This 1794 silver dollar was auctioned off for a record $10 million here, the highest price ever paid for a coin.
It’s called a “Flowing Hair Silver Dollar” and was the first metal dollar coin issued in America.
Legend Numismatics, a rare-coin firm based in New Jersey, bought it and said it would have paid a lot more.
“We felt in our heart that this would be the very first coin to exceed the $10 million barrier in auction and were in fact prepared to bid much higher in order to acquire this unique piece of history,” the company said.
It was the highlight of Thursday’s auction in Manhattan by the Stack’s Bowers Galleries, which fetched a total of $17.2 million. The previous record for a coin was $7,590,020, paid for a 1933 Double Eagle, the firm said.
David Bowers, chairman emeritus of Stack’s, said coins are a good investment, have a worldwide market and have risen steadily in value.