Among the most fabulous legitimate rarities is the 1804 Silver Dollar, of which (in two varieties) only about a dozen pieces are known to exist – each, at auction, capable of realizing several million dollars. But then, it has to be understood that during the earliest years of the Philadelphia mint’s operation (between 1794 and 1804), the U.S. Silver Dollar represented a huge unit of buying power, so that during those years, annual mintages rarely reached1000 coins. Which is not too surprising, when it’s recognized that they were all struck on presses powered entirely by human labor. Steam-driven presses weren’t invented until 1807.
But with the wild flurry of tales regarding fabulous rare coins, with which I’d been confronted, over the years – mostly of a spurious nature, or mixed with various levels of inaccuracy – it now delights me to see an accurate unfolding of the tale of a true American coin rarity – the remarkable “Barber” or “V” nickel, dated 1913. The year 1913 saw the first release of the well-known “Indian-Buffalo” nickel, which then continued in issue until the middle of 1938. But it was in late 1912, that a mint employee (reportedly Mr. Samuel W. Brown) took it upon himself to alter the date on a 1912 die, to “1913″, and then to strike off only a few pieces. Only five of these coins are known to be in existence, and curiously enough, for whatever reason, Mr. Brown delayed offering them for sale until 1920. Presumably, the delay in disposing of the coins had to do with the legal statute of limitations, beyond which Mr. Brown could no longer be prosecuted by the government. The lot of five pieces, after the sale, apparently remained in the hands of single owners until finally broken up in 1942. It was about then that one of the coins was acquired by Mr. George O. Walton, in whose hands it remained until his death 1962.
Mr. Walton’s heirs have now elected to place this rarity on public auction, where it’s expected to realize in excess of two-million dollars.
But if nothing else, at least this event makes abundantly clear for all the public to see, the full and true details of at least one truly rare piece of American numismatic history.
The article from USA Today – http://usat.ly/116C1wX