PCGS 9/11 Coins

DeepCoin · September 10, 2007 10:45PM

I was just wondering who else that is still posting has one of the original 100 NY State Quarter 9/11 coins certified by PCGS. I have number 68 of 100. Do not confuse these with similar coins from PCGS that were given away separately. These were the ones used to raise funds for the victims.

I believe some of them may have traded hands over the past few years.

Mark · September 10, 2007 11:43PM

I still have my coin, though I forget the number and am at work so I cannot check it.

beartracks42 · September 10, 2007 11:44PM

I still have coin #87, and always will.

lazeroo · December 6, 2007 12:42PM

and i'm still buying these coins.rob

ChrisRx · December 6, 2007 12:43PM

What an ugly icon, lazeroo

Tootawl · December 6, 2007 12:45PM

I wish I bought when when they were for sale.

lazeroo · December 6, 2007 12:47PM

I still love george bush, he's the tough guy for ever.

MORGANHUNTER2 · December 6, 2007 12:48PM

<< I still love george bush, he's the tough guy for ever. >>

He's an idiot - his own father said it- and since you like him - it is now confirmed.

TomB · December 6, 2007 12:57PM

I've still got coin 48 and I cannot stress enough to folks who were not here at that time that these are not WTC recovery ("death") coins, rather, these were part of a fundraiser on the boards to benefit the NYFF Widows and Orphans.

bstat1020 · December 6, 2007 12:59PM

He's an idiot - his own father said it- and since you like him - it is now confirmed. >>

Griv · December 6, 2007 1:21PM

<< What an ugly icon, lazeroo >>

Looks better than your avatar of your mother.

Griv · December 6, 2007 1:24PM

<< 

<< I still love george bush, he's the tough guy for ever. >>

He's an idiot - his own father said it- and since you like him - it is now confirmed. >>

Your wife will take the car and find someone with more sense then keystrokes. IMO

droopyd · December 6, 2007 6:30PM

And people gripe about Queen Hitlery Clintoon....

joeyuk · December 6, 2007 6:44PM

I picked up # 93 from Flying56eagle when he was raising money to build a home.

PerryHall · December 6, 2007 6:57PM

<< 

<< I still love george bush, he's the tough guy for ever. >>

He's an idiot - his own father said it- and since you like him - it is now confirmed. >>

And you, sir, are a TROLL.

tggr · December 6, 2007 7:28PM

I still have mine.#58

TrustNo1 · December 6, 2007 7:42PM

Idiot? He beat Kerry at the polls and beat Kerry's Yale average by one point over 4 years..that makes the 2004 loser a bigger idiot

oreville · December 6, 2007 8:29PM

I have done a couple of threads as a follow up to wondercoin's original threads as to who has acquired the NY Firefighters slabs from the original owners.

I have mentioned that there is a strong interest in putting together a temporary display of these PCGS slabs in the memorial area of the new complex that will replace the WTC but until the buildings are complete, it is too early to discuss the details.

I would imagine that the 10th anniversary in 2011 may see some sort of a display at that time.

Many poster/owners have already volunteered to lend their slabs to such a display.

Of course, joeyuk has a particularly sad one #93 (flight #93) that will be remembered by all.

wayneherndon · December 6, 2007 10:00PM

I still have mine.

WH

itsnotjustme · December 6, 2007 10:39PM

I have 95.

pontiacinf · December 6, 2007 11:54PM

<< and i'm still buying these coins.rob >>

HEY LAZ
I saw this thread title and immeadiately thought of you

Happy holidays bud

pontiacinf · December 6, 2007 11:55PM

<< 

<< What an ugly icon, lazeroo >>

Looks better than your avatar of your mother.

>>

OH SNAP!

Winston · December 6, 2007 11:57PM

<< I've still got coin 48 and I cannot stress enough to folks who were not here at that time that these are not WTC recovery ("death") coins, rather, these were part of a fundraiser on the boards to benefit the NYFF Widows and Orphans. >>

I didn't know that. Good to know. Thanks!

dbldie55 · December 7, 2007 12:05AM

Why would anyone ever sell one of these? It would be like asking for your money back from a charity after donating to it.

Winston · December 7, 2007 12:16AM

<< Why would anyone ever sell one of these? It would be like asking for your money back from a charity after donating to it. >>

Not if the charity isn't the one buying them back...

RayNY2E · December 7, 2007 1:04AM

I was not a member when this took place,but on the outside chance that someone wanted to sell theirs for some reason, i'd be proud to own it if i could Afford it. That was a Great thing that was Done and everyone Involved should be Very Proud. Ray in Florida..

dorkkarl · December 7, 2007 2:56AM

<< I've still got coin 48 and I cannot stress enough to folks who were not here at that time that these are not WTC recovery ("death") coins, rather, these were part of a fundraiser on the boards to benefit the NYFF Widows and Orphans. >>

imo, unfortunately, the infamous "death coins", which i despise w/ every fiber of my being, cast an appalling shadow on subsequent attempts to raise money for victims via sale of coins.

i understand that you disagree, but i will never under any circumstances partake of a financial venture even remotely associated w/ the "death coins"

K S

TomB · December 7, 2007 2:59AM

I believe these were produced, sold and the money donated before the "death" coins appeared, so we who were involved would likely not have anticipated the subsequent actions of PCGS and marketers. I might be wrong, but I don't think I had ever heard of the "death" coins before we took these actions.

