By Denis Balibouse and Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA (Reuters) -A large gold coin minted in 1609 for Spain’s King Philip III could break records to become the most valuable coin in Europe at a sale in Switzerland on Monday.

The unique 339-gram piece has a starting price of 2 million Swiss francs ($2.48 million), the Geneva-based Numismatica Genevensis SA auction house said.

“This coin will certainly break the record of the most expensive European coin of all time,” its director Frank Baldacci told Reuters.

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 the largest in mode

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