An extremely rare coin, the first of its kind to be minted in the United States, has sold at auction in Florida for more than $4.5 million. The 1787 Brasher doubloon has been called the most valuable coin in the world, and the price it fetched at auction - $4,582,500 - paid by an anonymous bidder, confirms that. The coin, the first of its kind, was made by a silversmith named Ephraim Brasher who lived next door to George Washington after the Revolutionary War at 1 Cherry St on Manhattan's Lower East Side. He created the Brasher doubloon in 1787.
According to Heritage Auctions, the design on the front of the coin was adopted from the New York coat of arms - a sun rising of the peak of a mountain with a body of water in the foreground. Brasher's name is spelled out below the waves in small letters and the words around the edge of the coin say NOVA EBORACA COLUMBIA EXCELSIOR - New York, America, Ever Higher. Excelsior remains the state motto to this day. Read More.