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Missing 1913 Liberty Head Nickel Found !

Started by gct-migration,

31 posts in this topic

gct-migration

gct-migration

Posted
Posted

"A million-dollar mystery was solved early Wednesday.

 

In a clandestine meeting at the Baltimore Convention Center, coin experts certified that a coin that had been kept in a closet for decades is the fifth 1913 Liberty Head nickel.

 

The American Numismatic Association brought six coin experts from around the country to meeting late Tuesday in an otherwise deserted convention center in Baltimore. They declared the coin to be authentic after comparing it to the four documented coins.

 

"It's been missing for so long," said John Dannreuther, a representative of Collectors Universe. "People would say there are only four, but we knew there were five. And there it is." -CM

 

For news articles on this coin discovery and daily news coverage on numismatics and coin collecting visit Coin Today online at http://www.CoinToday.com , the most comprehensive daily numismatic news portal and resource center on the internet today.

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William_Gibbs

William_Gibbs

Posted
Posted

Coin World just posted its coverage of the discovery and authentication of the missing, fifth specimen of the 1913 Liberty Head 5-cent coin at Coin World. It is a great story; our editor was present during the examinations of the coin and spoke with members of the family that owns it. It had been a closet for 41 years, misidentified as an "altered date" specimen after its owner, coin dealer George Walton, was killed in an automobile accident in 1962.

 

William T. Gibbs

News Editor

Coin World

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Oldtrader3

Oldtrader3

Posted
Posted

So, the Geo. Walton rumor that has been circulating for 41 years is true. What a story and a find! I hope that the Walton family gets what they deserve for the coin.

 

Did Beebe, the Omaha dealer, own all five at one time, or just the four.

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gmarguli

gmarguli

Posted
Posted

I don't want to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but this sure seems a little too clean for me. It ends up back with the family who was thought to have it. They got one opinion that it was fake, yet they believed it real for a long time and did nothing to prove this. They didn't go further to get another opinion on a $1M+ coin. They didn’t send it to NGC/PCGS/ANACS/ANA/ANAAB or other organizations that could authenticate the coin?

 

Give me a break. It's either a made-up story or they are insufficiently_thoughtful_persons.

 

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BankNote1

BankNote1

Posted
Posted

Am I the only one that finds this funny, that the coin just turns up after B&M ran their ad offering $1,000,000. There are 4 on display at the ANA Baltimore. I think I smell something here!?!? 893scratchchin-thumb.gif

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jom

jom

Posted
Posted

Give me a break. It's either a made-up story or they are insufficiently_thoughtful_persons.

 

C'mon, Greg. Admit it. You've had the coin the whole time...lol

 

jom

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gmarguli

gmarguli

Posted
Posted
Give me a break. It's either a made-up story or they are insufficiently_thoughtful_persons.

 

C'mon, Greg. Admit it. You've had the coin the whole time...lol

 

jom

 

Jom, if I had that coin I would have sold it a long time ago. I'm not a big fan of these coins and I sure wouldn't want a fantasy piece in my collection when I could sell it and buy real coins. To me this coin is no different than if someone made one dated 2003 today.

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jom

jom

Posted
Posted

C'mon! It's an American Classic....forgery. 27_laughing.gif

 

Anyway, it's funny you brought that up. When I attended the 1996 Summer ANA in Denver I was able to speak with Eric Newman about these coins. It was on a quick bus ride from the hotel to the Conv. Center. I was interested since the Eliasberg peice was going to go to sale soon and there had been a ton of articles about it (just like when Reed Hawn sold his a few years earlier...I think it was Hawn...) recently. Newman basically said there was too much attention brought to the coin because it was just a big phoney peice of metal. It was kind of funny...anyway I was able to find out finally if there actually WAS a 5th peice and he said there was....without question. He'd know...he had them.

 

I've always felt the story about these coins (like the 94-S Dime) is interesting but I'm not sure even if I had the dough whether I'd like to own one. After all, the Liberty design is butt-ugly....that doesn't help much...

