[Source: Reuters]

A large gold coin minted in 1609 for Spain’s King Philip III broke records to become the most valuable modern European gold coin at a sale ​in Switzerland.

The unique 339-gram piece sold for 2,817,500 Swiss francs ($3.49 million).

​It had a starting price of 2 million Swiss francs, the Geneva-based ⁠Numismatica Genevensis SA auction house said.

That made it the most expensive European gold coin ever ​sold not struck in antiquity, a period the auction house regards as ending with the ​476 fall of the Western Roman Empire and also covering the ancient Greeks, Celts and Byzantine Empire.

The Centen, or 100 escudos in a former Spanish currency, was made in the central Spanish city of Segovia ​out of gold brought from conquerors who went to the Americas or “New World”.

It was made ​as a show of regal wealth and power, equalling many years’ salary, and is among the largest in ⁠modern European history, auction house founder Alain Baron said.

Lost for several centuries, it turned up in the United States around 1950 where a New York collector bought it before selling it to a Spanish buyer a decade later.

It was later auctioned to another collector, whose ​identity is not public.

“It ​was truly a ⁠royal gift, a regal gift for other kings or queens,” Baron said.

“The next owner will in some way have the possibility to be ​equal to a king since it is a king who gave ​it to ⁠another king.”

There was interest from buyers in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East looking for a “trophy asset,” as well as institutions, the auction house said.

The previous record price for a modern ⁠European ​gold coin was fetched by a 100-ducat piece that ​once belonged to Ferdinand III of Habsburg that sold for 2.39 million Swiss francs, Numismatica Genevensis SA director Frank ​Baldacci said.