Hold muh Beer. I gotta go see if I got one of these.
It was the year they switched from the Barber design to the Buffalo design.
Finest Known 1913 Liberty Head Nickel to “Cross the Block” in Philadelphia
By CoinWeek - April 25, 2018
Stack’s Bowers Galleries is pleased to announce the sale of the finest-known 1913 Liberty Head nickel graded Proof 66 by PCGS and pedigreed to the Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection. In 1996 this specimen was the first coin in the world to cross the million-dollar threshold.
Today in 2018, Stack’s Bowers Galleries is honored to again present the Eliasberg 1913 Liberty Head nickel at public auction. It comes from the family of Dr. William Morton-Smith, an old-time collector whose numismatic interests were spurred by a remarkable discovery.
Dr. Morton-Smith (Bill) hailed from an old-time Boston family whose passion for collecting goes back generations. As in any family, certain heirlooms pass down through the generations and in this particular circumstance, a beautiful antique Colonial desk was inherited by Bill.
As he was combing through the desk discovering its many features, he came across a compartment that housed a coin collection consisting of colonial coins, half cents, large cents, a complete set of Proof Liberty Head nickels and much more. These had once belonged to his great grandfather. Bill was amazed that the coins had been in the desk all this time. He determined to learn all he could about them and add to the collection. He spent decades adding important rarities to this prized cabinet started generations before.
The Morton-Smith family has chosen Stack’s Bowers Galleries to once again showcase a legendary rarity from their holdings. It will be a highlight in the firm’s August 2018 Official Auction of the ANA World’s Fair of Money in Philadelphia. This is not the first time Stack’s Bowers Galleries has worked with the family; previously they were selected to bring to market Bill’s 1804 dollar, pedigreed to the Berg and Garrett collections, and his 1794 dollar, the Lord St. Oswald/Norweb specimen.
The Dr. William Morton-Smith/Eliasberg 1913 Liberty Head nickel will be on display at the Stack’s Bowers Galleries table at the upcoming Central States Numismatic Convention April 25-28 in Schaumburg, Illinois; the Long Beach Convention, June 14-16; the Whitman Coin Expo in Baltimore. June 21-24; and other major shows between now and August. Private viewings are also available by appointment. To schedule a viewing please contact company president, Brian Kendrella at 800-458-4646.
The sale will take place at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, on the evening of Wednesday, August 15. Bidders can participate in person, or by Internet, mail, or telephone (by previous arrangement). For more information call 800-458-4646 or visit StacksBowers.com.
I used to have an 1883 nickel. I forgot what I did with it. Found it in a field, so it’s hardly mint condition.
Occasionally we’ll veer into a discussion of numismatics in the popular media such as books, movies and television shows. Gerald Tebben published an article February 19, 2016 in Coin World about a funny 1961 episode of The Andy Griffith Show. -Editor
A running gag involving a fictional mint error plays a major part in the “Mayberry on Record” episode (season 1, episode 19) of The Andy Griffith Show and caused perhaps a few of the more gullible among us to check our change for a certain supposedly misstruck Indian Head 5-cent piece in the early 1960s.
At the beginning of the episode, Deputy Barney Fife (Don Knotts) says he’s looking for an investment “that zooms overnight.”
“It happens, you know,” he says, plopping himself down on top of a table. “Oil stocks and uranium.”
Sheriff Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) cautions, “You better watch this investing business. The woods are full of con men. You’d be just ripe for the plucking, too.”
Barney, calling himself “old eagle-eye,” says that’s not likely, providing an intro for the joke that falsely foreshadows the drama to come.
Andy, sitting at his desk, says, “Well now, I’ll tell you. If you’re really considering investing, why don’t you try coin collecting?”
“Coin collecting for investing?” Barney asks.
Andy replies, “Well sure, its a good hobby, and you can’t never tell when you’ll come across a rare old coin that might bring you a whole lot of money.”
“A coin? Cut it out,” Barney says.
Andy shows Barney wrong-way Buffalo nickel “Well sure. Look here. Look right here,” Andy says opening his desk drawer and taking out a coin. “See that nickel right there. Now I paid $10 for that nickel. A month later a fellow offered me 50 for it. It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if I was to advertise I’d get, oh, a couple hundred dollars.”
“For a nickel. How come,” Barney asks.
Andy replies, “Well, they made a mistake at the mint. Look right here. See that buffalo right there?”
“Yeah,” Barney affirms.
“Facing the wrong way,” Andy explains.
“Facing the wrong way?” Barney questions as he tries to grab coin.
Andy pulls it away, saying, “And that makes it valuable. Yeah, I don’t suspect there’s more than two or three in the whole country.”
Andy tells Barney the coin keeps increasing in value because there are so few of them.
Hooked, Barney offers to buy it. “I couldn’t give you no 200, but might go 50 – 75.”
They agree on $75 and shake hands. Andy hands the coin to Barney.
No wrong-way Buffalo nickels are known, but Indian Head 5-cent piece errors are highly collectible. In 2010, a 1913 Bison on Plain 5-cent coin struck on a dime planchet sold for $46,000 at auction.
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/periodical/511850The episode can be viewed online.
To watch the episode on YouTube, see:
If I remember my history, earlier the Gov’t produced a similar five cent coin without the word “cents” on it.
An enterprising young man had lots of them gold plated, headed west and went into a saloon pointed to a sign for a five cent beer, drank it, handed the bartender a gold plated nickle, and received $4.95 back.
He later got caught, his defense was he was deaf and mute and merely pointed at the 5 cent beer sign, and it was not his fault the bartender took his nickle gave him back $4.95.
Hawaii-Five-O season 6 episode 14 “The $100,000 Nickel” summary:
A rare 1913 Liberty Head nickel, one of only five ever made, is to be auctioned at a coin show held at the Ilikai Hotel. European master criminal Eric Damien gets con artist and sleight-of-hand expert, Arnie Price, freed from jail so that he can switch a cleverly-made fake with the original before the auction. But things do not go as planned, as Price, fearing capture, tries to dispose of the nickel in a news rack, and the chase is on to recover the nickel before anyone else finds it.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0598155/
Strange Inheritance season 1 episode 5 “$3 Million Nickel”
A man inherits what’s said to be a counterfeit 1913 Liberty nickel.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4391280/
‘Strange Inheritance’ TV series features George Walton 1913 Liberty Head 5-cent coin
Virginia siblings likely to make millions in auction of rare 1913 nickel
Interesting. I’ve got some liberty head nickels, but NOT one of those.
oh dang- i just threw one of those in a wishing well