 

jom

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Leothelion

Leothelion

Posted
Posted

If you can believe that some grocery clerks have never seen a Sac dollar..........it's all just too coincidental.

Hey, maybe someone can offer a million for the whereabouts of the two presentation pieces that were given to Mrs. Felix Schlag back in 1966. Claims are, they're the two rarest proof coins made in the 20th century.

 

Leo

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gmarguli

gmarguli

Posted
Posted
I've always felt the story about these coins (like the 94-S Dime) is interesting but I'm not sure even if I had the dough whether I'd like to own one. After all, the Liberty design is butt-ugly....that doesn't help much...

 

Agreed. The story itself is interesting, but it doesn't make it a million dollar coin to me. As for the 1894-S 10¢ I can believe those were struck for legitimate purposes. They have an official record. These 1913 5¢ aren't even close to being real coins. And as for the design, well, I can easily afford any of the other dates in high grade, yet I own none. 27_laughing.gif

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keithdagen

keithdagen

Posted
Posted

I love the AP quote by Paul Montgomery below:

 

A newly authenticated 1913 Liberty Head nickel, bottom, sits with the other four known coins of its type early Wednesday, July 30, 2003, in Baltimore. The American Numismatic Association brought six coin experts from around the country to meeting late Tuesday in Baltimore. They declared the coin to be authentic after comparing it to the four documented coins. The coin is one of only five in the world minted illegally 90 years ago, said Paul Montgomery, president of Bowers and Merena Galleries in Mandeville, La., a coin dealer, who offered a $1 million dollar reward for the coin.

 

Thanks for letting us know that the coin is bogus laugh.gif

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lclugza

lclugza

Posted
Posted

I think the coin is real. CU, B & M, and David Hall would be in serious trouble if they said a coin is real when they knew it was bogus.Apparently someone blundered when they said it was an altered date back in the 60's.

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coinman1794

coinman1794

Posted
Posted
I think the coin is real. CU, B & M, and David Hall would be in serious trouble if they said a coin is real when they knew it was bogus.Apparently someone blundered when they said it was an altered date back in the 60's.

 

I think Keith is refering to the fact that the coins were illegally produced, and thus, the 5 genuin 1913 nickles are all bogus 893scratchchin-thumb.gifwink.gif !

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keithdagen

keithdagen

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Posted
I think the coin is real. CU, B & M, and David Hall would be in serious trouble if they said a coin is real when they knew it was bogus.Apparently someone blundered when they said it was an altered date back in the 60's.

 

I think Keith is refering to the fact that the coins were illegally produced, and thus, the 5 genuin 1913 nickles are all bogus 893scratchchin-thumb.gifwink.gif !

 

Yes, all five coins are bogus and illegally produced. The Secret Service should go to Baltimore and confiscate all of them since they are gathered together at one convenient location. laugh.gif

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MastaHanky

MastaHanky

Posted
Posted

I don't want to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but this sure seems a little too clean for me. It ends up back with the family who was thought to have it. They got one opinion that it was fake, yet they believed it real for a long time and did nothing to prove this.

 

Eh, it sounds plausible to me.

 

I figure they had it laying around, took it to the one dealer (who thought it was a fake), and then still kept it, but didn't think anything of it. Probably threw it in the attic or somewhere. To them, it was probably one of those silly little knick-knacks or souvenirs you buy while on vacation that are useless but you never throw away.

 

Fast forward 40 years later. Several news stories about a $1 million+ coin. They remember they had that old one in the attic somewhere and think "What the hell, why not give it another try?" After all, if it's a fake, they still haven't lost anything. As it turns out, it just didn't happen to be fake this time.

 

I'm sure hundreds of other dealers have had the same experience, except with a non-authentic piece.

