Numismatics is the discipline in which people collect money, coins, and other similar items and objects. In the world of numismatics, gold coins have a special place. Their rarity and historic value make them extremely wanted for people dealing with this.
Some of the most expensive gold coins exceed the amount of a million dollars. This is not just because of the gold being a pricy metal, but more because of other factors. A lot of gold coins dated from more than 1000 years ago are practically priceless. Even though the amount of gold is not high in them, they are still considered priceless because of the rarity and because they survived so long.
Those old gold coins that made to the market really set some high limits. For example, the most expensive coin ever sold is a silver and copper coin from 1794 sold for a staggering $10 million in 2013. The gold coins are trailing right behind. Let’s see what are the 5 most expensive gold coins ever sold.
1. The Brasher Doubloon
The most expensive gold coin ever sold is the Brasher Doubloon. It was sold for a staggering $7.4 million back in 2011. It is so precious because it was minted in a private mint, the one of mister Ephraim Brasher who asked for permission from the state of New York to mint its own private coins.
One of the few surviving gold coins was sold in 2011 and this is officially the most expensive gold coin in the world. It was made in 1787. This is a time when the United States still haven’t made any coins and didn’t operate a federal mint. Even though the permission was declined, Doubloon still struck some gold coins with its print mark on it.
2. The 1933 Double Eagle
Sold for $7.37 million in 2002 it was the most expensive coin for almost ten years. It is one of the two coins that survived in 1933 when almost all gold coins that were minted were melted back. It is made of 90% gold and 10% copper, but the rarity and the fact that it is the only witness of this act – makes it almost precious.
On the front side there’s the face of Lady Liberty and on the back side is the flying eagle. The designer Augustus Saint-Gaudens designed it in 1907 but it obviously never managed to be mass produced. The reason for this was the attempt of President Roosevelt to solve the bank crises in the 30s. He ordered everyone who owns gold coins to return them into the Federal Reserve Bank. By this, there was no logic for the mint to produce gold coins.
3. Umayyad gold dinar
This gold coin comes from the Middle East and was carved in the year 696. That’s over 1300 years ago. Can you imagine how long this coin has survived? It was made by Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan as part of his ruling. Want to know more about this ruler, see this link.
The coin weighs 0.1499 ounces but what’s more important is that it is a real artifact witnessing about a time and a place.
4. 1804 $10 proof Eagle
Even though this coin says it was made in 1804, it was actually minted in the 1830s. Until today, only 15 pieces are known to exist. One of these examples was sold for $5 mil in 2011 through a private transaction.
The coin was made of 90% gold and 10% silver. It was sold in 1999 for more than 4 million which was the highest transaction of a coin at that time.
5. The Brasher Doubloon with the logo on the wing
The famous Ephraim Brasher has another coin in the top five most expensive in the world. This one was sold in January 2014 for $4.582.500. It is exactly the same as the previously mentioned Brasher gold coin with that difference that the logo is pressed on another place.
The first coin has the logo pressed on the breasts of the eagle and this one has the logo on the wing. It is also a part of the gold coin collection that Brasher made back in the day.
