Oldest Coin In The World
Money is something that we use to quantify the value of something. Each note or coin has a face value which is clearly shown, and this is the global system that is applied so that people can exchange money for products in the purchasing process. However, there are some coins that become significantly more valuable than their face value denotes. This is usually because they are extremely rare or very old. They may have been part of a limited production of a particular coin or be one of only a few remaining examples of a coin from a specific era in history. If this is the case, the coin becomes highly collectible and collectors are willing to pay huge sums of money to own the rare coins. Here are five of the most valuable coins that have been sold at auction and it may surprise you to learn how much someone was willing to pay to own such a small metallic object.
5. Edward III Florin 1343 – $6.8 Million
It is the age of this coin that makes it as valuable as it is and is why someone was willing to pay $6.8 million for one at auction. When you consider that this coin has been around for more than 670 years, it is a wonder that any have survived. Just think about how many coins are lost from circulation over the years because people have dropped them down the drain or lost them down the back of the sofa. There are now only three known examples of an Edward III florin in existence. Therefore, it is one of the rarest of all the coins in the world.
4. The Brasher Doubloon 1787 – $7.4 Million
In August, Austin Rare Coins and Bullion (ACBI) announced that it finalized the sale of one of the rarest and oldest gold coins in the world to a private collector. The coin in question was minted circa 650-600 BCE in the country of Ionia – which is now modern-day Turkey. Among the earliest coins to be made purely from silver and gold were the silver Dirham and gold Dinar in the Umayyad Caliphate from the 7th century. Silver and gold coins are the most common and universally recognized throughout history, even today.
A Wall Street investment firm paid $7.4 million for a Brasher doubloon at auction. The coin was designed by Ephraim Brasher, who was a talented goldsmith. He wanted New York State to start minting coins using his design in copper. However, the state disagreed and said that they did not want coins made from copper. Brasher went ahead with his design anyway but minted most of the coins in bronze. He made just a few of 22-carat gold and it is these that are now so valuable.
3. The Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle 1907 – $7.6 Million
This is another coin that has sold at auction for $7.6 million. The coin was originally designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Unfortunately, this design was extremely complicated and it posed a problem as to how the United States Mint could produce such a coin. To simplify the design for commercial production, the Mint’s chief engraver, Charles Barber, decided to make some modifications to the original design. He removed the phrase ‘In God We Trust’ from the design of the coin. Congress were not pleased with this modification so, although it was produced, only a limited number were made. For this reason, the coin is now extremely rare and valuable.
2. The Double Eagle 1933 – $7.6 Million
This coin has become so valuable because of a circumstantial quirk. This gold coin was pressed in 1933. However, the coin was never released into circulation. This was because President Franklin D. Roosevelt had banned everyone from owning gold in the same year. He did this as part of an attempt to bring the banking crisis to an end as the country’s financial situation was causing devastating problems in the United States at that time. Despite them never being officially released, twenty of these coins slipped through the net and these coins now have a staggering value.
1. The Flowing Hair Silver/ Copper Dollar 1794/5 – $10 million
If only every dollar in your pocket was worth $10 million. Unfortunately, there is just one dollar in the world that has achieved this value at auction. You are probably wondering what makes this dollar so special compared to the dollars that are currently in circulation. Well, the highest valued dollar of all-time was the first dollar ever issued by the United States Federal Government. The coin dates back to either 1974 or 1975 and is made of 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper. When this coin was minted, it was the first issued after the Federal Mint was founded. It is famous for depicting an image of Liberty with her flowing tresses. One of these coins was sold for $10 million in January 2013.
The British Pound
The British Pound also called ‘pound’, ‘sterling’, or ‘pound sterling’ is the official currency for all payments in the United Kingdom and few other territories. Its international abbreviation is “GBP”, which comes from Great British pound and its currency sign is (£). The symbol derives from the Latin word “libra”, which meaning is “pound”. One pound is equal to 100 pence ( p ) since the “decimalization” in 1971.
The British pound is the oldest currency in the world
The British pound is the oldest currency (fiat currency) in the world, and it’s still widely used today. Its existence began in the late 8th century. It participates in more than 12 % of all transactions on the foreign exchange market (FOREX). This makes the currency the fourth most used in the world after US dollar, the Euro and the Japanese yen. Because of its common use, the sterling is used as a reserve currency by many countries in the world. It’s the third most use currency for this purpose, after the Euro and US dollar.
The UK is among the last of Western Europe’s major countries that have not adopted the Euro (EUR) – the currency of the European Union (EU). Therefore, the pound is the legal tender for all payments in the United Kingdom. That means that a debtor could not be successfully sued if she/he had paid in legal tender. This doesn’t mean that this is the only currency used for payments, but this is the currency in which a payment cannot be refused by any kind of creditor or the government in the UK.
British Pound Value And Exchange Rates
The British pound is a freely traded currency, and its currency rate fluctuates, depending on the supply and demand of pounds, which themselves are determined by many other macroeconomic and political factors.
The Pound Sterling And Fiat Money
Oldest Coin Ever Found
The value of the pound is backed by the government, no gold stays behind it. This means that the pound has a value just because the authorities say so. There is a law which defines the pound as “legal tender” and only this makes the little-colored sheets of paper valuable. Previously, the pound was backed by gold during the period of the Bretton Woods agreement, according to which the sterling was pegged to the US dollar, and the dollar was pegged to the gold. Therefore for a certain amount of pound, a certain amount of gold could be redeemed. This system took apart in 1971 and since then the value of the pound is free floating.
The issue of the physical pounds (banknotes and coins) is handled by the Bank Of England which is also referred as “The Central Bank”. Also, 7 other banks in the UK have the right to print their banknotes.
Oldest Coin In The World Price
