The Brasher Doubloon is a rare American doubloon of eight escudos worth sixteen dollars, privately minted in and after 1787.
The Brasher Doubloon is a rare American doubloon of eight escudos worth sixteen dollars, privately minted in and after 1787.
In 1787, Ephraim Brasher, [1] a goldsmith and silversmith, submitted a petition to the State of New York to mint copper coins. The petition was denied when New York decided not to get into the business of minting copper coinage. Brasher was already quite highly regarded for his skills, and his hallmark (which he not only stamped on his own coins but also on other coinage sent to him for assay proofing) was highly appreciated by the United States. Brasher struck various coppers, in addition to a small quantity of gold coins, over the next few years. [2]
This coin, valued at eight Spanish escudos or sixteen Spanish dollars ($16), is of confusing English colonial nomenclature, called at first the "double doubloon" before settling as the "Spanish doubloon". This was disambiguated in references by calling the $4 the common doubloon or simply doubloon , and the $16 coin the doubloon of eight (escudos). [3] Spanish America did the same as explained in es:doblón .
One of the surviving gold coins, weighing 26.6 grams and composed of 0.917 (22-carat) gold, was sold at a public auction for $625,000 in March 1981. [2]
On January 12, 2005 Heritage Auction Galleries sold all three varieties of Brasher Doubloons as part of their Florida United Numismatists U.S. Coin Auction, Platinum Night Session. The coins realized $2,415,000 for the New York Style EB Punch on Wing NGC AU55, [4] $2,990,000 for the unique New York Style EB Punch on Breast NGC XF45 [5] and $690,000 for the rare but less iconic Lima Style Doubloon. [6] The unique Brasher Doubloon, the first gold coin made for the United States, was sold in December 2011 by rare-coin dealer, Steven L. Contursi of Laguna Beach, California, to Certified Acceptance Corporation (CAC) of Far Hills, New Jersey. An undisclosed Wall Street investment firm subsequently purchased it from Blanchard and Company of New Orleans, Louisiana for nearly $7.4 million, it was the most money ever paid for a coin minted in the United States. [7] This record was broken by a Brasher Doubloon sold in January 2021 by Heritage Auctions for $9.36 million, a world record for a gold coin sold in a public auction. [8]
The coin was the subject of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe 1942 mystery novel The High Window , [9] which was made into a film, Time to Kill , in 1942, [10] and The Brasher Doubloon , in 1947. It is also mentioned in Lawrence Block's 1980 Bernie Rhodenbarr mystery The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza [11] and John Bellairs's 1992 The Mansion in the Mist. [12]
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This glossary of numismatics is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to numismatics and coin collecting, as well as sub-fields and related disciplines, with concise explanations for the beginner or professional.
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The Silver center cent is an American pattern coin produced by the United States Mint in 1792. As a precursor to the large cent it was one of the first coins of the United States and an early example of a bimetallic coin. Only 12 original examples are known to exist, of which one is located in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution. Two more specimens exist but contain fabricated plugs added after minting.
The 1792 half disme is an American silver coin with a face value of five cents which was minted in 1792. Although it is subject to debate as to whether this was intended to be circulating coinage or instead an experimental issue, President George Washington referred to it as "a small beginning" and many of the coins eventually were released into circulation. It is widely considered the first United States coinage struck under authority of the Coinage Act of 1792.
The escudo was either of two distinct Spanish currency denominations.
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Rare Coin Wholesalers is a rare-coin company that specializes in United States rare coins. Located in Irvine, California, Rare Coin Wholesalers buys, sells, appraises and trades rare coins and precious metals. Originally established as a S.L. Contursi company in 1990, the owners have bought and sold over two billion dollars' worth of rare coins.
The National Numismatic Collection is the national coin cabinet of the United States. The collection is part of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.
Steven L. Contursi is an American businessman and numismatist. He is the founder and president of Rare Coin Wholesalers. In the past 38 years, Steve Contursi has bought and sold over $1 billion worth of rare United States coins.
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