CAIRO, February 4 (RIA Novosti) - A rare U.S. double eagle gold coin that could be worth up to $15 million has been found by an Egyptian couple as they cleaned out their flat, the Qatar Ar-Raya newspaper said on Monday.

The precious piece of gold was discovered in an old box that had once belonged to Mohamed Ismail's grandfather while he and his wife, Fatima, were throwing old clothes and broken furniture out of a closet.

Mohamed subsequently sent the coin to experts, hoping that he would get a few dollars for it. However, the tailor was shocked when the experts told him that his grandfather had left him a unique coin of historical value.

Double eagle coins were first minted in 1850 and were used to settle accounts between banks and other financial institutions.

Specialists believe that the double eagle found in Egypt could be part of Theodore Roosevelt's 1933 collection of coins redesigned by famed American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens and given to King Farouk of Egypt as a present.