Coin collecting has been a very popular hobby to many people of all ages. The marketing of coins has expanded widely and because of this wide the market prices of coins has varied immensely.

Before, the coin market was limited to a small number of collectors and dealers. At that time coins were priced in simpler terms. Since the market has expanded, dealers have been very inconsistent with the prices they set for the coins so that became the time when the need for a standard scale arose. That is where the coin grading service entered the scene.

Coin grading services are able to provide services that determine the standard practices so important in marketing. Any collector who sees the wide market of coins will see the importance of a grading service. There are unscrupulous dealers that over grade the coins that they sell and collectors need to be aware of this.

Coin grading services have standard scales for every coin available on the market. One benefit grading provides, is that coins will be assessed fairly and accurately. Antique coins and rare ones will be scaled depending on their origin, quality and the purpose for which they were released.

A coin collector may need to use a coin grading service when buying a coin so that he is able to check the authenticity of the coin and if the coin is priced fairly. Sellers, on the other hand, use the grading service to check if they can generate income based on the price they have set on the specific coin. This practice will also ensure that the prices dealers set are not too high and are close to the actual value of the coin.

Many collectors are victims of fraud - especially when buying rare coins. A grading service will ensure that the coin is not a counterfeit one and this will prevent fraud in every negotiation.

Coins values often change through time. The grading service will ensure that the coin will have the updated price set for it; or determine if a coin’s value has depreciated, depending on factors like deterioration of the appearance of the coin.

Some of the credible grading services are the PCGS, PCI, Anacs and the NGC. These services have very good records and are known to provide valuable and helpful services to consumers with consistent and accurate results in grading.

They seldom (or never) have been reported to be over grading. They are also known for their expertise in checking the authenticity of a coin with accuracy. Other important factors are also considered by these services such as detecting any marks and problems with the coins and adjustments in the dates and mintmarks. Coin grading services are also able to detect if there was toning, cleaning and repair that were made on the coins that were graded.

Coin grading services can also help if there is fraud and/or illegal activities being practiced by dealers. They have hotline numbers available so that consumers can call and report any illegal act. This helps to ensure that consumers are safe.

Grading services can also guarantee the authenticity of the coin. Services like the ones offered by PCGS, grading is done by at least three experts in accordance with the standards set in their policies. If a consumer thinks that his coin over-graded, he can return the coin and have it re-graded to ensure that all information given was fair and accurate.

Coin grading services provide guarantees of their grades, and unlike dealers, they do not provide this benefit. Dealers are only able to provide opinions on grades, they are unable to guarantee them.

As coin collectors, people need to ensure that they receive a fair for coins – whether buying or selling. Grading services are there to help and assist these collectors and the collectors need to be aware of the benefits of grading services so that they do not rely on opinions given by dealers.

When choosing a grading service, you must always check the credibility of that service. This may be done by checking the Internet to verify information regarding a certain coin grading service. Awareness is a very important factor needed to ensure safety among coin collectors.

BARCELONA : Spain, struggling to tackle the recession and financial downturns, is finally banking on treasures buried under the ocean.

According to news reports, cash-strapped Spain has ordered its navy to look for huge gold reserves that were lost at sea in the 16th century.

Gold bullion and silver treasure worth £85billion — the size of the nation’s current budget shortfall — lies on the sea bed off the coast of southern Spain.

The Inca and Aztec loot is believed to be in heavily laden vessels which hit the bottom of the sea in bad weather as they returned to Cadiz from South America.

Naval mine sweepers are to begin radar and sonar surveys to try to locate the wrecks.

Meanwhile, American treasure-hunters have been ordered to handover an estimated £250 million worth of gold and silver coins salvaged from a Spanish shipwreck in Atlantic waters. The Spanish government has won a two-year legal battle against commercial marine archaeologist firm Odyssey, which Spain accused of plundering its national heritage.

The Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration recovered 17 tonnes of gold and silver from a sunken vessel they code-named the ‘Black Swan’ in March 2007. The Nasdaq-listed company refused to reveal the location of the wreck insisting that it had been found in international waters and therefore beyond the legal jurisdiction of any one country.

