Many Revolutionary War heroes were honored with gold medals by the Continental Congress after the war, and one such medal has just broken a record at an auction house after being lost for more than 200 years.

Sold on the 4th of April at Stack's Bowers auction house for $960,000—it's a stunning end to a saga of hands-changing going back to the founding of the U.S.A.

General Daniel Morgan was awarded the Comitia Americana, a special one-off series of military accolades for his victory at the Battle of Cowpens, one of several turning points in the war. The series contained 133 medals, but Morgan's is considered the most visually stunning, as it depicts him riding into battle on horseback amid explosions.

After he died in 1802, Morgan's grandson secured the medal in a Pittsburgh bank vault, only to see it stolen by burglars in 1818.

Congress agreed to strike a replacement medal and presented it to Morgan's great-grandson in 1841, which the auction house reports makes it the only gold medal ordered to be struck by two separate acts of Congress.

Around 1885, financier J.P. Morgan offered to buy the medal, believing himself related to Daniel Morgan, and following the closure of the sale experts believed it would never be seen again.

But testament to gold's permanence, the medal resurfaced when someone put it up for auction at Stack's Bowers, an auctioneer that specializes in coins, medals, and other currencies/tokens.

Struck from newly-made dies from Paris that were based on the original that struck the first medal in 1789, it is truly one of a kind—and unmistakable according to examinations. It even arrived at the auctioneer in its original red leather U.S. mint case, with crushed purple velvet inside.

In five minutes, the price went from $300,000 to $800,000, which after figuring in a 20% buyer's fee, makes it the most expensive price ever paid for a U.S. military medal at auction. The auction house stated that the anonymous buyer is a safe and good home for the American treasure.

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