Mark · December 7, 2007 3:00AM

dorkkarl:

Also keep in mind that the "death coins" were subsequent to the 9-11 charity drive conducted in these boards not vice versa. That endeavor started about a day after 9-11; the "death coins" showed up much later. However, I agree with you that the "death coins" cast a (undeserved!) shadow over the 9-11 coins.

dorkkarl · December 7, 2007 3:09AM

gentlemen, i agree w/ you. the problem is me, not the boards fine efforts to raise money. but i have to admit that i am still bitter (probably irrationally) about the death coin fiasco.

K S

TomB · December 7, 2007 3:12AM

I agree with your strong dislike, bitterness, anger, etc...regarding the "death" coins, DK.

IrishMike · December 7, 2007 3:14AM

dorkkarl I find it difficult to believe that you can't compartmentalize

.

USAFRETWI · December 7, 2007 3:35AM

Well I admit I own one "so called death coins", the first version I guess from Collectors Universe. I understand most people dont like them and thats fine. I was on active duty at the time and bought it at a coin show in Idaho before deploying to Kuwait. I dont care what they go for now or it is "not graded" , it made it easier in some way having something from the WTC site while being deployed. I that so bad? Fire away......

Typetone · December 7, 2007 5:17AM

Are these the ones that Mitch put together for charity contributions? If so, I have one (an MS66), but would have to check on the number. I hate to sound crass, but is there a market price for these? Someone asked to buy mine, but neither of us have any idea of the value.

Cheers,

Greg

OPA · December 7, 2007 5:28AM

<< What an ugly icon, lazeroo >>

Suggest u look in the mirror

lazeroo · December 7, 2007 8:35AM

I still have alot of the coins, I had to sell most of the coins we owed.
I kept all the 9/11 coins intact.

and I will continue to buy them and save them for the future.

buy the way nice to hear from you guys .

planetsteve · December 7, 2007 9:31AM

I understand now the quarters were used as fundraisers.

What was the deal with what posters are calling "the death coins?" I know that some (all?) are silver eagles, salvaged from Ground Zero... and even typing out that latter phrase makes me think of some disgusting huckstering. But how were these too-soon shipwreck coins marketed? Who benefited?

SeattleSlammer · December 7, 2007 9:39AM

I dont care what they go for now or it is "not graded" , it made it easier in some way having something from the WTC site while being deployed. I that so bad? Fire away......

No firing here. It sounds like it was rightfully meaningful to you and that's what counts. Certainly many people that purchased the "death"coins weren't doing so with bad intentions, but instead the total opposite. Still, I agree with the majority here that it perhaps wasn't the most well thought out marketing idea.

Animalkeeper · December 7, 2007 9:54AM

I was not a member when this took place,but on the outside chance that someone wanted to sell theirs for some reason, i'd be proud to own it if i could Afford it. That was a Great thing that was Done and everyone Involved should be Very Proud. Ray in Florida..

100% agree except it's "Mike in Florida" here.

The "death" coins are appalling and I willl never, ever have anything to do with them. I do applaud, and understand, the comments of USAFRETWI and respect his service.

Mike (USAF 1975-1979)

wondercoin · December 7, 2007 10:01AM

The PCGS 9/11 "Firefighter" coin offering was a very special event and it raised more than $40,000 in the early weeks following the tragedy for the widows and orphans of those firefighters who lost their lived on 9/11. To ensure each and every cent (100%) went to the charity, we had each person who purchased a coin pay the charity directly with a check made payable to the charity.

One day I plan to sell the couple 9/11 coins I have from the event with all sales proceeds going to yet another charity so the coins may, once again, help others. And, hopefully, that chain will never stop.

Wondercoin

Mark · December 7, 2007 10:19AM

For those who were not here at the time, Mitch (wondercoin) was one of the two major actors behind the entire 9-11 chairty drive. I wrote a short article about the endeavor which was published in the Numismatist about 4 or so years ago.

joeyuk · December 7, 2007 10:49AM

Here is my coin if someone is wondering what they look like. Also I should add A condition of
my purchase was if I sell a portion goes to charity. I don't see that happening as 9/11 has special
meaning to me and what this coin represents is so much more then money.

