THE WORLD’S MOST expensive gold coin ever to come to auction will go on display in Dublin next month.
The 1933 Double Eagle is a legend in coin collection circles and will be displayed at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin on Tuesday 6 and Wednesday 7 March 2012.
In 2002, a 1933 Double Eagle sold for $7.59 million, making it the most expensive gold coin in the world to come to auction.
The coin that will be on display in Dublin is one of just two 1933 Double Eagles saved by the US Mint and given to the Smithsonian Institution in 1933.
The exhibition is part of a European tour that takes in seven countries, arranged by the Samlerhuset Group, parent company of the Dublin Mint Office, in conjunction with the National Museum of American History, part of the US Smithsonian Institution.
This is also the first time that the Smithsonian Institution has sent an object from its collection on tour in Europe, as opposed to lending items to institutions for display.
Nearly half a million of these twenty-dollar gold coins were originally minted in 1933 in the midst of the Great Depression – but only 13 are known today.
The rest were melted down before they ever left the United States Mint, as part of a strategy to remove the United States from the gold standard and stabilise the American economy.
Only one coin is legally held in private hands – all other known or unknown 1933 Double Eagles remain the property of the US government.
The 1933 Double Eagle will be displayed alongside a collection of other notable US coins, including the 1907 high relief $20 gold coin; the Capped Bust to left $5 gold coin (1807-1812) and the Liberty gold $20 coin (1849-1866).
The exhibition will be open to the general public – with free admission – at the Baroque Chapel, The Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), Military Road, Kilmainham, between 12pm and 8pm on Tuesday 6 March, and 10am and 4pm on Wednesday 7 March.
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