinary collectors face the same thing at a smaller scale: proving that the coin you sold is the coin you photographed.
NumismaLab measures what is unique to ONE specimen - the particular constellation of contact marks and the exact edges of its own wear - and can recognise it again years later. The register lives in your own collection folder and goes nowhere. That is provenance you hold yourself rather than provenance you pay for.
Five days, no card, every tool unlocked. If it cannot settle your coin it will say so, which is the part worth testing.
Start with the trialMore lists
Compiled 2026-09-15. Mintages and designations are matters of record; which coins are worth a second look is an editorial judgement, and this page says so rather than pretending otherwise.
