Most Valuable Coins and Banknotes
This is the third part of Random Business Facts. It’s just an interesting look at some of the world’s most valuable and rare coins and banknotes.
The most expensive coin ever sold was a 1933 gold double eagle coin purchased in 2002 for $7,590,000 USD. All the gold double eagle coins minted in 1933 were recalled and melted down, except ten that were stolen by the Mint’s chief cashier. These were illegal to own and all nine have been tracked down and recovered by federal agents. The tenth was found in 1996 but permission was given by the American government to allow this coin to be privately owned. The next most expensive coin ever sold was the 1913 Liberty Head nickel which sold for $4,150,000 USD in 2005. Only five of these are known to survive and the same coin had been the first to break the million-dollar price when it was sold in 1996 for $1,485,000 USD.
Looking into ancient coins, a silver decadrachma of the city of Aragas in Sicily was sold for $572,000 in 1980. Next on the list is a Roman gold coin of the usurper emperor Saturnius which sold for 264,000 pounds and a unique gold coin made by Brutus which sold for $550,000 USD. Other high priced coins include the a gold penny of Conenwulf, a 1643 gold Triple Unite of Charles I, and a dinar of al-Walid bin ‘Abd al-Malik. As far as rarity is concerned, one of the most important coins is a coin of Octavian of 28BC, which is now on display in the British Museum. The usurper Roman emperor Silbannacus is known to history only because of the two surviving coins in his name. He is not mentioned in any ancient source. Another Roman emperor, Domitianus, was only confirmed in 2003 when a coin bearing his name was found in a hoard in Oxfordshire.
Paper money has obviously less chance to survive hundreds or thousands of years. The 14th century Chinese paper money from the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) is exceptionally rare. Another extremely rare banknote is the American 1891 $1,000 note and all legal tender issues of 1869 are very rare. Coins usually fetch much higher prices then banknotes. The most expensive note ever sold is probably the American $100 Treasury Note from 1890 that sold for $356,500. Another high priced note is the American 1928 $10,000 Federal Reserve note that was purchased for $126,000 in 1998. The auction record for an English banknote is 57,200 pounds paid for a 1797 1 pound note sold in 1933. Other noteworthy purchases include the sale of a 1937-40 1,000 Mauritian rupee note with the number A0000 on it and a rare 1924 Australian 1,000 pound note.
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