But when the record haul was announced Spain came to suspect the treasure had been looted from the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, a Spanish frigate laden with bullion from the Americas that sunk by the British off the coast of Portugal in October 1804.

Spain branded the Odyssey team ‘21st century pirates’ and sent its navy to intercept vessels owned by Odyssey as they explored the waters around Spain. They seized equipment and records but failed to find the salvaged coins which had already been secretly flown out to a warehouse in Tampa, Florida.

A Florida judge has ruled that the treasure found on what is assumed to be the wreck of the ‘Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes’, belongs back in Spain, and Odyssey has to give 500,000 gold and silver coins back to the Spanish government.

While wrecks of commercial vessels remain unaffected by the ruling, naval vessels like the ‘Nuestra Senora’ are deemed to be property of the originating sovereign state, even if they were on a commercial mission, as the Nuestra Senora possibly was when it sank.

Estimates put about 3,000 of these treasure laden shipwrecks at the bottom of the world’s oceans and the ruling is sure to stir up the waters.

Making the situation even more complicated, Peru is presently engaged in a battle to reclaim its cultural and historical heritage. It is also putting together a case, saying it has ‘sufficient reasonable indications’ of its right to reclaim the treasure, as it is made from Peruvian metals originally taken by the Spanish.

As the identity of many wrecks can be disputed, it is possible that exploration teams in future might be tempted to abandon any evidence that compromises their position.

Buying coins from online auction sites such as ebay can be a good way to find a bargain, but it can also be a good way to get ripped off! One of the most rampant coin-related frauds on ebay is the “graded coin value” fraud.

The graded coin value fraud works like this: The unscrupulous seller will post an auction for a coin that has been graded by a “third tier” grading service, and then claim the value of the coin according to PCGS graded values. This is frequently done in lots; you’ll see a photo of a small collection that the seller claims he inherited or bought at an estate sale. The photo will usually have several encapsulated coins in it. The seller will then link to, or quote, PCGS values for these coins as if they had been graded and encapsulated by PCGS, when in fact, the coins are greatly overgraded and in third tier slabs.

An $8,000 Coin for $400? For example, a seller will list an encapsulated 1968-D business strike Washington Quarter, graded MS-68. He will encourage potential bidders to visit the PCGS coin values page

to verify his claim that the coin is worth $8,000 in MS-68. The buyer checks PCGS, and sure enough, the 1968-D MS-68 quarter is listed, for $8,000 (the price as of this writing.) His asking price of $400 is

seemingly a bargain! After all, the coin is graded and slabbed. But there’s a problem here…

The Coin Grading Service is WHAT Company?! The problem is that the coin was graded by SGS. SGS, (Star Grading Service), is a “third tier” service that, according to its web site, “specializes in grades

60 through 70.” Apparently, these are the only grades they issue! So, a coin graded by PCGS as AU-50 would grade somewhere between MS-60 and MS-70 at Star, probably near the higher end, as my own testing indicates.

MS-68 by Any Other Name is Not PCGS MS-68 - The old saying, “A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet” does not apply to the world of coin grading! Each grading service has its own

standards, and just because SGS grades a coin MS-68 does not make it worth the same amount of money as a coin graded by PCGS as MS-68! The reason for this is that PCGS has very conservative grading standards. So the next time you see someone claim PCGS values for slabbed coins, consider the holder it’s in. If it’s not in a PCGS holder, PCGS values do not apply.

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Someone ought to write a book about the process of mailing coins. Dealing with the post office can be frustrating, to say the least. Over the years, I have dealt directly with the post office and assisted dozens of collectors and dealers who have run afoul of federal bureaucracy.

Probably the biggest problem has been using first-class mail to ship coins. Mail clerks were often adamant that you can’t do it, despite the fact that it is clearly spelled out in the postal manual, a telephone-book size tome that includes all the regulations affecting what can be mailed and how to mail it.

