Rare coins worth money
Most US coins from the last eighty years are worth face value, and the ones that are not owe it to a mistake at the mint or to a survival in near-perfect condition. This page lists the 11 dates in our database that reach highest, with the number that gets them there and what backs it up. Everything below is drawn from the 85 dated pages on this site, covering 1943–2026 across 5 denominations.
What this list is, and what it is not
Two different kinds of number get called «value», and mixing them up is how people end up disappointed. A guide value is what a price guide says a certified coin in a given grade should bring; an auction result is what someone actually paid. Where a date has a recorded sale, this table shows the sale — 1 of 11 rows — and where it does not, it shows the guide value with the grade and how many coins have been graded that high.
This is not a list of every rare US coin. Our database starts at 1943, so the classic rarities — 1909-S VDB, the 1916-D dime, anything before the war — are not here yet. What is here is the modern material people actually find in change and in inherited jars, which is where the realistic question lives.
The dates that reach highest
The top of the list is 1943 Penny at $1,700,000. Read the right-hand column before the price: a guide value in MS68 describes a coin that survived sixty years without a scratch, not the one in your pocket. Follow any date for the full breakdown by mint mark, grade and mintage.
| Coin | Value | What backs it up |
|---|---|---|
| 1943 Penny | $1,700,000 | Guide value · MS64BN, 1 graded · Struck with copper instead of steel; 1 example known |
| 1975 Dime | $575,000 | Guide value · PR68, 1 graded · San Francisco without mintmark; Proof; only 2 known to exist. |
| 1968 Dime | $22,500 | Guide value · PR68, 9 graded · San Francisco without mintmark; Proof |
| 1975 Penny | $10,500 | Guide value · MS68RD, 7 graded |
| 2005 Nickel | $1,650 | Guide value · MS68, 1 graded |
| 2007 Nickel | $1,260 | Sold at auction · Heritage Auctions, 2025 |
| 2017 Quarter | $875.00 | Guide value · MS68, 1 graded · Circulation quality not released for circulation |
| 1986 Dime | $400.00 | Guide value · MS68, 5 graded |
| 1990 Dime | $400.00 | Guide value · MS68, 5 graded |
| 1993 Dime | $45.00 | Guide value · MS67, 27 graded |
| 2006 Nickel | $45.00 | Guide value · MS67, 2 graded |
How to tell whether yours is one of them
Start with the date and the mint mark, then look at the surface under a lamp. Original coins have a soft even lustre; cleaned coins show fine parallel lines and lose most of the premium. If a date on this list is there because of a variety rather than condition, the year page shows what the variety looks like — that is a difference you can see, and it does not depend on the coin being flawless.
Do not clean the coin. It is the one action that reliably destroys value, and it cannot be undone.
FAQ
What is the most valuable coin on this site?
1943 Penny — $1,700,000 (guide value, MS64BN, 1 graded).
Are rare coins still found in circulation?
Yes, but rarely, and almost never the headline dates. What does turn up is condition rarity and minting varieties on ordinary dates — which is why the mint mark and the surface matter more than the year alone.
Does this list cover coins before 1943?
Not yet. The database currently runs 1943–2026. Earlier issues are being added, and this page is rebuilt from the same data every time it grows.