Owning the most expensive U.S. coin must be a numismatic dream for those coin collectors who prize the rarest and most coveted collectibles. The 1933 Double Eagle is the only official example of the 1933 gold coin that is considered legal to own in the eyes of the United States government. Other examples of 1933 Double Eagles have been found, but were surrounded by legal controversy.

A June 2021 auction from Sotheby’s featured the gold 1933 Double Eagle and the auction should turn some heads in the numismatic world and in the collectibles world. This particular coin was owned by fashion mogul Stuart Weitzman, and Sotheby’s had issued a $10 million to $15 million range ahead of the auction.

Some auctioneers do not like to see gavel prices at the bottom of their range, let alone when a gavel price comes in under their range. That was not a problem at all for this particular sale. With no disputes in the eyes of the government, an anonymous bidder stepped up and paid a sum of $18,872,250.00 to win the auction.

With a price of more than $3.8 million above the high-end of the Sotheby’s estimate range, it was high enough that it should have more than made up for two shortfalls in the other one-of-a-kind auctions. The Inverted Jenny auction was a tad short, but the the most valuable stamp called the British Guiana 1c Magenta might have been a larger disappointment had this notorious gold coin sale not saved the day.

Anyone who has participated in live high-end auctions understands that there can be risks and not having floors and limits to a sale can be costly. That said, the overall outcome for the auction totals would be considered a win for ultra-rare coin collectors. It might also be a disappointment to ultra-rare and unique stamp collectors, but these were truly unique items and such high price tags do not always entice buyers as much as sellers may have hoped.