Rare gold coin sells for £4.8m
15.12.2011  | www.herald.ie

A rare 1787 gold Brasher doubloon has been sold for 7.4 million dollars (£4.8 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 neighbour of George Washington, the coin contains 26.66g of gold - slightly less than an ounce. Worth about 15 dollars (£10) when it was minted, the gold value today would be more than 1,500 dollars (£965).

The Brasher doubloon is considered the first American-made gold coin denominated in dollars; the US Mint in Philadelphia did not begin striking coins until the 1790s.

http://www.herald.ie/breaking-news/world-news/rare-gold-coin-sells-for-48m-2960948.html

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