1854-56 Type 2 Indian Princess Head US Gold Dollars Explained

1854-56 "Type 2" Gold Dollars

- Feature a beautiful Indian Princess Head

These coins feature: 90% Gold (.04837oz) and 10% Copper
Gold dollar coins have always been collected by numismatists over the years for their beauty, gold content and overall value. The earliest United States gold dollar coins are often categorized as Type 1, Type 2 or Type 3.

Type 1: 1849 - 1854 - Features a Liberty Head
Type 2: 1854 - 1856 - Features a small Indian Princess Head
Type 3: 1856 - 1889 - Features a large Indian Princess Head

A design change in 1854 proved difficult for the United States Mint to strike these newly designed gold coins well enough for them to achieve top grades today. This has lead to very few mint-state examples in circulation over the years, and makes Type 2 gold dollars some of the most valuable.

- 1854
Mintage: 783,943
> 1854 Gold Dollars For Sale

- 1855
Mintage: 758,269
> 1855 Gold Dollars For Sale

- 1855-C
Mintage: 9,803
> 1855c Gold Dollars For Sale

- 1855-D
Mintage: 1,811
> 1855d Gold Dollars For Sale

- 1855-O
Mintage: 55,000
> 1855o Gold Dollars For Sale

- 1856-S
Mintage: 24,600
> 1856s Gold Dollars For Sale

The most valuable of the Type 2 gold dollars are from the Dahlonega and Charlotte mint, where very few coins were actually minted. Any coin, especially in good condition, always demands a strong premium over the other coins in this type. - but are almost impossible to find. In fact, just about any 1855-D is worth over $15,000 and mint copies can sell for close to $100,000.

Condition is everything with this type of early American gold dollars! Hope you find a few of these Type 2's in your stacks that look good! Until next time - HAPPY COLLECTING!

1913 George V $10 Canadian Gold Coin Values

- You can often find one for sale in good condition -

Mintage: 149,232
90% Gold (.4837oz)
10% Copper

- 1913 Gold $10 Currently For Sale

These coins are not all that hard to find in good condition, as over half of the existing PCGS graded copies are graded Mint State 63 or better. That is in large part due to the fact that in 2012 the Royal Canadian Mint revealed that it had been storing George V gold coins made from 1912-1914 - and sold some 30,000 to the public. However, it's also interesting to note that the mint melted some 245,000 of the 1912-1914 George V gold coins - so many were destroyed.



In June 2013 the price of 1oz of gold was about $1,380 - 1913 George V $10 gold coins graded MS-63 sold for about $1,220 (US dollars). The 1913 Canadian $10 coins have slightly less than 1/2oz of gold in them, which means they have a 'melt' value of about $667 dollars. Sellers on eBay are going to realize about 10 - 20% fees from eBay and PayPal on each transaction, so a seller walks away with around $1,000 dollars when all fees are paid. Not too shabby for these beautiful early Canadian coins.

We have over 500 Canadian Coin values in our coin price database, check them out here

1909-S "VDB" Lincoln Wheat 1 Cent Penny

One of the most collectible pennies in circulation!

In 1909 production of the "Wheat Penny" began in Philadelphia and San Francisco United States mints. The Philadelphia mint produced around 20,000 of the new pennies - and they bear no mint mark. The 1909 pennies from San Francisco have an S right under the date on the front of the coin.

The rarest Lincoln penny from the 1st year of production is known as the 1909-S VDB Cent. "VDB" stands for Victor D. Brenner, who designed the now iconic Lincoln profile and backside of the penny. Due to some design discrepancies, only 484,000 1909-S pennies have Brenner's initials "VDB" on the base of the backside of the coin. That makes these coins very valuable and collectible.

Needless to say, check your 1909-S pennies for the V.D.B initials, these coins are very collectible - even in poor shape. However, if you find one in great condition, they can be worth thousands. Beware of counterfeits when buying these, as the mint mark and V.D.B have been known to be added to coins.

Another fact about all US pennies is up until 1982, pennies contained 95% copper, and many coin collectors will keep all pennies dated 1982 and prior because the copper content makes them worth more than 1 penny.

We have over 700 "wheat penny" values in our coin price database, check them out here.

When Should I Grade A Coin?

PCGS & Other Services Are Not For Every Collector

Recently I have been spending time with a long time coin collector who is starting to get some of his best coins graded by PCGS. We've been going through each coin wondering if it's worth sending it in to get an official grade. It's a fun, yet tedious process.

Here are a few of our steps in determining what coins to send in:

1. Based on your own experience - examine your ungraded coins & compare to other graded coins you might have to determine your own grade.
2. Check the PCGS Population Report to see the range of grades that collectors have gotten already.
3. Check eBay to see if collectors are paying a premium for high grades.

Lastly, we ask "Why do I want to grade this coin?"

1. Do you want to sell it?
2. Do you want to see if it achieves a high grade?
3. Do you just like the protection & storage a grading holder provides?

For most collectors, if you answer NO to 2 or more of these questions, you probably are better off not sending the coin in for grading & just keeping your coin (and the saved money) in your collection.


If you answer YES to any of the 3 questions, and you have the budget to pay for the grading fees - I say go for it. It's always fun getting a package back from PCGS & provides some excitement opening it up to see what your coins were graded. Let alone the potential gain in value you might see if your coin is desired by coin collectors.

In short, sending your coins in to be graded is fun, but not for every collector. Many collectors I know never even pay attention to condition, they just like having the coins. While others only buy graded coins because condition is important to them. Either way, you can't really go wrong.



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2013 Topps Series 1 Baseball Pricing Hits The App

Whenever a new baseball season rolls around - there is a frenzy to pick up the new cards, especially from those players that have switched teams during the off-season. Sometimes pricing is a little inflated due to increased demand for the new Topps Series 1 set, plus for several weeks it's the only 2013 baseball set on the market.

We've priced a good amount of the 2013 Topps Series 1 cards to reflect what we feel is market value.

Here are some sets you can search for over at Price Guide App:

2013 Topps 1972 Topps Minis
2013 Topps Black #/62
2013 Topps Calling Cards
2013 Topps Chasing History 
2013 Topps Pink #/50
2013 Topps Platinum #1/1

So far we have about 600 2013 Topps Series 1 cards priced - with more to come soon. We will also be adding 2013 Topps Heritage and other new baseball sets soon.

We now have over 55,000 sports cards priced - and our next update should take us over 60,000 soon! Hopefully we can reach the 6 figure mark by the end of the year. With all the new 2013 baseball sets coming out, I'm sure we can make it. Thanks - and we'll keep you updated when we have more updates.

Mike Trout + Bryce Harper Card Prices Updated + 12/13 Prestige Basketball Values

We pushed through a small update that had some 2012 Topps Baseball, along with two of Baseball's golden boys Mike Trout and Bryce Harper. 2 Bryce Harper Superfractors have sold in the past few months, along with huge values for Rookie of the Year and possible MVP Mike Trout.

We've also update pricing for all rookies found in 2012/13 Panini Prestige Prestigious Picks Autograph cards. That means you'll find some of our first pricing on Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis and other top picks from the last 2 seasons in the NBA.

You can always let us know what sets you want to see: priceguideapp@gmail.com

We've Added Ty Beanie Babies To Our Price Listings

Beanie Babies were highly collectible in their day, and still have collectors/fans who are looking for the current prices of these stuffed creatures. Price Guide App has you covered!

Starting a few days ago, you can now visit our Free Beanie Babies Price Guide to check the values on rare, retired, boo's, and other popular Beanie Babies. We'll be tweaking the data and adding new ones as we find them - so please come back and check it out if you can.

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