You’ve probably heard of antique coins dating back to the early 1900s selling for millions of dollars, but what about coins dating back to the early 2000s? It’s no fiction, as Canada unveiled the world’s largest and most expensive new coin in 2007.
This coin, featuring Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse and a set of three quintessentially Canadian maple leaves on the reverse, is a 220 lb behemoth of 99.999% pure gold. The massive coin is 21 inches in diameter and 1.2 inches thick. It has a face value of C$1 million (around US $977,000), although the current price of gold would place it closer to C$4 million in 2010 and even in 2007 the gold used would’ve been worth more than C$2 million. Even so, it’s the highest denomination to ever grace a coin.
The coin was originally created to promote the Royal Canadian Mint’s new one-ounce gold bullion coins. On June 25th, 2010, the world’s most expensive gold coin will be auctioned in Vienna.