For instance, unless they have changed the rules recently, you could use paper tape for registered packages, but not plastic tape. You can argue the security benefits of plastic tape until the cows come home, without getting an inch of slack. The reason - plastic tape will not take the red ink used to mark registered mail. I’ll make you a small bet that at least someone reading this has successfully registered a package of coins wrapped in plastic tape.

SASE stands for “Self Addressed Stamped Envelope.” From long and painful experience I have one piece of advice. Either send a long, legal-size stamped envelope, or else a loose stamp, as one of the small envelopes is worthless for this purpose. Most business firms gear their mailings to the full-size envelopes, so you are only hindering your chances of getting all the information you want if you don’t send the right size envelope.

I request the loose stamp exclusively because the majority of people who send stamped envelopes don’t know the “rules,” and send undersize envelopes. And please, don’t cut the backing off so close that you remove the perforations from the stamp. This makes a 15-minute job out of removing the backing in order to use the stamp. If you have to fold the envelope to enclose it, that means one more problem for the postal sorting equipment.

I have another reason for requesting a loose stamp. Well over half of the mail I get, with an included return envelope, has at least one mistake in my address or the return address. We’ve lived for three decades or more with zip codes and two-letter state abbreviations, but the letters continue to come in with upper- and lower-case abbreviations, (Sd rather than SD), periods after the letters, abbreviated city names, and street addresses above the apartment number. Any of these can potentially cause problems sorting the mail, meaning delays in getting the mail to you.

Few people know that the post office charges extra postage if you try to stuff more than a sheet or two of paper in the undersize envelopes, even if the weight is within the lower postage limit. The post office adds a surcharge now if the small filled envelope is too thick, which means I can’t enclose the information you have asked for, or have to pay extra postage for it.

Two things should be automatic whenever you write anyone for information. One, that you include return postage, and two, that it is in a form that will get you the maximum amount of information for your money. Don’t be so worried about “fixing” that loose stamp, either. It will survive quite handily.

This will surprise some readers - but don’t staple stamps to your letter. I have had instances where the post office considered such stamps to have been canceled and charged additional postage.

If you receive a damaged package through the mail, refuse to accept delivery until you and a mail clerk (preferably the postmaster) open the package and determine if coins are missing or damaged. If they are, then this is the point where you file an immediate claim, signed by the witness. I guarantee this will save you a lot of grief before you are through with it. If you are notified of a package arrival, be sure to take your invoice along. There should be one in the package as well.

Pack coins carefully, with the proper materials. Mylar flips are recommended for almost every use other than mailing coins. The flips are brittle and the coins will break out of them at the first opportunity, so use the soft flips or reinforced paper envelopes. To make the package really secure, wrap the inside package with plastic tape and then enclose it in a larger box, sealed with paper tape. Use foam peanuts to cushion the contents.

Wash your hands regularly while using tissues when you sneeze. This should help control the spread of H1N1 or swine flu, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

According to the May 3 SmartMoney blog, there is another way to control the spread of swine flu - stop spending money.

What does SmartMoney mean by that? “Even if it’s not so good for the economy - the fact is paper currency - the dollars, fives, tens and twenties most people routinely touch every day - can spread a virus from one person to another. So if you have contact with money that an infected individual has also handled, there’s a possibility of catching the flu.”

Fortunately, Smart Money goes on to add, “Scientists interviewed by SmartMoney estimate the lifetime of a plain flu virus deposited on money at an hour or so.”
most unhygienic ever issue - These coins will be a disgrace to our country as a monument of our present ideas of art as applied to coinage.”

Ironically, it was Dr. William Sturgis Bigelow, a Boston physician and friend of President Roosevelt, who came up with the concept of an incused design for the quarter eagle and half eagle coins.

Chapman’s comment about the coins being a “great receptacle for dirt and conveyor of disease” have since been scoffed at, but with the H1N1 flu rearing its swine-like head, was Chapman wrong?

