Daily Rare Coin Update
Investing in rare gold coins is not only a journey through history but it can be exceedingly profitable, whether it is rare coins of the pre-1933 variety or other gold coins from the early days of the United States.
A subset of rare coins was created when the United States confiscated privately held gold in 1933. The surviving gold coins, mostly in coin collections, instantly became rare coins. What many do not know is that 1933 was second such event. Individuals melted down their gold coins in the 1820’s and early 1830’s because the price of gold rose making the gold more valuable than the face value of the coin.
The earliest gold coins from 1795 and 1796 were the eagles, half eagles, and quarter eagles. These were ten dollar, five dollar, and two and a half dollar gold pieces. The most commonly minted was the five dollar gold piece, the half eagle. Because of the “great meltdown” of the early 19th century, very few of these early pieces survived and those that do, in good condition, are very valuable. In 1982 an EF-40 grade 1822 half eagle, one of three known to survive out of over 17,000 minted, sold at auction for $687,500. An EF or extra find grade has a small but noticeable amount of wear and usually some remaining mint luster. This was a very slightly used coin that, thankfully, was saved instead of melted.
Although a common benchmark for an average pre-1933 rare gold coin is that they are worth twice the value of their gold bullion, the finer pieces in the pre-1933 range are distinctly more valuable. Exceedingly rare coins from the early days of the nation are a truly unique and usually immensely valuable.
Shawn Penny
Senior Staff Writer - Rare-Coin.org
