Have you ever wondered what the largest coin in production is? Wait, are we talking about the most valuable coin or the largest physical coin? And is this regarding domestic production of coins or worldwide production?
Let’s cover both.
The Largest U.S. Coin by Size
The largest physical coin produced by the U.S. Mint is the Apollo 11 50th Anniversary 5 ounce silver Proof coin. It weighs 155.517 grams with a diameter of 76.2 mm (3 inches) and an overall height of 0.441 inches.
Joseph Menna was the medallic artist who sculpted the obverse design that Gary Cooper crafted for this coin and Phebe Hemphill sculpted the reverse.
Other coins issued for the Apollo 11 50th Anniversary included:
- A $5 curved gold coin
- A curved $1 silver coin
- A curved half dollar clad coin
The Largest U.S. Coin by Face Value
The U.S. coin with the highest face value is the Platinum American Eagle with a face value of $100.
The Largest Coins Around the Globe
Internationally speaking the largest coin produced by the The Royal Mint was made to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. This was a 15 kilogram gold round commissioned by a collector in the United Kingdom to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation.
The Perth Mint in Australia produced the largest legal tender coin in February of 2012. The ‘1 Tonne Australian Kangaroo’ has a $1 million AUS face value and weighs 1,012 kilograms with a diameter of 80 centimeters or 31.5 inches.
The Royal Canadian Mint produced a Big Maple Leaf with a face value of $1 Million Canadian in 2007 to demonstrate the technical capability of the Mint and its craft. The Big Maple Leaf weighs more than 100 kilograms and has 3,215 troy ounces of .99999 fine gold.
The People’s Republic of China produced a 10 kilogram gold Panda in 1991. The Giant Gold Panda has 3221.5 ounces of gold and has a face value of 500 Yuan. The Chinese Gold Panda was the third gold bullion coin produced after the gold Krugerrand and the gold Maple Leaf.
The Largest Ancient Coins
The largest coins ever made were the rai stones. Rei stones were also called fei stones and are treasured by residents of the Yap islands where they were quarried until the 20th century.
Rai stones were made from limestone and carved down to a large disk with a hole in the center. Imagine a compact disc made from limestone that is taller than you are. The largest rai stone is 12 feet in diameter and weighs more than 8,800 pounds.
The rai stones were too large to circulate, or even move from home to home. To track ownership of the rai stones, which are also known as Yapese stone money, the history of the stone’s ownership was recorded in an oral history.
The rai stones were used in important transactions like marriage, inheritances, signs of alliance, ransom of those slain in battle, and occasionally used to buy food.