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291fifth

291fifth

Posted
Posted

I saw pictures of the coin in it's holder on last night's news. It resides in what appears to be a late 1950's or very early 1960's custom made lucite holder. The holder is clearly inscribed as to what the coin is and also has Walton's name. I am waiting to read the detailed accounts of the introduction of this coin to the public before making any other judgements.

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reid1836

reid1836

Posted
Posted

Modern technology! Isn`t it great? Computers, robotics, lasers, ect....

I wonder when the rest of the 94-S Barber dimes will be discovered. Or, perhaps a few new 1804 dollars. There are plenty of those that have been deemed altered dates. Hmmm, what better way to turn up the heat on an already hot market. Than to publicize the discovery of an extremely rare coin thats worth millions.

I predict a leap in price guides for the liberty nickel series, particularly those coins deemed key dates.

Just look what happened to the series after the announcement of the reward. I`ll also wager that the 1913 goes up for sale on the auction block immediately with a sale date almost a year or so away to allow for price increases in the series.

Dealers will advertise prices that will far excede book values for key dates.

E-bay will be flooded with Liberty nickels. The media will be saturated with the story.

My final prediction is that grandpa`s and grandma`s across the nation will be checking those shoe boxes, cigar boxes and dresser drawers to look over what they might have. Then they will seek out dealers who will offer to buy, but only at below wholesale prices.

By the way have read the articles about how much trouble dealers are having replenishing their inventories?

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gmarguli

gmarguli

Posted
Posted
Incidentally, hi William, welcome to the boards! smile.gif

 

893offtopic1.gif

 

He's been here before. It's like his 3rd ID here. You just deleted his other IDs. grin.gif

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lclugza

lclugza

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If all the 1913 Liberty nickel are considered bogus, then so can most (if not all) of the 1804 dollars, many Proof coins of the 1850s-1870s, and so forth.

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gmarguli

gmarguli

Posted
Posted
If all the 1913 Liberty nickel are considered bogus, then so can most (if not all) of the 1804 dollars, many Proof coins of the 1850s-1870s, and so forth.

 

Not really. The 1913 5¢ were created by a mint employee illegally in order to make some extra money. The 1804 $1 were created legally to give to certain important people. They were then restruck illegally for sale to the public or a select few public. I believe the Type-1 are legally struck, while the Type-2 and Type-3 are illegally struck. The proofs of the era you mention were made legally and sold to the public in large quantities.

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  • Administrator
Architecht

Architecht

Posted
  • Administrator
Posted

Are you saying that he's actually KingKoin, King of Koins, master of the coins of bodily functions???!

 

893whatthe.gif893whatthe.gif893whatthe.gif

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gmarguli

gmarguli

Posted
Posted
Are you saying that he's actually KingKoin, King of Koins, master of the coins of bodily functions???!

 

893whatthe.gif893whatthe.gif893whatthe.gif

 

shocked.gifshocked.gifshocked.gif No! I was just saying that he comes here so infrequently to promote his mag that in between you've deleted his IDs.

 

I would never think that William T. Gibbs is the same as KingKoin. I actually have a little respect for KingKoin. shocked.gif

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McKinley-migration

McKinley-migration

Posted
Posted

what do you mean... the aluminum cent?

 

and i never realized that the 5th '13 was only discovered 2 years ago, after being 'missing' since the 60's... and even then it was just in a 2x2 labeled 'altered date' - i guess i should read up

 

 

p.s... i came across an old v nickel coin board made in '38... population for the '13 it says was 6 back then....... ? i've never heard of there being 6, that thing's just wrong aint it....

 

cool coin cool story and i guess technically it's illegal to own it.. last transaction was for 4.5 million.... collect all 5!!

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Morgannut

Morgannut

Posted
Posted

Sorry McKinley--While you may not approve, all US mint made coins are legal to own, spend, or sell per the Coinage Act of 1965. The last person to collect five I believe was Col. Green, the son of Hetty Green--the "witch of wallstreet"--

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