The Double Eagle: The Most Expensive Coin in the World

At its surface, the so-called 'Double Eagle' appears to have a value of just £15.80 ($20), though a 2021 auction shows this is not quite the case.

A rare 1933 Double Eagle coin has sold for an impressive sum at auction.

At its surface, the coin appears to have a value of just £15.80 ($20). However, this is not quite the case.

The coin sold for a staggering £13,334,400 ($18,872,250) at Sotheby’s in New York, making it the most expensive coin ever sold at auction, according to Guinness World Records.

But what exactly makes it so special? While a reported 445,500 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles were minted in 1933, they were actually never used is currency.

This was mainly due to financial issues sparked by the Great Depression at the time. When President Franklin D Roosevelt took office that year, he banned the possession of gold, including coins like the Double Eagle.

Instead, specialists claim they were never issued and melted down to gold bars. Just two were spared by the Government, but more than a dozen others escaped destruction.

“Perhaps the rarest and most valuable gold coin in the world is the 1933 Double Eagle,” explains dealers at The Britannia Coin Company. “The allure of this extremely scarce gold coin stems from its inextricable link to U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt’s Executive Order 6102.

“Although 445,500 specimens were struck by the Philadelphia Mint, they were never officially issued by the U.S. Treasury. Subsequently, they were ordered to be melted down with only two coins to be spared. Naturally, a few coins escaped the melting pot.”

Of the two legally spared, one went to the National Numismatic Collection, while a second was kept in a private collection until 2002 before selling at auction, according to MJ Hughes Coins. It is thought that 20 others were stolen, but many of these were recovered by the U.S. Secret Service.

To this day, it remains illegal to own a 1933 Double Eagle coin in the U.S., with the exception of just one. The nation’s Mint recovered 10 in 2005 and reiterated that they their illegality.

The former U.S. Mint acting director David Lebryk said at the time: “These Double Eagles were never lawfully issued, but instead, were taken from the United States Mint at Philadelphia in an unlawful manner more than 70 years ago. They are, and always have been, public property belonging to the United States.”

Although it is therefore unlikely you’ll make a fortune from a 1933 Double Eagle, there other legal coins that can fetch a hefty sum. Take for example, the extraordinary case where another rare 1933 coin from Britain recently sold for £140,000 at auction.

Speaking to the Star, Chris Yang, co-founder of Coins Value, said: “Remember, the thrill of coin collecting isn’t always about striking gold; it’s about connecting with history and uncovering hidden treasures. Your old coin jar might hold more than just spare change – it could be a portal to a fascinating past.”