Abstract This work presents the main results from a selection of optical spectra of Seyfert and LINER galaxies taken from the 9 th release of the SDSS with detectable coronal emission. A catalogue of 345 Seyfert 1 (Sy1) and Seyfert 2 (Sy2) galaxies with Forbidden High Ionization Lines (FHILs) emission is presented. By analysing their spectra as well as utilising data from the literature we found evidence of anisotropy in optical FHIL emissions between Sy1 and Sy2 galaxies for the following lines: [Ne v ] λ3426, [Fe vii ] λ6087, [Fe x ] λ6374 and [Fe xi ] λ7892. Results continue indicating that optical FHILs are not observed in LINER type galaxies.