Swiss bank notes were recently tested at the Central Laboratory of Virology at the University Hospitals of Geneva. A disgusting mix of flu virus and nasal secretions was placed on the notes to see if the mess would continue to be a health threat. A flu strain called H3N2 were still detectable on the notes for up to 17 days after application, while the dreaded H1N1 virus was only detectable for up to 10 days. The possibility of spreading disease is possible under laboratory conditions, but this, of course, assumes someone outside the laboratory would want to handle a bank note that has been slimed. Just looking at this mess on the notes is enough to make a person sick.

Tierno who is the author of The Secret Life of Germs, added that there is a fungicidal agent that inhibits the growth of bacteria and fungi mixed with the ink used on US dollar bills. This agent will help kill flu viruses until when the note is exposed to perspiration and water, weakening the ink as each note circulates. I guess the lesson to be learned here is to only use Crisp Uncirculated bank notes while avoiding all coins with incused designs when handling cash.

Back in 1909, Roosevelt did not respond to Chapman’s open letter, and it’s a bit unsettling to find that things haven’t changed much in our government bureaucracy since that time.

SmartMoney reported that the CDC wouldn’t discuss money as a vehicle through which the flu could be transmitted, and the New York State Health Department declined to comment, while the Bureau of Engraving and Printing said just what you might expect them to say - “what happens to US dollars once they’re in circulation is beyond the bureau’s control.”

Putting coins up for an Internet auction without the intent of delivering the described merchandise to the winning bidder, and then keeping

the money besides, is now provably a federal crime.

In a United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, a conviction on those charges has just been sustained by the United

States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, in a decision handed down June 22.

Judgment of conviction and sentence was entered on Oct. 12, 2007 The case was argued a year ago and decided last week.

United States of America vs Jeffrey Heckel, and in the appellate court’s summary, they said this: “Beginning in March 2002, Jeffrey Heckel

used two Internet auction Web sites to defraud successful bidders on items he had listed for sale.”

As the Court explained it, “The scheme was simple: He would list an item for auction, accept the highest bid, cash the check sent to him by

the winning bidder, and ship a product far inferior to the one advertised on the Web site. Heckel’s fraud netted him in excess of $15,000.”

His appellate brief to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago detailed the scheme: from “April 1, 2002, through May 8, 2003, Jeffrey

Heckel used the ebay.com and yahoo.com online auction sites to fraudulently post five items up for bid…”

The brief from Heckel’s lawyers continues: “Heckel pled guilty to count five of the indictment, admitting that he had posted a picture of a

rare coin and instructed a bidder to the auction to send a $3,000 check to him via the U.S. mail. The coin that he sent to the bidder was not

the coin that was pictured and was worth much less than $3,000.”

Because Heckel pled guilty to at least one count, the appeal focused on sentencing, which was 30 months in prison plus three years of

supervised release.

The motif of the crime was to offer a “coin for sale on the Internet, as Heckel did in the count to which he pled guilty, [by which he] invited

the vast online public to bid.” The court noted that “those who did so were trying to purchase the item by suggesting a price that they

believed no competing online bidder would exceed.”

Heckel evidently asked for mitigation on the ground that not many people were injured, but the 7th Circuit would have none of that. “That

only one such bidder eventually won the online auction does not negate the harm of this method of fraudulent solicitation,” its opinion said.

Heckel “first argues that the [U.S.] district court incorrectly calculated his offense level because the court added two levels for use of

‘mass-marketing.’ … The commentary to this [sentencing] guideline explains that ‘mass-marketing’ includes ‘a plan, program, promotion, or

campaign that is conducted through solicitation by telephone, mail, the Internet, or other means to induce a large number of persons to …

purchase goods or services.’

“Because the auction Web sites Heckel used were accessible to the general public and Heckel attempted to increase the price of the items

posted by soliciting a large number of bids over the Internet, the district court applied the enhancement,” which view the court of appeals

upheld.

Silver Coin Case

Avro 504K
Europe during World War I and as a training and private use plane, Qantas took delivery of its first aircraft the Avro 504K in 1921. This single engine wooden structured bi-plane carried two passengers and was used for joy flights, air taxi services and promoted the future advantages of air transport to thousands of Australians.

