Finding This $1 Coin In Your Spare Change Could Score You Over $10,000

We’re all guilty of throwing loose change around the house without giving it so much as a second glance. But the next time you just toss it in a jar or piggy bank and call it a day, you may want to rifle through your haul for a few minutes. It turns out that if you have what’s called a Flowing Hair dollar in your midst, you could walk away with an easy five-figure payday.

The Flowing Hair dollar, which features a bust of Lady Liberty with long and — you guessed it! — flowing hair, is considered one of the rarest and most special coins in the United States. That’s because it was the first silver one-dollar coin ever created in America after the formation of the U.S. Mint in the early 1790s. It was only produced for two years, 1794 and 1795, before it was replaced by a similar-looking coin called the Draped Bust dollar.

Earlier in 2021, one of these 1795 Flowing Hair dollar coins went up for auction on eBay, eventually being sold for $10,633 after all 36 bids were in. While the going rate for the Flowing Hair dollar is typically in the five-figure range, one coin did sell over $10 million at auction in 2013. At the time, it surpassed the world record for the most expensive coin ever bought. Since there are only roughly 150-200 1794 coins left, it was most likely among the first batch of these coins ever produced, also making it one of the first coins ever minted by the U.S. government. (That’s also why the 1794 ones are typically much pricier than their 1795 counterparts!)

Sure, it might be difficult to part with something that has such a rich national history attached to it, but picking up $10,000 doesn’t sound like a terrible price for all of your trouble!