When looking forward to the new year, it sometimes helps to look back and see what the previous year brought. For my "Treasure Hunt" column and me, 2013 was one of the most exciting in recent memory because of all the amazing finds that surfaced. If they are any indication of what's out there and what's to come, the future for collectors and treasure hunters is VERY bright.

The English Isles were a hotbed of golden discoveries. Beneath the floorboards of an Irish pub, 81 gold coins dating back to the 1600s were discovered. The guineas and half-guineas, depicting Charles II, James II, and William and Mary, were in outstanding condition. This was in addition to an amateur metal-detector hunter who ventured into a field in St Albans in Hertfordshire, England, who in just 20 minutes of searching, uncovered a hoard of 158 gold Roman coins worth over $156,000. I previously wrote about him. For the record, he had never searched for treasure before.

In Denmark, a teenager uncovered a hoard of 60 rare coins from the Viking era. And in a small village in Indonesia, where the 2004 tsunami hit, a woman collecting oysters found a chest covered in shells and coral. When she broke it open, hundreds of old gold coins poured onto her feet.

Closer to home, early U.S. coins have recorded best-ever prices in 2013. Recently, the organization Professional Numismatists Guild revealed the top 12 coins sold in 2013. Leading this list was a 1794 silver dollar, which brought in just over $10 million. A 1796 silver dollar sold for $1.1 million, and a 1894 dime struck at the San Francisco Mint sold for over $2 million. Collectively, the leading coin auction firms in the U.S. sold close to $400 million worth in rare coins last year.

The point here is rare collectibles are popping up and bringing record prices in the midst of an uncertain economy, high unemployment and skyrocketing national debt. Perhaps most exciting is the prospect that many, many more valuable coins are sitting in safes, old collections or in drawers waiting to be found. For instance, not long ago, a couple asked me to assist selling several $20 gold pieces. The coins seemed average enough — worth roughly $1,800 apiece. This is what the family had been offered by several dealers.

The thing was, however, that I noticed something about their 1861 gold piece. The reverse was askew. I thought it might be a Paquet variety created when the Mint asked a man named Paquet to slightly change the reverse design to make it sturdier. He did but it didn't work. The Mint immediately notified its branches to not use the new die. The facility in San Francisco didn't get the message for several weeks, so some of the coins were struck before production was halted. Those that survive are rare. Instead of $1,800, I got the couple $59,000 for the 1861 coin. More coins like this one are surely waiting to be found.

My New Year's wish is that a year from today, I get to write lots more about exciting finds. They're definitely out there. To help, the PNG is offering a copy of its publication, "The Pleasure of Numismatics." The brief but informative, 10-page illustrated booklet offers some tips and insight into the collecting of coins, paper money, tokens and medals. To cover postage, it asks that you send $1 to: Professional Numismatists Guild, Pleasure of Numismatics Booklet, 28441 Rancho California Road, Suite 106, Temecula, CA 92590. Happy hunting!

UPDATE: Two weeks ago, I wrote about the new $2 inverted airplane postage stamp that has also been printed in a rare "right-side-up" version, limited to just 100 sheets. At that time, a patron at a post office had found only one sheet. Dealers are offering $25,000 per sheet. Now, three more sheets have been found — one sold by a postal worker dressed as Mrs. Claus!

There are still 96 more sheets waiting to be sold to any of us. Plus, even if you buy the stamps and they turn out not to be the rare noninverted variety, you can always use them. I'd call this an exciting win-win for the New Year!

Editor's Note: A JPEG visual of a hoard of discovered Roman treasure coins has been sent with this column.

To find out more about Peter Rexford and features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.