Airbus A380
The largest passenger jet ever built carrying between 500 to 800 passengers, with a cruising speed of 900 km/h. This true giant of the air is 73 m in length, with a 79 m wingspan and total weight of 540,000 kg. Designers claim it will actually increase efficiency, use less fuel and generate less noise; Qantas will introduce the Airbus A380 to its fleet of commercial aircraft in late 2008.

The only sure way of securing all six of the Flying Through Time Aviation Series coins is by registering your interest in our six coin program. Only 3000 of these sets are available.

Available now from the Perth Mint are two coins that are ready to slug it out against each other, like the figures they represent. The Transformers Silver Proof Collector Coins, one featuring the heroic Autobots leader Optimus Prime and the other depicting the evil Deceptacon leader Megatron, were minted with the approval of Hasbro and Dreamworks.

Sure to capture the interest of coin collectors, movie fans and more importantly the eye’s of the young who may step toward a new hobby in numismatics, each coin is struck in an ounce of silver and in collector proof condition.

The Transformers were based on action figures that could convert from everyday mechanical objects into robots. Hasbro initiated the line in 1984, and a cartoon series featuring the robots came soon after. The line has grown over the years to encompass new characters and several series of cartoons.

Leap ahead to 2007, when Dreamworks and Paramount collaborated to create a new live-action film incorporating computer generated graphics of the well-known robots. The movie Transformers was a huge blockbuster success, taking in an almost $70 million just in North America in its opening weekend. It would continue to rake in the cash and is estimated to have made over $700 million worldwide, ensuring a sequel would soon follow.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen debuted June 24, 2009 and once again blew the box office apart. In less than two weeks, it is estimated the movie has made over $590 million worldwide.
Transformers coins: specifications, price and order details

Each coin is struck from 1 oz. of 99.9% pure silver in proof quality and is issued as legal tender under the authority of the Government of Tuvalu.

The characters of Optimus Prime and Megatron are both presented in color on the reverse of their respective coins and also feature that characters affiliated logo and the Perth Mint’s ‘P’ mintmark.

A maximum mintage of 5,000 units of each character will be strictly adhered to. The 40.60 mm diameter coins will ship in illustrated presentation packaging and are accompanied by a numbered Certificate of Authenticity. Each is priced at $88.64 (~$70 US).

For more information or to place an order from nearly anywhere in the world, visit the Perth Mint page and CoinNews affiliate link:
Transformers Silver Coins

About the Perth Mint

The Perth Mint, wholly-owned by the State Government of Western Australia, is the official issuer of the Australian Federal Government’s Gold and Silver Bullion Coin Program. The Mint opened in 1899 in response to the discovery of rich gold deposits in Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie. It was Australia’s third branch of Britain’s Royal Mint - the others being the Sydney Mint and the Melbourne Mint (both closed).

The Perth Mint remained under Britain’s jurisdiction until 1 July 1970, when ownership transferred to the State Government of Western Australia.

In 2003, The Perth Mint officially opened an 8,400 square metre state-of-the-art manufacturing facility next door to its original limestone building. Dominating the Mint’s heritage precinct, these two important buildings are powerful symbols of more than 100 years of minting excellence in Western Australia.

OTTAWA — Was $15 million worth of gold stolen from the Royal Canadian Mint by dissolving it in acid, rendering it invisible to metal detectors?

Two gold-refining industry sources say gold chloride dissolved in an acid solution can be unrecognizable to metal detectors, such as those guarding the mint’s high-security Sussex Drive refinery in Ottawa — and the method might explain the recently announced disappearance of more than half a metric ton of gold from the mint’s inventory.

“It could be taken out in that form . . . in a liquid chemical form,” said one U.S. refining executive.

A similar method was used to hide two Nobel laureates’ gold medals from the Nazis when Germany occupied Denmark in 1940.

The mint dissolves gold in hydrochloric acid as part of the process to refine the precious metal to 99.99 and 99.999 per cent purity, the finest gold in the world.

The process electro-chemically disintegrates the metal into imperceptible particles of gold chloride suspended in the black-coloured acid solution.

