The most valuable single coin in American history SHOULD have been on display in the Smithsonian Institution. It wasn’t for the simple fact that no one knew it existed! The priceless artifact in question is a pattern coin designed in 1907 for the $20 Gold Double Eagle of which only one specimen was ever struck... and then mysteriously disappeared. How the coin turned up 45 years later has only recently been revealed by numismatic experts, who spent years researching the coin’s mysterious history.
The coin was the work of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, hailed as the most famous sculptor in American history. When President Teddy Roosevelt demanded a complete overhaul of America’s coin designs at the turn of the century, he selected Saint-Gaudens for the job. While Saint-Gaudens’ designs have since been recognized as some of the most beautiful U.S. coins ever produced, they weren’t met with unanimous approval.
In 1952, long after the controversy over new coin designs and clashing egos had faded from the public’s memory, the coin that was supposedly too difficult to strike turned up in a Cairo vault. It was a single pattern coin for the 1907 $20 Gold Double Eagle that had been secretly purchased by Egypt’s King Farouk — a playboy monarch whose counted coin collecting among his many hobbies. A voracious coin collector, Farouk amassed one of the world’s most valuable coin collections. But since he was using money from the Egyptian national treasury to do it, he made all his purchases secretly. When he was deposed in 1952, the new government put his collection on the auction block. The appearance of the Saint-Gaudens pattern $20 gold piece sent shock waves through the coin world.
If put on the market today, experts believe the 1907 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle Gold Pattern coin would command in excess of $15 MILLION making it the most valuable coin in U.S. history! Unfortunately, even if you had that kind of money it wouldn’t matter. So far, the owner isn’t selling at any price! So we’ve done the next best thing: We struck the 1907 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle Gold Pattern as a glittering mirror Proof finished in 10 mils of pure 24 karat gold!
