Rare nickel sells for $4.5 million at auction

A rare nickel has sold for $4.5 million at a Philadelphia auction.

Stack's Bowers Galleries sold the Eliasberg 1913 Liberty Head nickel Wednesday night during the American Numismatic Association's World's Fair of Money at the Philadelphia Convention Center.

It is named for financier Louis E. Eliasberg, who bought the coin in 1948 and amassed one of the greatest coin collections in U.S. history. The Eliasberg 1913 Liberty Head nickel is one of only five ever produced and is considered the finest-graded example of its kind.

Stack's Bowers Galleries president Brian Kendrella says the new owner "now possesses one of the rarest, most valuable United States coins" and one of only three examples in private hands.

The buyer's name was not disclosed.

The fair continues through Saturday.