“Being a high-security facility, the mint does not discuss its various security procedures and protocols,” said Christine Aquino, mint spokeswoman. “But I can confirm that we have methods to detect such a liquid.”

The alternative — spiriting even minuscule quantities of solid gold from one of Ottawa’s most secure buildings — seems all but impossible, save for a Hollywood-style heist plot, which seems almost as improbable.

“It would be highly unlikely that it would easily get out of the mint” in a solid form, said the U.S. industry source.

Stone-faced armed guards in RCMP-look-alike uniforms staff the high-security area containing the gold and silver refineries and coin-production shops. Workers wear metal-free uniforms. Any metal in their bodies, from dental work to surgical implants, is noted in a computer and electronically compared every time they arrive and leave.

To lessen the likelihood of an inside job on the shipping/receiving dock, guards are assigned that duty on a random basis. What’s more, only certain armoured-car companies are permitted on the property, and drivers must match photographs on file with mint security before heading off with bullion and coins.

Within the gold refinery, thousands of ounces are “in process” at any one time, amounting to several million ounces annually. Exacting efforts are made to retrieve every speck. Everything from the ductwork and crucibles used to handle molten gold, to rags and tissues that come in contact with the metal, are routinely scoured and processed for trace amounts.

And everywhere, unblinking security cameras watch and record every move in the multibillion-dollar enterprise.

So how then, did the mint lose track of 17,514 ounces of gold, and a smaller but undisclosed amount of silver and other precious metals?

That’s the equivalent of almost 44,400-ounce gold bars, worth about $15.3 million.

It apparently vanished between April and October 2008, around the same time a new computerized inventory system was being implemented.

Almost 16,500 of the ounces disappeared from the gold refinery, a couple of orders of magnitude greater than the gold typically lost during the refining process.

An eight-month hunt by mint staff and external auditors ruled out recent accounting, bookkeeping and other internal errors. They’re continuing to hope, and investigate the possibility, that production miscalculations or accounting errors before April 2008 will explain the puzzle.

But with the most obvious possible explanations now discounted, speculation grows about a massive and clever theft.

The Deloitte auditors, however, were not asked to probe that scenario. Instead, the mint has asked the RCMP to investigate. But for unexplained reasons, the Mounties’ commercial-crime section in Ottawa continues to review the request — the federal government ordered the mint to call in police — and has yet to open a criminal investigation.

With the mint also planning to file an insurance claim for the missing fortune, it’s likely its insurance carriers would first dispatch their own forensic accountants and other experts to investigate before cutting a $15.3-million cheque.

The Nobel Foundation website details how prize medals belonging to German physicists Max von Laue (1914) and James Franck (1925) were hidden from the Nazis at the Institute of Theoretical Physics in Copenhagen during the Second World War by dissolving them in aqua regia. After the war, the gold was recovered and reconstituted, and the Nobel Foundation presented the men with new Nobel medals.

In the mint case, could the acid solution be somehow siphoned off and taken from the mint unnoticed, and the gold reconstituted at another location?

The electrolysis room is about two metres below grade. High windows facing Sussex Drive are sealed. There are no floor drains. And, as always, a security camera stares down from the ceiling.

If that’s not daunting enough, there’s the math of gold electrolysis: each litre of hydrochloric acid contains about three ounces of gold. Based on the 17,500 ounces reported missing, it would take 25 working years to steal one litre a day, hidden in a bottle of some sort.

A more plausible alternative would be to sneak a few far larger quantities out, presumably in metal or plastic drums from the shipping area and — somehow — cover up the thefts by replacing the gold anodes and acid from other parts of the refinery.

The mystery continues.

As a series, gold dollars are more popular than many non-specialists realize. The natural inclination that most people have is that since these coins are so small, they are not readily collectible. I have found this to be untrue and I am aware of a number of people who either collect all the gold dollars by date or they specialize in one or two of the mints (usually Charlotte or Dahlonega).

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the ten rarest gold dollars.

