CoinCollecting

Rare Nickel Could Fetch $3 Million

Filed under: Auctions

The rare U.S. nickel above has quite the interesting story. The 1913 Liberty Head nickel is one of only five known of that specific date and design. The coin, which was owned by King Farouk of Egypt was seen by viewers in an episode of 'Hawaii Five-O,' entitled 'The $100,000 Nickel' in 1973. In 1978 Los Angeles Lakers owner, Dr. Jerry Buss, paid $200,000 for the coin and it has changed hands several times since then, jumping in value each time.

The nickel will be auctioned off by Heritage Auctions at a coin collectors event in Orlando, Florida on January 6, 2010. It is expected to sell for $3 million or more. The coin is rare because while the U.S. Mint struck tens of millions of Liberty Head nickels from 1883 through 1912, it switched designs in 1913 to depict a Native American on the "head's" side and a bison on the "tail's" side. But five nickels with the new date, 1913, but the old Liberty design were secretly made at the Philadelphia Mint and eventually sold to collectors. One of the coins is in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC; another belongs to the American Numismatic Association (ANA) Money Museum in Colorado Springs, Colorado; and the three others, including the coin in the January auction, are privately owned by collections.

UPDATE: This coin sold for $3,737,500 at auction. The winning bid is according to Heritage Auctions "a very advanced East Coast coin collector" who had wanted this rare piece to round out his collection.

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Numismatist Groups Warn Of Counterfeit Coins From China

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

We hear about a lot of counterfeit items from China but this one has coin collectors on alert. Five coin-collecting organizations have banded together to issue a warning. The American Numismatic Association, the Industry Council for Tangible Assets, Numismatic Guaranty Corporation , Professional Coin Grading Service and the Professional Numismatists Guild say that Chinese-made counterfeit coins pose a significant financial threat to unsuspecting consumers. They believe that the public is spending millions of dollars on fake U.S. coins offered in online auctions and offline in places like flea markets and swap meets.

These types of copies are illegal to resell. The U.S. Hobby Protection Act, first enacted in 1973 requires manufacturers and importers of imitation numismatic items to mark them plainly and permanently with the word, "COPY" in accordance with the Code of Federal Regulations. Many of the replica items do not bear these markings. Thousands of coins described as "copy" or "replica" are listed for sale in online auctions every day often using images of the genuine coins. More than a million of these coins may have already been sold in the U.S.

The groups say that customers should not purchase any "replica" coins because they may be in violation of federal law and that they should be very careful about who they buy from. "Even during the recession, the United States rare coin market remains vibrant and active with an estimated $5 billion in annual sales. We urge collectors and investors to become knowledgeable and use common sense when buying," says Steven R. Eichenbaum, Numismatic Guaranty Corporation Chief Executive Officer.

For a copy of the booklet, What You Should Know Before You Buy Rare Coins, send $1 to the Professional Numismatists Guild, 3950 Concordia Lane, Fallbrook, CA 92028.

Gallery: Counterfeit Coins

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Obama Coins Are Not An Investment

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

No sooner was the election over than floods of Obama commemorative coins started to be advertised. Just in case you were thinking that these coins might be a smart investment, the Professional Numismatists Guild, a non-profit organization composed of the nation's top rare coin dealers, is advising consumers that the coins honoring President-elect Barack Obama are not now nor will be later an investment deal. They caution that the coins should be considered only as souvenirs. In other words, buy them because you like them, not because you think they might be worth something later.

"All of the items we've seen offered so far on television and online are merely political mementos that certainly may be enjoyable as a keepsake, but typically will have little or no re-sale value later in the mainstream numismatic market," said Gary Adkins of Edina, Minnesota, Professional Numismatists Guild President. He warns that some of the Obama coins are layered or plated with a very thin layer of gold and that there is usually very little bullion value on plated pieces. For more info on what not to buy when it comes to coin collecting, check out the PNG website.

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Tags: coin collecting, CoinCollecting, coins, numismatics, obama