From coins that never made it to circulation to ones from the 19th century, these are pieces that can actually go for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
So, let this be a reminder to dig through your piggy bank to see if you have anything that looks like the coins on this list, because you might just be sitting on half a million dollars.
King George V 1911 Specimen Silver Dollar
The King George V 1911 dollar.
Heritage Auctions
Price: $552,000
Why It's So Expensive: Called the "Emperor of Canadian Numismatics" (numismatics is the study of coins), this coin was created as a way of showing a potential design for Canadian silver dollars.
However, Canada opted not to instate such coins into circulation, making this one of the rarest and most valuable Canadian coins in existence.
There are no other known copies of it in private hands, making it so expensive that it once held the Guinness World Record for the world's most valuable coin.
So, if you ever do spot one around you, get yourself to the nearest auction house ASAP.
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King George V 1936 One Cent
King George V 1936 One Cent
Heritage Auction
Price: $402,500
Why It's So Expensive: This coin has a particularly interesting back story that involves the Royal Family!
When King George V died in January 1936, the Canadian Mint started work on a coin that would reflect the new monarch, King Edward VIII.
However, things got complicated when Edward abdicated the throne shortly after and made way for his brother King George VI.
This coin was made in the middle of all of that chaos but was never released, making it a rare item up for grabs.
These pieces are so coveted that they've previously sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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King George V Specimen "Dot" 1936 One Cent
King George V Specimen "Dot" 1936 One Cent.
Collectors Universe | Heritage Auctions
Price: $312,000
Why It's So Expensive: This is similar to the previous coin, but has the added distinction of being a specimen coin.
This would have been made during that chaotic time in the British Palace as a proof of concept for The Royal Canadian Mint, and holds a very similar value as the other coins — made more valuable because of its high quality.
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King George V 1921 50 Cent
King George V 1921 50 Cent
Heritage Auctions
Price: $240,000
Why It's So Expensive: We've had the emperor of Canadian Coins, now here's the king.
This 1921 50-cent coin is so valuable because of its rarity.
In the early 1920s, the desire for 50-cent pieces was quite low and not a lot of them were in circulation.
However, come 1929, 50 cent coins started getting more popular, causing the Canadian Mint to melt down their existing batch of 1920-1921 50-cent coins to make new ones.
This is one of the estimated 75 pieces that were not thrown in the smelter, a lucky coin for sure.
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King George V 1916 Gold Sovereign
King George V Gold Sovereign.
Collectors Universe | Heritage Auctions
Price: $156,000
Why It's So Expensive: This coin is a sovereign, meaning a coin meant for commerce made out of gold.
It's valuable because it is from the rarest year that these coins were made, with a theory stating that most of the 1916 made coins were melted down.
There are less than 50 of these believed to exist, so if you have one, you're one of the lucky few.
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Queen Victoria 1890 50 Cent
Queen Victoria 1890 50 Cent.
Heritage Auctions
Price: $149,500
Why It's So Expensive: This is one of the most valuable coins featuring Queen Victoria. While not as rare as some of the others on this list, it does come from a mintage of only 20,000.
Which, in coin terms, is not a whole lot.
And because it's such an old piece, it's also hard to find one with such good quality, according to the auction site.
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Queen Victoria 1871 50 Cents
Queen Victoria 1871 50 Cents.
Heritage Auctions
Price: $120,750
Why It's So Expensive: From a circulation of only 45,000, this is another super valuable Queen Victoria coin.
Another factor that goes into its value is this coin's quality. According to the auction site, it is the highest graded one of its kind by three grading points. Which, if you know a little bit about coins, is a whole lot.
That means if you can find one of these in the bottom of your coin collection, you are set for a major payday.
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And with this, we hope you have some happy coin hunting.
