In the News: Recently Discovered 1776 Continental Dollar Now Certified by NGC and Headed to Auction

Occasionally, examples of rare coins that have dropped off the radar of the numismatic community are re-discovered and made available to the public again. That is the case with a large collection that was recently brought into a British auction house to be sold.

According to CBS News, a client took a large collection of coins to Wotton Auction Rooms in Gloucestershire, England. The auction house sifted through hundreds of coins that were brought in by the client in an old toffee tin, pulling out some of the rarer ones to have them authenticated and graded. Wotton entrusted the coins to Numismatic Guaranty Company® (NGC®), which certified a rare 1776 Pewter Continental Dollar as authentic and assigned it the grade of NGC AU 58.

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At first, the unassuming coin found at the bottom of the tin didn't stick out to the auctioneers. Upon further inspection, they believed it might be a reproduction, even though the rest of the coins in the tin appeared to be genuine. After sending the coin to NGC, the results confirmed that the Continental Dollar that was struck with the birth year of America was in fact an authentic example of the famous coin.

The coins are struck in various compositions, including the rarer silver, and they are seen with slight variations in design, such as the inclusion of EG FECIT above the date on the obverse. In 2015, a silver version set an auction record when it realized more than $1.5 million.

While it might not be as rare as a silver version of the coin, the pewter example is still very desirable and highly coveted by US coin collectors. As one of the earliest numismatic collectibles dating to the birth of our nation, the coin is expected to drive spirited bidding during its October 3 sale. Wotton Auction Rooms is setting an estimate of between about $26,000 and $39,000, according to CBS News.

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