1787 Brasher Doubloon - Rare 1787 gold coin fetches $7.4M By MARY FOSTER | December 12, 2011
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — An exceedingly rare
1787 gold Brasher doubloon has been sold for $7.4 million,
one of the highest prices ever paid for a gold coin.
Blanchard and Co., the New Orleans-based
coin and precious metals company that brokered the deal,
said the doubloon was purchased by a Wall Street investment
firm. Identities of the buyer and seller were not disclosed.
Minted by Ephraim Brasher, a goldsmith and
neighbor of George Washington, the coin contains 26.66 grams
of gold — slightly less than an ounce. Worth about
$15 when it was minted, the gold value today would be more
than $1,500.
The Brasher doubloon is considered the first
American-made gold coin denominated in dollars; the U.S.
Mint in Philadelphia didn't begin striking coins until the
1790s.