Viral News: Sometimes things that seem very simple carry great value. Just like this unique US gold coin which was initially meant to be a $20 coin (Rs 1400) but it was sold for a staggering $18.9m (Rs 138 crore) in New York on Tuesday! With this whopping amount, it has exceeded both its previous price of $7.6m set in 2002, and its pre-sale estimate of $10m to $15m. It also smashed the record for the most expensive coin in the world, set by a 1794 Flowing Hair silver dollar that sold for $10 million in 2013.
Why is it so rare?
Notably, this 1933 Double Eagle was the last gold coin in America that was intended for country-wide circulation. However, the coin was never issued after Franklin D. Roosevelt removed America from the gold standard. All of the coins were ordered to be destroyed, apart from two which were given to the Smithsonian Institution.
The coin’s rarity is boosted by the fact that it is the only example to have been “legally sanctioned” for private ownership by the US Government.
Auction house Sotheby’s described the 1933 Double Eagle, the last US gold coin made and intended for circulation, as “one of the most coveted coins in the world”.
In an Instagram post, the auction house wrote, ”Meet the “Holy Grail of Coins”. Earlier this morning in our #NewYork saleroom the fabled and elusive 1933 Double Eagle Coin shattered the auction record for the world’s most valuable coin, achieving an astonishing $18.9 million – nearly double the previous record. Four bidders chased the legendary coin, which is the only example that is legally sanctioned by the United States government for private ownership.
The Double Eagle has an image of Lady Liberty on one side and an American eagle on the other. See pictures here:
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“Today’s sale marked a historic moment in the history of stamp and coin collecting, and one that I think will not be surpassed for a long time, if ever,” said Richard Austin, Sotheby’s global head of books and manuscripts, in a post-sale statement.