1732 Philip V 8 Reales is considered the most valuable of its type in the world
A 1732 Mexican Philip V 8 Reales—considered the first milled U.S. “silver dollar”—realized nearly $196,500 Cdn. ($152,750 USD), setting a world record as the most valuable coin of its type at Heritage Auctions’ World Coins & Ancient Coins Auction held Aug. 11 at the American Numismatic Association’s (ANA) World’s Fair of Money.
The coin was graded Mint State-63 by Numismatic Guaranty Corp.
The winning bid pushed the hammer price for the Pillar dollar to more than double the price similar specimens have brought at auction during the last decade. Although a few low-grade examples of this famous rarity have surfaced in recent years from shipwreck finds, well-preserved specimens remain “truly desirable and incredibly elusive,” according to auctioneers.
“We anticipated this centrepiece coin could break the record, but that didn’t dampen the thrill as the bidding got more and more intense,”said Cristiano Bierrenbach, executive vice-president of International Numismatics at Heritage Auctions. “In Choice Mint State, this certainly among the very finest known to exist.”
The Philip V 8 Reales 1732 Mo-F features a full mint bloom and handsome old patina over appealing surfaces showing only trivial evidence of handling during its 284 years; 1732 is a rare and iconic first date in the series.
The mint state example is from the Isaac Rudman Collection of Mexican Coins, Part III. The 146-piece collection of Mexican Philip V pillar coins is totally complete, with many pieces the finest of their types. Heritage offered Part I of the Rudman Collection in May 2015, as the finest groupings of colonial Mexican coins ever assembled.