2011 million dollar coin list unveiled

This article was originally printed in Numismatic News.
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The second annual PCGS Million Dollar Coin Club reference guide has been unveiled by Professional Coin Grading Service.

Originally launched in January 2010 with 210 “charter member” U.S. coins valued by experts at $1 million or more each, the “club” now has grown to include 235 coins with a combined value of more than a half billion dollars. Some individual coins have jumped in estimated value as much as 50 percent the past year, PCGS says.

The complete Million Dollar Coin Club listing is available online at www.pcgs.com/million-dollar-coin-club.

“It was just 15 years ago that a coin first broke the million dollar mark at auction,” said David Hall, president of Collectors Universe, Inc. and co-founder of PCGS. “We now estimate that there are 235 U.S. coins that already have sold for $1 million or more or would sell for $1 million or more if offered at auction. Our estimate for the total current value of all these coin rarities is $528,600,000!”

Hall and Ron Guth, president of PCGS CoinFacts, compiled the list in consultation with Jim Halperin, co-chairman of Heritage Auctions,; Kevin Lipton, president of Kevin Lipton Rare Coins; Greg Rohan, president of Heritage Auctions; and Laura Sperber, president of Legend Numismatics.

According to the team, here are the top 10 most valuable coins struck by the U.S. Mint and their values:

1849 $20 Liberty, $20 million; 1907 Indian Head $20 Saint-Gaudens gold pattern, $15 million; 1877 $50 gold pattern J-1546, $15 million; 1877 $50 gold pattern J-1548, $15 million; 1907 double thick Extremely High Relief Saint-Gaudens $20 (two coins), $8.5 million each; 1794 silver dollar (PCGS SP-66), $7,850,000; 1804 Class I “original” silver dollar (PCGS PR-68), $7.5 million; 1804 Class I “original” silver dollar (PCGS PR-67), $6.5 million; 1822 $5 gold piece, $6 million.

High-quality images, experts’ narratives, pedigrees of the coins, rarity analysis, condition census and auction price histories for PCGS Million Dollar Coin Club “members” can be found online at www.pcgscoinfacts.com.