The Most Valuable American Coins of All Time

The vast majority of coins in circulation today are worth exactly face value. If the coin says "ten cents," it's probably worth exactly that much. On the other hand, there are some coins that are worth more. Much, much, much more. Obviously, in order to be extremely valuable it helps if a coin is also extremely rare. One such rare coin was sold earlier this week by four lucky siblings in Virginia. The coin that came to auction this week is a 1913 Liberty Head nickel, one of only five in known existence. This specific 1913 Liberty Head nickel was last sold in 1940 for $3750 to a collector named George O. Walton. Walton died in a car accident and left the coin to his sister Melva Givens. For decades, the coin sat in a closet as the family believed it was a fake. In 2003, Melva's heirs had the coin appraised and were dumbfounded to learn that it was 100% authentic and potentially worth millions of dollars. It was expected to fetch $2.5 million at auction. In the end, the final sales price was $3.17 million. That's enough to make it one of the most valuable American coins of all time. So what are the 10 most valuable coins? Click the gallery below to find out…