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1933 Double Eagle
Most expensive coin sold at auction
A 1933 Double Eagle gold coin sold at Sotheby's in June 2021 for $18.9 million. It is one of very few that was never melted down.
The Double Eagle was a $20 gold coin. About 445,500 were struck at the Philadelphia Mint in 1933, but gold coins left circulation that year when the United States moved off the gold standard for domestic use, and the Mint never issued them. Nearly all were ordered melted.
A small number escaped, and ownership became a legal fight, because the government considers these coins property that should not have left the Mint. The U.S. Mint holds eleven that were never issued, and the Smithsonian received two in 1934.
The coin sold in 2021 has an unusual history. Sotheby's traces it through King Farouk of Egypt, and in 2002 the U.S. Mint monetized it, which means it was made legal tender and cleared for private ownership. It is the only 1933 Double Eagle an individual can legally own. In June 2021 it sold for about $18.9 million including fees, widely reported as the highest price paid at auction for a coin.
The case shows how a coin can become more valuable because of rules and rarity rather than age, since its worth rests on being the one example that can be bought, owned and sold without legal risk.