LAS VEGAS — A rare, centuries-old silver dollar has been sold for $12 million.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Nevada businessman Bruce Morelan, who bought the 1794 coin for more than $10 million in 2013, recently sold the Flowing Hair Silver Dollar to Irvine, California-based auction house GreatCollections.
In a Thursday news release, GreatCollections described the silver dollar, thought to be the first made by the United States, as “the world’s most valuable silver coin.” The $12 million price is “second-highest ... ever paid for a rare coin,” behind the 1933 Saint-Gaudens Gold Double Eagle that sold for $18.9 million in 2021, the company said.
“Without question, this is America’s most coveted silver dollar, and it gave me chills closing the transaction for this piece of history,” GreatCollections President Ian Russell said in a statement. “This absolutely defines ‘museum-quality.’ In fact, aside from the unique specimen-striking, it’s substantially better than the examples in the Smithsonian and American Numismatic Association collections. The new owner is thrilled.”
Of more than 1,700 coins in the original mintage, just 140 remain in existence, the company added.