1787 1/2 Doubloon Brasher MS

The unique Brasher half-doubloon was discovered in a group of coins found in 1928. It was eventually purchased by dealer David Prosky and is now permanently impounded at the Smithsonian Institution. It weighs 8-1/2 pennyweights and would have circulated as a $7-1/2 piece in New York City in the mid-to-late 1780’s.

Obverse: E.B punched on a heraldic eagle’s wing, surrounded by a wreath inside the inscription D UNUM D E D PLURIBUS D 1787

Reverse: The sun rising over a mountain and the sea, with the inscription BRASHER below, all surrounded by beads within the inscription D NOVA D EBORACA D COLUMBIA D EXCELSIOR D