1. 1849-C Open Wreath: This is not only the rarest gold dollar, it is the third rarest regular issue Liberty Head gold coin of any denomination, trailing the 1861 Paquet Reverse $20.00 and the 1854-S $5.00. There are either four or five 1849-C Open Wreath gold dollars known. The finest is an NGC MS63PL that sold at auction in July 2004 for $690,000 which is, by far, a world record for a gold dollar of any date. This same coin is said to have later traded in excess of $1 million. The lowest graded is an NGC F15 which has signs of having been mounted at one time but which is slabbed by NGC nonetheless. I have handled two of the 1849-C Open Wreath gold dollars and I believe that if this issue were better known (and larger in size) it would easily be a million dollar plus coin.

2. 1861-D: This is not only the rarest Dahlonega gold dollar, it is the single most popular issue of this denomination from any date or mint. Much of the 1861-D gold dollar’s popularity has to do with the fact that it is known with certainty to have been produced by the Confederacy. It is believed that around 1,000-1,500+ were originally struck of which an estimated 60-80 exist today. The survivors tend to be divided between low-quality damaged pieces and examples that are relatively high grade and nicer than one might expect. There are two known in PCGS MS64 (the Ullmer/Miles/Pierce coin and the Duke’s Creek coin) and a grand total of ten to fifteen in Uncirculated grades. The 1861-D is one of the few gold dollars that has strong demand from non-specialists and as a result, it is one of the most expensive issues in the entire series.

3. 1855-D: The 1855-D is a one-year type coin with a tiny original mintage figure of 1,811. It is the only Type Two dollar from the Dahlonega mint and its status as a one-year issue makes it extremely popular among date and type collectors. There are between 75 and 100 known and it is the rarest Dahlonega gold dollar in terms of availability in higher grades. At one time I felt that as few as three Uncirculated pieces were known. Today, I believe that this number is a bit higher but this is due to gradeflation and not the discovery of new examples. When available, the typical 1855-D grades VF to EF and is characterized by weakly struck digits in the date. Examples do exist with full dates but these are quite scarce. This is one of my very favorite gold dollars and it is an issue that I believe will always remain in high demand in virtually all grades.

4. 1875: Due to its tiny mintage of just 400 business strikes, the 1875 is among the best known gold dollars outside of the specialist community. As one might expect, this is a very scarce coin but examples appear to have been saved by contemporary collectors and dealers with an estimated 75-100 known today. All business strike 1875 dollars are prooflike but can be easily distinguished from their Proof counterparts by the presence of a thorn that protrudes from the lower portion of Liberty’s jaw into the field. The 1875 dollar is not often found in grades below AU55, indicating that this issue did not see much circulation. There are some extremely nice Uncirculated pieces known and I have personally handled three or four Gems that had great eye appeal. PCGS has graded two in MS66 with none better while NGC has graded one in MS66 with none better. One of these is almost certainly Brand I: 51 that was sold by Bowers and Merena in November 1983 and which I still remember being the best example that I have seen. The auction record for a business strike 1875 dollar is $33,350, set by Heritage 2007 ANA: 1814, graded MS66 by NGC.

5. 1856-D: Assuming that the mintage figure for the 1861-D was in the 1,000-1,500+ range, there is a chance that the 1856-D has the smallest number struck of any gold dollar from this mint. Even if this is not the case, the 1856-D is a rare issue with just 1,460 produced. My best estimate is that around 80-100 are known today. The 1856-D is usually found in the EF40 to AU50 range and it is quite rare in properly graded AU55 to AU58. (Both the PCGS and NGC population figures for AU55 and AU58 examples are greatly inflated by resubmissions. The 1856-D is extremely rare in properly graded Uncirculated with an estimated four to six known. NGC has graded a single coin in MS63 but the best I have personally seen is the PCGS MS62 Green Pond: 1009 coin sold by Heritage in January 2004 that brought $47,150. All known 1856-D gold dollars show a weak U in UNITED.

