What is the rarest coin & most expensive coin in the world???

Only one exists. The PCGS pop report listed a second one but that turned out to be an error.

There were two Half Unions made, but they were also two different designs so there was only one of each in gold. BOTH of the gold specimens are in the Smithsonian but there are gilt copper specimens in private hands.

As mentioned there are a LOT of coins that are tied for rarest at one known. There are also some coins which we know were struck but which not a single specimen is known today.

Then when it comes to most expensive you have a very good candidate witht e "SP-66" 1794 dollar.

But in my opinion the record for rarest AND most expensive is STILL held by the Indian gold 1000 Mohur. The problem is it has never actually SOLD at auction which makes it difficult to establish the value. BUT the only reason it didn't sell was because it did not meet the reserve. But it WAS bid to $8,000,000 which is more than the 1794 dollar sold for. And if the owner had agreed to drop the reserve to the high bid, with the juice it would have sold for $9.2 million. And this coin is also unique so it is tied for first there as well. So tied for rarest and it is the most valuable. So it fits BOTH criteria.

 

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I have never heard of the Indian Gold 1000 Mohur...what is that? it sounds soo unique and interesting

 

There's too many rare coins and most valuable coins out there and alot of us are getting confused with value vs rarity. After reading through this thread, I can't really decide what I think when it comes to rarest. There are a few coins out there such as the unique Indian Head Double Eagle with ''LIBERTY'' that will probably some day be auctioned and smoke the 7.85 million dollar price. This coin was listed on the last page. And if Condor101 says that the 1873 CC No Arrows Seated Dime has only one known, wouldn't it compete with the other coins mentioned? With 1 known, that's pretty rare....but not most valuable. And the mentioned above 1793 Wreath Cent in MS-68 RD, I say that coin will be UP there.

 

1933 St Gaudens Double Eagle

 

I'm afraid that's not the rarest. But TODAY, it places second on the highest price, behind the 1794 Flowing Hair Dollar. I think a few of those coins listed in this thread would surpass the 7.85 million barrier easy. Such as that Indian Double Eagle on the last page.

 

I repeat, there are already more than 10 known and others might surface. So it's not at the top of the rarity heap. And if the Langbord examples are deemed legal to own, the value of a 1933 Saint will plummet.

 

I'm getting a headache. :dead-horse:

 

everyone keeps mentioning the 1933 double eagle or
the indian head double eagle, people keep disregarding
the 1849 Liberty Head Eagle...it may be a pattern but there
is only one specimen of it and it resides in the
smithsonian....with the other "rare/unique" coins...

and speaking of smithsonian...how come no one has
mentioned the 1822 Half Eagle???

Two specimens in the Smithsonian and one
in the Eliasberg Collection

 

Because three is more than one.

There is another thread on the 1000 mohur here on Cointalk
http://www.cointalk.com/t27230/

 

I felt that the 1822 half eagle needed special mention...
since I did point out the most rarest/unique coins

 

The 1822 Half Eagle is coming to auction next year(2015) from the Pogue collection.

 

I know is one of my dream coins that the 73 cc no arrows dime. The 70-s half die and $3 and I'd love a nice xf + 1794 $1 and an 85 trade nobody mentioned either

 

That's what unique means - there is only one.

 

According to a quick search there are apparently 3 1870 S $3. One in the cornerstone of the San Francisco mint, one in the Bass collection and one discovered in a library in San Francisco.

 

Mark, isn't there also one listed as MS69, can't remember if it was designated RD or BN.

 

Deleted, didn't realize I had already posted the same info in the thread 4 years ago.

 

Unique coins by definition are rarest, provided one does not count coins for which there are mintage figures but no known specimens.

Pray tell: how is the universe restricted? The 1849 double eagle technically is a pattern, so it is no rarer than any of the coins in the gold 1872 Amazonian set. There are two half units in the Smithsonian, and each is different from the other in obvious ways. Does that make them "rarest" or just "biggest"?

As far as we know, the 1870S $3 gold, the 1870S half dime, the 1873CC dime, the 1785 Immune Columbia doubloon (ex Stickney) and 1787 New York Brasher half doubloon are unique and meant that not even Eliasburg ever could claim to have collected one of everything (Stickney traded the Immune Columbia piece for an 1804 dollar, and the Mint has had it ever since). But, the 1822 half eagle is R8 (3 known), and the 1825 over full 4 half eagle has 2 surviving specimens. The 1866 proof set (no motto) is unique (at least for the half and quarter), and on the list of "Whoa Daddies" are the 1841O half eagle and the 1873S seated dollar. A couple unique coins were stolen from the Mint Cabinet in 1858 and never recovered -- we know they exist but have no idea where they are, and since they'd probably land a possessor in jail, it's not likely they ever will surface.

There remain two great collections, undispersed, in Connecticut, one owned by the State and one owned by Yale. It is likely that each possesses at least one or two coins which are unique.

I would not be surprised to learn that Harvard has a large collection also, though I've never seen it. And, this only scratches the surface since "rarity" well may be relative (yes, there are three known 1822s, but only one of them is not impounded).

Is "ability to obtain" part of our universe? The 1849 double eagle is unobtainable, but all of the 1872 Amazons are out there. Wilkison once had all of them except for the $3 gold piece. That's 5 of 6 unique coins in a set!

I should think that counts for something.

 

Unique coins by definition are rarest, provided one does not count coins for which there are mintage figures but no known specimens.

Pray tell: how is the universe restricted? The 1849 double eagle technically is a pattern, so it is no rarer than any of the coins in the gold 1872 Amazonian set. There are two half units in the Smithsonian, and each is different from the other in obvious ways. Does that make them "rarest" or just "biggest"?

As far as we know, the 1870S $3 gold, the 1870S half dime, the 1873CC dime, the 1785 Immune Columbia doubloon (ex Stickney) and 1787 New York Brasher half doubloon are unique, so not even Eliasburg ever could claim to have collected one of everything (Stickney traded the Immune Columbia piece for an 1804 dollar, and the Mint has had it ever since). But, the 1822 half eagle is R8 (3 known), and the 1825 over full 4 half eagle has 2 surviving specimens. The 1866 proof set (no motto) is unique (at least for the half and quarter), and on the list of "Whoa Daddies" are the 1841O half eagle and the 1873S seated dollar (unknown in any collection, though Red Books before 1980 said two 1841Os were known). A couple unique coins were stolen from the Mint Cabinet in 1858 and never recovered -- we know they exist but have no idea where they are, and since they'd probably land a possessor in jail, it's not likely they ever will surface.

There remain two great collections, undispersed, in Connecticut, one owned by the State and one owned by Yale. It is likely that each possesses at least one or two coins which are unique.

I would not be surprised to learn that Harvard also has a large collection, though I've never seen it. And, this only scratches the surface since "rarity" well may be relative (yes, there are three known 1822s, but only one of them is not impounded).

Is "ability to obtain" part of our universe? The 1849 double eagle is unobtainable, but all of the 1872 Amazons are out there. Wilkison once had all of them except for the $3 gold piece. That's 5 of 6 unique coins in a set!

I should think that counts for something.

 

The Eliasburg claim was that he had one of every regular issue US coin. He did have the 1870-S $3, the 73-CC no arrows dime. The 1870-S half dime was not known to exist until years after Eliasburg died. He didn't need the gold 1785 Immune Columbia or Brasher doubloon because they weren't US coins.

 

$25 Templeton Reid gold piece. Only 1 known and stolen from the mint cabinet decades ago! Existed but present whereabouts unknown!