Rare Israeli 1 Agorot Coin Sells for Over $100,000
Translated & summarized from Calcalist by baba
A rare Israeli 1 Agorot coin from 1960 sold for over $100,000 after buyer's premium at an Ira & Larry Goldberg auction. Only about ten of these experimental coins, featuring a specific grain count on the ears of wheat, are known to exist. This sale far surpasses the $6,000 price of a similar coin twenty years ago. The coin is distinct from other rare 1 Agorot coins with a similar date but lower value.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- A rare 1960 Israeli 1 Agorot coin sold for over $100,000 including fees.
- Only about ten of these experimental 1 Agorot coins are known to exist.
- The coin's final price was approximately $33,700, or 104,000 shekels.
- The coin features a specific design variation on its ears of wheat.
- A similar coin sold for $6,000 twenty years ago, highlighting the price increase.
A rare Israeli 1 Agorot coin from 1960 (5760) has sold for a record-breaking $27,500 at a public auction held by Ira & Larry Goldberg. Including the buyer's premium of 22.5%, the final cost for the coin reached approximately $33,700, which equates to about 104,000 Israeli shekels. This particular coin is an experimental version of the 1 Agorot coin. Only about ten such coins are known to exist. The standard 1 Agorot coin from that era features three ears of wheat, each with eight grains, except for the left ear, which was intended to have ten grains according to the Bank of Israel's design committee. This detail resulted in only a few coins being minted with eight grains on all three ears. For comparison, a similar coin sold for around $6,000 about twenty years ago. The article distinguishes this highly rare coin from another rare 1 Agorot coin dated 5760, which has a larger date inscription. While also rare, hundreds of these exist and are valued significantly lower, selling for about $500 in February 2023. Regular 1 Agorot coins from that period, of which approximately 13 million were minted, are sold by weight for about 15 shekels per kilogram.