Connect with us

Columns

Half Eagle Gold Coin Sells for Record-Breaking $8.4M

It’s ‘the most valuable gold coin minted by the United States ever sold at auction.’

mm

Published

on

Half Eagle Gold Coin

THE FINEST KNOWN 1822 Half Eagle gold coin set a new world record when an anonymous bidder snatched it up at a Las Vegas auction last Thursday for $8.4 million.

“The 1822 Half Eagle is now the most valuable gold coin minted by the United States ever sold at auction. It’s also now the third-most valuable coin ever sold at auction,” said Brian Kendrella, the president of Stack’s Bowers Galleries.

Exactly 17,796 of these $5 coins were minted, but only three specimens are known to have survived. The record holder is the only one owned by a private individual. The other two are permanent residents of the National Numismatic Collection in the Smithsonian Institution.

The privately owned specimen was first acquired by Virgil Brand in 1899 and remained in his vast collection until it was sold by his heirs in 1945.

At that time, it entered the unparalleled collection of Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr., who had the distinction of successfully assembling a complete set of every U.S. coin ever minted.

When the gold coins from the Eliasberg Collection were auctioned in 1982, the successful buyer was the young D. Brent Pogue in the early stages of building what would become the most valuable numismatic collection in history, according to Stack’s Bowers Galleries.

Pogue’s collection would eventually fetch more than $140 million in a series of sales by Stack’s Bowers Galleries from 2015 through 2021.

The newest owner of the 1822 Half Eagle has chosen to remain anonymous.

While the 1822 Half Eagle earned the distinction of being the most expensive GOLD coin ever minted by the U.S, two other coins have sold for more. The 1794 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar — the first dollar coin issued by the United States federal government — realized more than $10 million at an auction at Stack’s Bowers Galleries in January 2013.

The 1787 Brasher Doubloon — a gold coin minted privately by goldsmith and silversmith Ephraim Brasher — earned $9.36 million at Heritage Auctions this past January.

Interestingly, barrons.com reader Stephen Donnelly did the math to determine the compound return for a $5 coin that would eventually sell for $8.4 million. He concluded that the $5 coin returned 7.5% annually over 199 years.

Advertisement

SPONSORED VIDEO

Retiring? Let Wilkerson Do the Heavy Lifting

Retirement can be a great part of life. As Nanji Singadia puts it, “I want to retire and enjoy my life. I’m 78 now and I just want to take a break.” That said, Nanji decided that the best way to move ahead was to contact the experts at Wilkerson. He chose them because he knew that closing a store is a heavy lift. To maximize sales and move on to the next, best chapter of his life, he called Wilkerson—but not before asking his industry friends for their opinion. He found that Wilkerson was the company most recommended and says their professionalism, experience and the homework they did before the launch all helped to make his going out of business sale a success. “Wilkerson were working on the sale a month it took place,” he says. “They did a great job.”

Promoted Headlines

Advertisement

Advertisement

Subscribe


BULLETINS

INSTORE helps you become a better jeweler
with the biggest daily news headlines and useful tips.
(Mailed 5x per week.)

Latest Comments

Most Popular