Brasher Doubloon

1787 Brasher Doubloon, struck in New York by Ephraim Brasher. Before there was a United States Mint, Brasher, a New York goldsmith and assayer who counted George Washington as a neighbor and customer, made gold coins worth about $15 in their day. The obverse, at right, shows the sun rising over mountains and water inside NOVA EBORACA COLUMBIA EXCELSIOR. The reverse has an eagle with a shield on its breast, arrows, an olive branch and 13 stars, with UNUM E PLURIBUS around it. Seven New York-style doubloons survive. Find Brasher's oval EB hallmark: six carry it on the eagle's wing, as this one does, and only one on the breast.