First US Cent Auctioned For $1.2m

One of the first pennies ever minted in the US never thought that it would become a millionaire. Well, it did.

Last Thursday, in Baltimore, the penny , 223 years old, was sold at $1.2m in an auction.

The 1792 Birch cent is among just a dozen such coins. The numismatists thought the penny would fetch "north of" $750,000. But though it was sold at a higher rate than that, an expert at the Stack's Bowers auction house, wrote that the rate should "reflect the beauty and rarity of this lovely - and important - 1792 Birch cent", according to guardian.

"Going once, looking for $1.1 million," cried auctioneer Melissa Karstedt, at the Baltimore Convention Center during the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Expo. "Going twice, any advance on $1 million? Last call. ... Sold for $1 million to bidder 280," according to baltimoresun. 

The winner said he was a Texan, but refused to reveal his name. He was a balding man in glasses, wearing a dark blue shirt and jeans.

While the coin was double the size of a modern penny, according to experts interviewed by Good Day Baltimore, it showed a portrait of "Miss Liberty", a woman with flowing hair, with the words "Liberty, Parent of Science & Industry".

The coin was minted even before some of the first large-scale runs of coins by the US Mint, which had been set up in 1792.

"The 1792 Birch cent is considered the first example of the denomination in American numismatics," wrote Frank Van Valen, a numismatist who has written 'A Guide Book of United States Coins: The Official Red Book.'

This penny had never been sold at an auction since 1959. Stack's Bowers declined to release the winning bidder's name, according to money.cnn.com.

"The history of the piece includes correspondence between Thomas Jefferson and George Washington as well as mint activities before the mint buildings were finished in late 1792," wrote Van Valen. The penny is thought to have been made around the same time as the 1792 half disme from Martha Washington's melted silver.

The million-dollar penny will not be the only coin news this year, but early American coins called the Pogue Collection will be auctioned in May. It is thought to be the finest set of early American coins today, and can be sold for a price that exceeds nine figures.

A Beverly Hills man paid $2.5m for another Birch cent in January.