1913 Liberty Head Nickel
Encyclopedia
The 1913 Liberty Head nickel is an American five-cent piece
Nickel (United States coin)
The nickel is a five-cent coin, representing a unit of currency equaling five hundredths of one United States dollar. A later-produced Canadian nickel five-cent coin was also called by the same name....

 which was produced in extremely limited quantities without the authority of the United States Mint
United States Mint
The United States Mint primarily produces circulating coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce. The Mint was created by Congress with the Coinage Act of 1792, and placed within the Department of State...

, making it one of the best-known and most coveted rarities in American numismatics
Numismatics
Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. While numismatists are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other payment media used to resolve debts and the...

. In 1972, one specimen of the five cent coin became the first coin to command a price of US$100,000; in 1996, another specimen would become the first to break the million-US$ barrier. It is also rumored that if one were to be found in perfect condition, it could be worth over 20 million dollars. In 2003 one coin was sold for almost US$3 million. In 2010, the Olsen piece sold for US$ 3.7 million at a public auction. Only five examples are known to exist: two in museums and three in private collections.

Origin

The Indian Head (Buffalo) nickel
Indian Head nickel
The Buffalo nickel or Indian Head nickel was a copper-nickel five-cent piece struck by the United States Mint from 1913 to 1938. It was designed by sculptor James Earle Fraser....

 was introduced in February 1913, replacing the Liberty Head
Liberty Head nickel
The Liberty Head nickel, sometimes referred to as the V nickel due to its reverse design, was an American five-cent piece. It was struck for circulation from 1883 until 1912, with at least five pieces being surreptitiously struck dated 1913....

 design. These were the first official strikings of nickels in 1913; the United States Mint
United States Mint
The United States Mint primarily produces circulating coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce. The Mint was created by Congress with the Coinage Act of 1792, and placed within the Department of State...

's official records do not record any Liberty Head nickels produced that year. Liberty Head nickels dated 1913 first came to the attention of the numismatic community in 1920. All five were in the possession of Samuel Brown, a numismatist who attended the American Numismatic Association
American Numismatic Association
The American Numismatic Association was founded in 1891 by Dr. George F. Heath in Chicago, Illinois. The ANA was formed to advance the knowledge of numismatics along educational, historical and scientific lines, as well as enhance interest in the hobby.The ANA national headquarters and museum is...

's annual convention and displayed the coins there. Brown had previously placed an advertisement in The Numismatist in December 1919 seeking information on these coins and offering to pay US$500 for each. Ostensibly, the coins had been purchased as a result of this offer. However, Samuel Brown had been a Mint employee in 1913, and many numismatic historians have concluded that he was therefore responsible for striking the coins himself and then removing them from the Mint. If true, this would not have been a unique occurrence; such clandestine strikes were actually quite common in the 19th century, with the Class II and III 1804 silver dollar
1804 silver dollar
The 1804 Silver Dollar is a United States dollar coin considered to be one of the rarest and most famous coins in the world, due to its unique history. Divided into "Classes," 15 specimens are known. Eight comprise Class I, which were minted in 1834. Two Class I specimens trace their lineage to the...

s being perhaps the best-known instance. Other numismatic authorities, such as Q. David Bowers
Q. David Bowers
Quentin David Bowers is among the best-known and most noteworthy numismatic authors of the last 50 years. Beginning in 1953, Bowers’s contributions to numismatics have continued uninterrupted and unabated to the present day. He has been involved in the selling of rare coins since 1953 when he was...

, have questioned this scenario, and pointed out that there are several methods by which the coins could have been legitimately produced. Bowers suggests, for instance, that they may have been lawfully issued by the Mint's Medal Department "for cabinet purposes", or that they could be trial pieces struck in late 1912 to test the following year's new coinage dies. However, Bowers did not entirely discount the private minting theory.

Pedigree

In January 1924, Samuel Brown sold all five 1913 Liberty Head nickels. The intact lot passed through the hands of several other coin dealers before finally being purchased by Colonel E.H.R. Green
Edward Howland Robinson Green
Edward Howland Robinson "Ned" Green , also known as Colonel Green, was an American businessman, the only son of the notorious miser Hetty Green . He was also noted for his stamp and coin collections.-Biography:Edward Green was the first of two children of Hetty and Edward Henry Green...

