2018-05-30 Wed

In the late 1700s, the mint of United State was not yet operational, so the colonies started to mint their own coins. There were even many private entrepreneurs that issued coins, Ephraim Brasher was one of the famous private minters.

Ephraim Brasher was a gold and silversmith in the New York in the 18th century. He petitioned New York State, to mint new sets of coins in copper metal around 1787. The state legislature rejected Brasher’s appeal. Ignoring the State’s decision, he went on to mint the coin mostly in Bronze. He even issued few coins in 22-carat gold called Brasher doubloon. This doubloon was almost identical to the Lima doubloon and the earlier Spanish coin.

The obverse side of this gold coin depicted an eagle with Brasher’s initials within the wreath with the date and legend on the outer side. The reverse of this coin illustrates a hill and water with a rising sun. The legend ‘Brasher’ is inscribed below within the dotted circle and legend inscribed on the outer circle.

The doubloon of Ephraim Brasher is considered one of the rarest coins in the United State. It was purchased for 7.4 million dollars, making it the one of the highest value paid for a gold coin.

Image Courtesy: ebay.com