Rare coins are one of the world’s most sought-after collectors’ items. Some such collectible coins can fetch their owners’ lakhs or even crores of rupees at auctions. But which rare coin is the most valuable in the world? Let’s find out.
The coin the holds the most value in the world currently is an American coin called the 1933 Double Eagle gold coin. While the historical coin’s face value is just $20 or Rs 1,525.71 as per the current exchange rates, the real value it holds as a rare collectible item is astonishingly high in proportion. The coin holds the world record for being auctioned off at a mind-boggling $18.9 million. As per the latest exchange rates, this comes to an unimaginable Rs 144,17,95,950 (Rs 144 crore 17 lakh 95 thousand nine hundred and fifty).
The coin set this record at an auction held in New York City last year by Sotheby’s, the British-founded US multinational company which is the world's leading broker of fine and decorative art, jewellery and collectibles. Back on July 8, 2021, when it was auctioned for the record price, it’s value in Indian currency stood at around Rs 138 crore.
Why the coin is so valuable?
1933 Double Eagle is the last gold coin minted in the US for the purpose of circulation. However, the coin never entered circulation as the then US President Franklin D Roosevelt took the country off the gold standard.
An order was passed to destroy all copies of the coin. The remaining 1933 Double Eagle is the only specimen which was “legally sanctioned” by the US Government for private ownership.
The auction house Sotheby's dubbed the 1933 Double Eagle as the ‘Holy Grail of Coins’. The coin carries the photo of Lady Liberty of the US on one side while the other side feathers an American eagle.
Before the record-setting auction last year, the coin had earlier held a price of $7.6 million at a 2002 auction. In its latest feat, it surpassed the previously most valuable coin in the world a 1794 Flowing Hair silver dollar, which sold for $10 million in 2013.
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