6. 1863: Many people reading this article will be surprised to see the 1863 listed as the sixth rarest gold dollar, ahead of dates like the 1854-D and the 1860-D. It is an issue that has long been a favorite of mine and even though prices have risen significantly for the 1863 dollar over the years it is still a “sleeper.” There were 6,200 business strikes produced but unlike the dates from the later Civil War years, not many were saved. My best guess is that there are around 100-150 known including three dozen or so in Uncirculated. There are a few really superb pieces including a remarkable PCGS MS68 and a single NGC MS67. The 1863 is usually seen in the middle AU grades. Uncirculated coins tend to come in the MS62 to MS63 range and are characterized by heavy die striations on the surfaces. This is an issue that is only now coming into its own and a strong case can be made for it being the rarest Philadelphia gold dollar in Uncirculated.

7. 1854-D: The 1854-D is the fourth rarest Dahlonega gold dollar with an estimated 100-150 known from the original mintage figure of 2,935. It has a very distinctive quality of strike with the obverse typically much better detailed than the reverse. The 1854-D is not often seen in grades lower than EF and many of the examples that have been slabbed are in AU holders. Properly graded AU55 and better pieces are very rare and this is an issue that is extremely rare in Uncirculated with around nine or ten known. The best I am aware of is the Reed Hawn coin that was graded many years by NGC as MS63. PCGS shows a population of five in MS61 and six in MS62 but this seems inflated by resubmissions. There have been a number of auction records in the $13,000-15,000 range but the single highest price that I know of is $17,250 for a PCGS MS62 set by Heritage 4/06: 2209 in April 2006. The low mintage of this issue and its status as the final Type One gold dollar from Dahlonega make it an intriguing date.

8. 1860-D: The 1860-D is another rare gold dollar from Dahlonega with a very low mintage figure. There were just 1,566 produced and around 100-150 are known today. This date is similar in overall and high grade rarity to the 1854-D despite the fact that the 1860-D is generally valued quite a bit higher. The quality of strike seen on this date is the worst of any Dahlonega gold dollar; even more so than the 1861-D. All 1860-D gold dollars show a very weak U in UNITED and some pieces have the N weak as well. The obverse has a flat overall appearance while the reverse shows weakness on the lettering and the date. There are around a dozen known in Uncirculated. The highest graded by either service is an NGC MS64 (formerly in a PCGS MS63) that was last in the Duke’s Creek collection. It holds the all-time auction record for the date at $57,500 when it was sold as Heritage 4/06: 1492; the same coin brought $48,875 a year later when sold as Heritage 8/07: 1811.

9. 1850-D, 1852-D (tie). Both issues have total populations in the area of 150-200 coins and it is hard to determine which is rarer in terms of the total number extent. In higher grades, the 1850-D is the rarer of the two. It is unlikely that more than a dozen accurately graded Uncirculated pieces are known and the best is the Duke’s Creek coin that has been graded MS64 by NGC and MS63 by PCGS. All 1850-D dollars have a flat appearance but this is a much better made issue than the 1852-D. Speaking of which, the 1852-D is probably a bit more available in lower grades than its counterpart the 1850-D but it is a very rare coin in full Mint State. There are two NGC MS63 coins and one graded as such by PCGS. The best of these is the Duke’s Creek coin, graded MS63 by NGC (ex Heritage 4/06: 1484) that sold for $27,600. The 1852-D has an extremely distinctive appearance with most coins showing heavy roughness in the obverse fields as the result of multiple clashmarks.

10. 1865: The 1865 gold dollar is not as scarce as the 1863, despite the fact that it has a much lower mintage. There were 3,720 business strikes made of which around 150-200 (or perhaps a few more) exist. In spite of this date scarcity, it is easily the most affordable date in the Top Ten list and I have seen nice AU’s trade for less than $1,500 which seems like great value to me. While very scarce in Uncirculated, there are a few amazing 1865 gold dollars known including two graded MS67 by PCGS and the finest known, a PCGS MS68, that sold for $34,500 in the Heritage March 2008 auction. This date is usually seen with clashmarks and all have mint-made die striae in the fields. Examples are usually frosty and original pieces tend to show excellent multi-hued coloration.