The 1943 S Copper Penny

In 1944, a 14 year old boy found a copper penny that had been in circulation. What was interesting about this was that it was at the time pennies were made of zinc-coated steel, but this penny was made of copper. A dealer gave the finder, a boy named Kenneth Wing, the opportunity of selling it for $500, which was a great deal of money back then. He, however, decided to not sell it and wanted, instead, to learn more about it. The government swore that no copper pennies were made that year, but he was insistent and had it checked over and over again. Eventually he decided to hold onto the coin and to pass it down to his son. Over 50 years passed, but in 1996 Wing’s son found the coin in his father’s safety-deposit box. It has since been tested and was purchased from the son for $72,500.

The 1913 Liberty Nickel

Heralded as one of the most valuable coins in the world, every serious collector knows about the 1913 Liberty Head Nickel. Who would think that a nickel would be worth more than a gold coin? This nickel, however, definitely is. It was designed and minted from 1883 to 1913, and was made with more copper than nickel. The makers of the coin, however, when they changed the design, forgot to put the word “cents” onto the coin, which means that it is a mistake of the minter and therefore makes it instantly worth more money than most other coins. In 2007, the last time one of these sold, it went for the price of $5 million dollars.

The 1933 Saint-Gaudens Gold Double Eagle

You won’t find these gold coins for sale just anywhere – this is the Gold Double Eagle. This coin has been sold for the highest price that a coin has ever been sold for – $7.5 million dollars. In 1933 there were 445,500 of these coins minted. At the time, however, President Franklin Roosevelt decided to take off the gold standard and that any of these coins that were made were to be destroyed. 20 of them, however, escaped being melted and slowly, but surely, have been coming to see the light of day and to be sold, making these gold coins for sale some of the most expensive coins that have ever been sold at auction.

Finding them

Most of these are going to be fairly rare finds in the marketplace. From eBay to flea markets, it’s highly unlikely you’ll see any of these except in a museum perhaps. However, it never hurts to search coinage auctions (both online and physical auctions) as well as rare collector shops.