If fantasy coins sound, um, rather fantastic, there’s a reason for that… fantasy coins are essentially coins that could have been made but actually weren’t.
If that sounds confusing, it really isn’t.
Fantasy coins are made to portray something that never happened or, in many cases, act as coins that might have been made at a certain point in history but for whatever reason didn’t ever materialize.
An example of a fantasy coin would be something like a piece featuring John McCain or Al Gore as president (which almost happened in both cases, but never did).
Oh, But I Thought Fantasy Coins Were…
…If you think fantasy coins mean those which are so expensive and rare that you’ll probably never own one, you’re right, too — to a degree. Many coin collectors refer to the ultra-rare, iconic rarities like the 1913 Liberty nickel and 1804 Bust silver dollar as fantasy coins.
Fantasy coins can also refer to unauthorized strikings of coins combining designs that were never meant to be paired together — like a Jefferson nickel obverse with a Buffalo nickel reverse.
I’m the Coin Editor here at TheFunTimesGuide. My love for coins began when I was 11 years old. I primarily collect and study U.S. coins produced during the 20th century. I’m a member of the American Numismatic Association (ANA) and the Numismatic Literary Guild (NLG) and have won multiple awards from the NLG for my work as a coin journalist. I’m also the editor at the Florida United Numismatists Club (FUN Topics magazine), and author of Images of America: The United States Mint in Philadelphia (a book that explores the colorful history of the Philadelphia Mint). I’ve contributed hundreds of articles for various coin publications including COINage, The Numismatist, Numismatic News, Coin Dealer Newsletter, Coin Values, and CoinWeek. I’ve authored nearly 1,000 articles here at The Fun Times Guide to Coins (many of them with over 50K shares), and I welcome your coin questions in the comments below!
