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Steven L. Contursi's coin is insured for $7 million for the five-day public display at the World's Fair of Money, Aug. 5 - 9.
More than 10,000 visitors are expected to see the one-of-a-kind gold piece, described as "the single most important coin in American numismatics," according to an industry publication. Contursi, president of Dana Point's Rare Coin Wholesalers, acquired the coin in 2005. Besides its rarity, he says the coin is historically significant by representing "the beginnings of our economic system."
He also will exhibit what many numismatic experts believe is the very first silver dollar struck by the United States Mint in 1794. It is insured for $10 million.
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The Brasher Doubloon was struck in 1787 by George Washington's Manhattan neighbor, silversmith and well-known political figure of the day, Ephraim Brasher. Only seven Brasher Doubloons of this type survive today, and this specimen is unique. It is the only one with the designer's initials, "EB," punched across the breast of an eagle depicted on the coin. The six other surviving examples have the initials on the eagle's right wing.
The unique Brasher Doubloon was kept in Baltimore for nearly 100 years when it was owned by Baltimore & Ohio Railroad magnate T. Harrison Garrett and his family, and later by The Johns Hopkins University. The coin was the subject of a 1942 Raymond Chandler novel, "The High Window," and a subsequent 1947 movie, "The Brasher Doubloon," based on Chandler's story about fictional detective Philip Marlowe.