 (son of the infamous miser
Miser
A miser, cheapskate, snipe-snout, penny pincher, piker, scrooge, skinflint or tightwad is a person who is reluctant to spend money, sometimes to the point of forgoing even basic comforts and some necessities...

 Hetty Green
Hetty Green
Hetty Green , nicknamed "The Witch of Wall Street" , was an American businesswoman, remarkable for her frugality during the Gilded Age, as well as for being the first American woman to make a substantial impact on Wall Street.-Birth and early years:She was born Henrietta Howland Robinson in New...

). Green kept them in his collection until his death in 1936. His estate was then auctioned off, and all five of the 1913 Liberty Head nickels were purchased by two dealers, Eric P. Newman and B.G. Johnson. The dealers broke up the set for the first time.

Eliasberg specimen

Of the five 1913 Liberty Head nickels, two have proof
Proof coinage
Proof coinage means special early samples of a coin issue, historically made for checking the dies and for archival purposes, but nowadays often struck in greater numbers specially for coin collectors . Many countries now issue them....

 surfaces, and the other three were produced with standard striking techniques. The finest
Coin grading
In coin collecting coin grading is the process of determining the grade or condition of a coin, one of the key factors in determining its value as a collector's item....

 of the coins has been graded
Coin grading
In coin collecting coin grading is the process of determining the grade or condition of a coin, one of the key factors in determining its value as a collector's item....

 Proof-66 by various professional grading services, including PCGS
Professional Coin Grading Service
PCGS is the acronym for Professional Coin Grading Service a third party grading service for grading rare coins. Founded in 1986, and located in Newport Beach, CA., it is a subsidiary of Collector's Universe, Inc. , a company that also buys and sells rare coins and operates a rare comic book...

 and NGC
Numismatic Guaranty Corporation
The Numismatic Guaranty Corporation is a provider of third-party coin grading services to numismatists. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Sarasota, Florida...

.

This coin was purchased from Newman and Johnson by the Numismatic Gallery, a coin dealership that then sold it to famed collector Louis Eliasberg
Louis Eliasberg
Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. was an American financier and numismatist. He is best known in the numismatic community for putting together the only complete collection of United States coins ever assembled...

. It remained in Eliasberg's comprehensive collection until after his death. In May 1996, it was sold at an auction conducted by Bowers and Merena, where it was purchased by rarities dealer Jay Parrino for US$1,485,000 – the most ever fetched by any single coin up until that point. When it was auctioned again in March 2001, the price climbed to US$1,840,000. In May 2005, Legend Numismatics purchased the Eliasberg specimen for US$4,150,000. In 2007, the Eliasberg Specimen was sold to an unnamed collector in California for US$5 million.

Olsen specimen

While the Eliasberg specimen is the best preserved of the five coins, the Olsen specimen is almost certainly the most famous. It has been graded
Coin grading
In coin collecting coin grading is the process of determining the grade or condition of a coin, one of the key factors in determining its value as a collector's item....

 Proof-64 by both PCGS
Professional Coin Grading Service
PCGS is the acronym for Professional Coin Grading Service a third party grading service for grading rare coins. Founded in 1986, and located in Newport Beach, CA., it is a subsidiary of Collector's Universe, Inc. , a company that also buys and sells rare coins and operates a rare comic book...

 and NGC
Numismatic Guaranty Corporation
The Numismatic Guaranty Corporation is a provider of third-party coin grading services to numismatists. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Sarasota, Florida...

. The Olsen specimen was featured on an episode of Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for twelve seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. The show featured a fictional state police unit run by Detective Steve McGarrett,...

("The $100,000 Nickel", aired on December 11, 1973). It was also briefly owned by Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

ian King Farouk
Farouk of Egypt
Farouk I of Egypt , was the tenth ruler from the Muhammad Ali Dynasty and the penultimate King of Egypt and Sudan, succeeding his father, Fuad I, in 1936....

.

When Newman and Johnson broke up the set of five coins, the Olsen specimen was sold first to James Kelly and then to Fred Olsen. The latter collector sold the coin to Farouk, but his name has remained attached to it in numismatic circles ever since. In 1972, it was sold to World Wide Coin Investments for US$100,000, thus inspiring its title appearance in Hawaii Five-O the following year. The coin's price had doubled, to US$200,000, when it was resold to Superior Galleries in 1978. It has been resold on several occasions since then, fetching US$3,000,000 in a private treaty sale from California collector Dwight Manley to Bruce Morelan and Legend Numismatics in June 2004. Legend sold the coin to Blanchard and Co in 2005 who placed it with a collector, and more recently US$3,737,500 when offered by Heritage Auctions
Heritage Auctions
Heritage Auction Galleries is the world's largest collectibles auctioneer and the third largest auction house, with over $700 million in annual sales and 600,000 online bidder-members...

 in January 2010. The current owner's name has not been disclosed.

