As the year 2011 drew to a close an interesting item of American coin news captured the attention of the world’s media. At a sale run by Blanchard and Co, New Orleans numismatic coins and bullion dealers, one of the most famous rare US coins from the period prior to the establishment of the US Mint brought in a record $7,000,000 price.
The item of rare currency in question, the Brasher Doubloon, was minted in 1787 by a goldsmith named Ephraim Brasher. This gold coin’s claim to fame is not just due to the fact that it fetched one of the highest prices ever paid for US gold coins, but it ranks high in the list of numismatic coins of historical importance. Ephraim Basher was a neighbor of America’s first President, George Washington, and it is known that Washington patronized his business. Brasher was also employed by the American government as an assayer of coin values with this trademark “EB” initials stamped on early American coins recognized as a sign that the coins were genuinely worth their face value.
The story of the Brasher Doubloon
Despite its high profile in international coin news, many details about why the coin was minted and the man who produced it are shrouded in the proverbial mists of early American history. The period prior to the opening of the US Mint in 1792 was characterized by numismatic confusion with a variety of different European and British coins of various denominations in circulation. The Bank of New York issued standard coin value and weight information for foreign coins but the activities of counterfeiters and coin clippers seriously damaged public confidence in the country’s coinage.
As an aside, while coin counterfeiters are still a concern today, the coin clipper has disappeared with the use of milled edges and legends around the edge of coins. The coin clippers made their illicit gain by clipping the edge off gold coins. They put these coins back into circulation at their original value and sold the gold clippings. The potential gains and the poor state of law enforcement in this era meant that there were enough people tempted by the gains of gold coin clipping even though they might face the death penalty if they were caught.
Understandably, great value was placed on US gold coins whose coin value was beyond dispute. Ephraim Brasher’s reputation as an honest businessman and his mastery of the goldsmith’s skills led the American government to engage his services as an assayer of coin values. His good name and public confidence in his mark were also presumably a factor in his decision to mint this doubloon in 1787. He engraved no value on the 26.66g gold coin but historians believe it had a purchasing power of about $15. This was a vast sum for the time. You would have to multiply it at least a hundred times to give an idea of its purchasing power in terms of today’s dollar value. This high coin value was obviously more suitable for major business transactions rather than daily shopping. However, with just five or so coins known to us, perhaps it was minted as an example of the goldsmith’s craft rather than for regular circulation? Nobody is certain why Brasher produced it.
Rising value of US gold coins
In addition to the historical interest, the Brasher doubloon’s record sale price indicates how the extent gold prices and rare currency prices have multiplied over recent years. Back in 1979 a Brasher doubloon was sold for $725,000 and even allowing for the change in value of currency the price increase over 30 years remains impressive. While the identity of the buyer remains secret it was revealed that the purchaser was an investment house. This also can be seen as a sign of how investors are now relating to rare currency similar to the way they relate to paintings and other works of art—items that are virtually guaranteed to continue to rise in value and provide a level of security that the worlds of business and finance seem unable to match.