World's largest gold coin auctioned for $4.03 mn

The world’s largest gold coin ‘Maple Leaf 2007’ was sold at an auction for $4.03 million on Friday. Spanish precious metals trading company Oro Direct bought the 100-kilogram Canadian coin, which has a face value of Canadian $1 million.

Measuring 53 centimetres in diameter and with a purity of 99.999 per cent, it is listed in the current edition of the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s biggest gold coin. The front side of the coin displays Queen Elisabeth II and the reverse shows three maple leaves, the national symbol for Canada. There are five Maple Leaf 2007 coins worldwide. One is owned by Queen Elisabeth II, two belong to unidentified investors in Dubai and the whereabouts of the fifth is unknown.

 

The former owner, the Austrian investment group AvW Invest, which filed for insolvency earlier this year, ordered the auction in the Vienna-based Dorotheum, which is central Europe’s largest auction house.