100 Greatest U.S. Coins

In 2005, professional numismatists Jeff Garrett and Ron Guth co-authored a second edition of the award-winning book 100 Greatest U.S. Coins. The authors surveyed members of the Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG) asking the question, “Which are the greatest U.S. coins?” The interesting results of the survey are presented in order in this registry set, with the “King of American Coins,” the 1804 dollar, being listed as the #1 greatest U.S. coin. Each of the coins listed will have one or more of the following characteristics: rarity, value, quality, popularity, beauty and history. These are the coins of which dreams are made.

Completion of this set is impossible because several of the coins are unique and can only be found in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution or in other private or institutional collections. Ownership of even one or two of these coins is impressive and should be recognized. Registering just ten of the top 100 coins would place the owner in the top echelons of coin collecting. Although this is really a fantasy collection, we suspect that there are some daring individuals out there who will take a serious stab at this set.