The $6 Million Coin

www.luxist.com
by Deidre Woollard
Saturday June 25, 2005

The Brasher Doubloon, a gold coin insured for $6 million, will be publically displayed at the New York Invitational Coin Show, June 30 and July 1.   It is the first gold coin made in the United States and was hand-struck in 1787 in lower Manhattan by George Washington’s neighbor, Ephraim Brasher.   The half-dollar sized gold coin was purchased at an auction earlier this year by rare coin dealer, Steven L. Contursi.   Only seven on these doubloons survive today and this is the only one with the designer’s initials punched on the breast of the eagle.   The coin was the subject of a 1942 1947 movie, “The Brasher Doubloon,” based on Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe detective story.   The coin will be shown at various places around the United States.