Is There a Sixth Specimen of the 1913 Liberty Nickel?

[WoodenJefferson]

This is the first time I ever read about or heard of this so-called custom coin case for the 1913 Liberty Nickels. This brings questions to my mind as does the title to this article.

 

Is There a Sixth Specimen of the 1913 Liberty Nickel?

 

According to the December 1953 issue of The Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine, an early owner of the entire set of 1913 Liberty Head specimens had a special plush leatherbound case made for them -- with six coin holes in it! At the time the coins were shown (after this owner's death, and while still in the special case,) one of the coin slots had been filled by a bronze cast of the 1913 Buffalo Nickel. Coupled with the fact of this 6-hole case, we have early attempts by various interested parties to give a provenance for each specimen, and six specimens show up on these lists.

 

Of course, while many people explain away the 6-hole coin case as meaningless, and those who compiled early provenance lists for the 1913 Liberty Nickel got lots of facts wrong and sometimes listed owners (or coins) twice, there is one more intriguing bit of lore that points to the very real possiblity of a sixth specimen.

 

Questions: Who was the early owner of the entire set and does a sixth specimen exist?

 

Link to entire article in About:coin

[RWB]

Eric P Newman, who owns the case and the copper "nickel" (which is not an electro) and was involved in early transactions with the coins has debunked this old tale many times. Check in Coin World or some of the recent auction catalogs, or even this or other message boards.

[jom]

Eric P Newman, who owns the case and the copper "nickel" (which is not an electro) and was involved in early transactions with the coins has debunked this old tale many times. Check in Coin World or some of the recent auction catalogs, or even this or other message boards.

 

I didn't know EPN owned the bronze Buffalo but you did forget to mention (and more importantly) he owned all 5 of the Libs at one point along with the case and Buff.

 

jom

[DWLange]

Eric has the original case for these coins, and it has eight slots. These were for the five 1913 Liberty Nickels, one each of the proof 1913 T1 Buffalo Nickels with and without Fraser's initial F, and, finally, the bronze 1913 T2 nickel.

 

He showed me the last piece at the Chicago ANA convention in 1999, and it was photographed for my Buffalo Nickel book. Aside from its composition, this coin is quite ordinary looking. It isn't a proof, it's toned to a deep reddish-brown, and the dies show slight erosion typical of those used for circulating coins.

[WoodenJefferson]

WOW...thanks Mr. Lange, that does clear a few things up. Takes away from some of the mystique from this enigmatic coin.

 

Thank you RWB and jom for additional information.