AP Exclusive: Rare 1787 gold coin fetches $7.4M
By MARY FOSTER, Associated Press
Dec 12, 2011 2:33 AM CST
AP Exclusive: Rare 1787 gold coin fetches $7.4M
New Orleans Hornets general manager Dell Demps speaks to reporters about the possible Chris Paul trade at their NBA basketball training camp in Westwego, La., Friday, Dec. 9, 2011. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)   (Associated Press)

An exceedingly rare 1787 gold Brasher doubloon has been sold for $7.4 million, one of the highest prices ever paid for a gold coin.

Blanchard and Co., the New Orleans-based coin and precious metals company that brokered the deal, said the doubloon was purchased by a Wall Street investment firm. Identities of the buyer and seller were not disclosed.

Minted by Ephraim Brasher, a goldsmith and neighbor of George Washington, the coin contains 26.66 grams of gold _ slightly less than an ounce. Worth about $15 when it was minted, the gold value today would be more than $1,500.

The Brasher doubloon is considered the first American-made gold coin denominated in dollars; the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia didn't begin striking coins until the 1790s.

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