According to the U.S. Geological Survey, 1.74 million metric tons of silver have been mined to date, compared to just 244,000 metric tons of gold. Because of that gaping disparity in supply, along with gold’s mystique and association with wealth and luxury since antiquity, gold is by far more expensive than silver — over $2,000 an ounce to roughly $25 an ounce as of March 7.
Read Next: 10 of the Most Valuable Pennies
Discover More: 8 Common Mistakes Retirees Make With Their Social Security Checks
But when you press silver into currency, melt value and spot price go out the window, and today, the world’s most coveted silver coins are worth more than all but their most treasured gold counterparts. Here’s a look at the most valuable silver coins and what you can expect to get for them if you find one in your couch cushions.
Until 2013, the most expensive coin in the world was a rare silver dollar that fetched $4.14 million at auction in 1999. But on Jan. 22 of that year, the hammer fell at a Stacks Bowers auction for a coin that is believed to be the first silver dollar ever struck by the U.S. Mint, in an America that was still emerging as a country and a concept.
The fledgling U.S. Mint struck the 1794 “Flowing Hair” silver dollar to test its new dies and coining press during the presidency of George Washington. Nearly 220 years later, it commanded $10,016,875, more than double the sale price of what had been the world’s most valuable coin for nearly 15 years.
For You: 8 Rare Coins Worth Millions That Are Highly Coveted by Coin Collectors
The coin that held the record until it was obliterated by the 1794 “Flowing Hair” silver dollar was an especially rare and pristine example of the 1804 Draped Bust silver dollar.
By far the finest specimen of what Stacks Bowers called “America’s most famous rarity,” it was part of the legendary Childs Collection — which dates back to 1870 — and was presented as a gift by the United States government to the Sultan of Muscat in 1835, the first known distribution of any specimen of this iconic coin.
Discovered in Germany in 1884, the so-called Dexter specimen of the most famous and coveted coin in American history is one of just eight known Class I Original Draped Bust silver dollars, which were coined to distribute as gifts from the U.S. government to foreign heads of state. Since 1885, they have been known as the “King of American rarities.”