Norweb specimen

The Norweb specimen is one of two 1913 Liberty Head nickels that currently reside in museums. It is currently an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...

.

Newman and Johnson sold the Norweb specimen to F.C.C. Boyd, who then resold it to the Numismatic Gallery (which handled several of the coins over the years). In 1949, it was purchased by King Farouk to replace the Olsen specimen, which he had sold. It remained in Farouk's collection until he was deposed by Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of...

 in 1952. Two years after that, Farouk's possessions were all auctioned off by the new regime. The specimen was once again handled by Numismatic Gallery, and sold this time to Ambassador Henry Norweb and his wife. In 1977, the Norwebs donated the specimen to the Smithsonian, where it remains.

Walton specimen

The Walton specimen is the most elusive of the five 1913 Liberty Head nickels; for over 40 years, its whereabouts were unknown and it was believed to have been lost. George O. Walton, for whom the specimen is named, purchased it from Newman and Johnson in 1945 for approximately US$3,750, equal to $ today. On March 9, 1962, Walton died in a car crash en route to a coin show. He had promised the show's promoters that he would exhibit the 1913 Liberty Head nickel there, so it was assumed to have been among the coins in his possession when he died. A quarter-million dollars worth of coins were recovered from the crash site, and among them was the 1913 Liberty nickel in a custom-made holder. However, when his heirs later submitted Walton's coins for a 1963 public auction
Auction
An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...

, the nickel was returned because the auction house mistakenly thought it was not genuine. The coin remained in the possession of Walton's heirs, kept in a strongbox on the floor of a closet in his sister's home for over 40 years. In July 2003, the American Numismatic Association arranged to exhibit the four specimens whose whereabouts were known. As a publicity stunt, public relations consultant and former ANA Governor, Donn Pearlman, launched a nationwide hunt for the missing fifth specimen. He arranged with Bowers and Merena auction house (at the time a division of Collectors Universe, Inc.) to offer a minimum US$1 million to purchase the coin or as a guarantee for consigning it to one of their public auctions. In addition, a US$10,000 reward was offered just for letting representatives of Bowers and Merena be the first to see the genuine, missing fifth specimen. After learning about the reward, the Walton heirs brought their coin to the ANA convention in Baltimore where expert authenticators from Professional Coin Grading Service examined it at length, compared it to the other four known specimens and determined that, in fact, the Walton specimen was genuine. The coin is still owned by the Walton heirs and is on loan to the American Numismatic Association's Edward C. Rochette Money Museum in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

McDermott specimen

Currently held by the American Numismatic Association
American Numismatic Association
The American Numismatic Association was founded in 1891 by Dr. George F. Heath in Chicago, Illinois. The ANA was formed to advance the knowledge of numismatics along educational, historical and scientific lines, as well as enhance interest in the hobby.The ANA national headquarters and museum is...

's Money Museum, the McDermott Specimen has the distinction of being the only 1913 Liberty Head nickel to bear marks of circulation. From Johnson and Newman, it was sold to James Kelly, then to J.V. McDermott; it was this latter owner whose name became most prominently attached to the coin's pedigree. McDermott often carried the coin around with him, showing it off to bar patrons and boasting of its extraordinary rarity and value. Due to this activity, the coin lost some of its original mint luster, becoming circulated in condition. Eventually, McDermott protected the coin with a holder to prevent further wear. After McDermott died, the coin was then sold at auction to Aubrey Bebee in 1967 for US$46,000. Bebee and his wife donated the coin to the ANA in 1989, where it is exhibited in the Money Museum.

Books

  • Paul Montgomery, Mark Borckardt, and Ray Knight. Million Dollar Nickels: Mysteries of the 1913 Liberty Head Nickels Revealed. Irvine, CA: Zyrus Press, 2005
  • Michael Wescott with Kendall Keck. The United States Nickel Five-Cent Piece: History and Date-by-Date Analysis. Wolfeboro, NH: Bowers and Merena, 1991
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