On January
24, 2012, Stack Bowers auctioned a "flowing hair" silver dollar of
1794 for a staggering $ 10.016.875 (including a 17.5 percent buyer's fee). Almost
one year later, it remains the highest price ever achieved at an auction for a
coin. The previous 7.5 million record was set in 2002 for a 1933 Double Eagle.
LegendNumismatics, a rare-coin firm, bought the coin, and its chairman, David Bowes,
declared he was prepared to bid even higher in order to acquire it. Why is this
coin so valuable? Because many experts believe it to be the very first dollar
struck by the U.S. mint in 1794, the year in which the American government
issued silver dollars for the first time. It is also the finest example known
of this early issue. For all this reasons, this is an iconic coin, surely one
of the most important numismatic objects in American history.
Legend
numismatics still owns the coin and the firm will surely not offer it at a
public auction any time soon betting its price will go up with time.
