a rare prototype of the first american penny was sold for $1175million at an auction in baltimore, maryland the pricey penny, which dates from 1792, is one of only seven birch pennies which are known to exist the deal went down late thursday and it was one of the highlights of a two day sale of rare us coins, medals and paper money the 1792 birch cent   one of only seven known to exist   sold for $1175million at an auction in baltimore  the deal closed thursday during the whitman coin & collectibles expo at the baltimore convention center  stack's bowers galleries of irvine, california, organized the auction during the whitman coin & collectibles expo at the baltimore convention center the $1175 million price tag included the buyer's premium the auction catalog read: 'the birch cent is, simply, the first of a cultural phenomenon that is known the world over   it is the first american cent' vicken yegparian of stack's bowers said he was happy with the sale price, the baltimore sun reported yegparian said: 'it's not every day you sell a million dollar rarity 'the primary motivation is a love of history, a love of the beauty and the lore of the coin 'in the top tier pieces, some of it is just bragging rights: ''i have something you don't'' the auction catalog read: 'the birch cent is, simply, the first of a cultural phenomenon that is known the world over   it is the first american cent' stack's bowers galleries of irvine, california, organized the auction and they was happy with the sale price  the buyer was not identified, but the coin   which was engraved the year congress created the us mint, and nine years after the american revolutionary war   was the second birch penny to be sold this year the man who ended up with the coin said he was from texas the first was snapped up by a beverly hills rare coin dealer in january for $2585million at an auction in florida kevin lipton, 55, had the winning bid for that penny he said: 'it's like our very first penny 'it's such a spectacular coin it's so important, so rare 'they are literally mona lisas of our coinage' the coin lipton bought was previously sold in 1981 for $200,000 named for engraver robert birch, the penny sold on thursday depicts lady liberty encircled by the words 'liberty parent of science and industry' the flip side is engraved with 'united states of america,' 'one cent,' and the fraction 1/100
whitman coin & collectibles expo january baltimore birch penny texas second birch pennies thursday maryland 2585million earlier this year
anonymous man from texas bought pricey coin in maryland on thursday  birch penny sold during whitman coin & collectibles expo in baltimore  the rare coin is one of only seven birch pennies which are known to exist  second 1792 birch penny sold earlier this year in january for $2585million 