Rare coin may fetch $5 mn at New York auction

NEW YORK: A rare 1794 Silver Dollar - one of the few remaining from America's very first batch of dollars - is expected to fetch up to a whopping $5 million at an auction here.

The 1794 Silver Dollar was a forgotten keepsake of an English lord that languished for 170 years in a cabinet.

It is among the only 150 coins of its kind known to exist, and it is one of the three best preserved, 'CNN Money' reported.

The finest known specimen of the 1794 Silver Dollar shattered the world record for a coin sale in 2013 when it fetched $10 million at auction.

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John Kraljevich, a consultant for the auction house Stack's Bowers which is handling the sale on September 30 in New York City, said the coin's historical significance has collectors craving it.

"The whole idea for the dollar begins with this coin," Kraljevich said.

The coin is owned by real-estate developer Mack Pogue and his son, Brent, in Dallas. They will also sell the rest of their assortment of historic coins - which is considered the most valuable privately held collection in the world - at the auction.

Their slate of 681 coins is worth an estimated $200 million.