TomB · December 7, 2007 10:57AM

Planetsteve asks about the "death" coins and, if I remember correctly, many or most of these pieces were bullion related coins removed from vaults in the basement areas of buildings within the immediate vicinity of the WTC towers, but I do not think any of them were actually stored in the WTC towers. These vaults were in the buildings that were damaged in the attack and that later were removed. The vaults that the materials were stored in were designed for high impact abuse and they served their intended purpose well. The marketing of these pieces bothers many of us because I believe that the lion's share of the sales money went individual business people or companies that were not directly affected by the attacks and this sends out the appearance of folks playing on the sympathies and patriotism of other Americans for their private gain.

RayNY2E · December 7, 2007 11:51AM

To Joeyuk: Thank you very much for Posting Your Picture of the 9/11 WTC Coin. I appreciate seeing it as I was not a Member at That Time. Ray in Florida..

dpoole · December 7, 2007 12:06PM

It was a pure and spontaneous fund raiser in the immediate aftermath of that tragedy, and Mitch and PCGS did a great thing. We who were around at the time were proud to be a part of it, and glad to have had the opportunity. We all wanted to "do something." I still have #27 AND #83, and they're staying in the family along with the story.

lazeroo · December 7, 2007 12:19PM

hi dave , still pretty cool stuff after 7 years and we still get all fired up .

I didn't really think this many people didn;t understand about the difference between the 9/11 coins and the (death coins)
or the trash under the building. the only real difference was, these were really used for the firemans fund ,and the others were mostly
used for profit.

every now and then I like to get everyone thinking about it again because it really bugs me that americans have such a short memory.

just a reminder that on 9/11 more americans were killed than on dec. 7, in pearl harbor.

ChrisRx · December 7, 2007 12:24PM

<< 

<< What an ugly icon, lazeroo >>

Looks better than your avatar of your mother.

>>

Seems like you have low self-steem because of your short-comings.. I think you need a mailman to come by, I heard you have a small package.

direwolf1972 · December 7, 2007 12:40PM

Too much politics going on to read every thread. I'm curious about the coins. So what did these sell for? Or were they auctioned off and each one went at a different price?

lazeroo · December 7, 2007 12:45PM

here's how it went.
#1 -Lake Tahoe Collection - $2250 - paid - delivered - received.
#2 -Lake Tahoe Collection - $2100 - paid - delivered - received.
#3 -Mike Casper - $1500 - paid.
#4 -Mike Casper - $700
#5 -Mike Casper - $700
#6 -Lazaroo (with #8) - $1700 - paid.
#7 -Mike Casper - $700
#8 -Lazaroo - (with #6) - paid.
#9 -Bcsican (The "911" pair, with #11) - $1700 - paid.
#10 -Dallis - $850 - paid.
#11 -Bcsican (The "911" pair, with #9) - paid.
#12 -Mike Casper - with the #18 coin -$1400
#13 -David Schweitz - $1000 - paid - delivered - received.
#14 -RegistryCoin - $400
#15 -eye - $600
#16 -RegistryCoin - $400 - paid.
#17 -Key Poulan - $505
#18 -Mike Casper - with the #12 coin - $1400
#19 -TM - $500 - paid.
#20 -wondercoin - $475 - paid - delivered - received.
#21 -TM - $475 - paid.
#22 -RegistryCoin - $475 - paid.
#23 -capjohn - $475 - paid.
#24 -TM - $475 - paid.
#25 -TM - $475 - paid.
#26 -shylock - $450 - paid.
#27 -dpoole - $450 - paid.
#28 -Merz2 - $450 - paid.
#29 -Jimbeaux - $450 (plus $50 donation) - paid.
#30 -Shylock - $425 (plus $25 donation) - paid.
#31 -willie - $425 - paid.
#32 -Brian - $425 - paid.
#33 -Tom31 - $425 - paid.
#34 -RegistryCoin - $425 - paid.
#35 -luv2collect - $400
#36 -Shylock - $400 - paid.
#37 -goldnuggets - $400 - paid.
#38 -66Tbird - $400 - paid.
#39 -Mark - $400 - paid - delivered - received.
#40 -wondercoin - $375 - paid - delivered - received.
#41 -typetone - $375 - paid - delivered.
#42 -MrPirate - $375 - paid - delivered.
#43 -egsantos - $375 - paid.
#44 -Gerry
#45 -Viper - $350 - paid - delivered.
#46 -Viper - $350 - paid - delivered.
#47 -Iampoorman2 - $350 - paid - delivered.
#48 -TomB - $350 - paid - delivered.
#49 -Higashiyama - $350 (plus $150 donation) - paid - delivered - received.
#50 -David Schweitz - $400 - paid - delivered - received.
#51 -Instaexpert - $325 - paid - delivered - received.
#52 -wayneherndon - $325 - paid.
#53 -pontiacinf - $325 - paid - delivered - received.
#54 -davefperry - $325 - paid - delivered - received.
#55 -copperhead - $300 (plus $50 donation) - paid - delivered.
#56 -RockinuU - $300 - paid.
#57 -coincop - $300 - paid - delivered - received.
#58 -tggr - $300 - paid - delivered.
#59 -Greg
#60 -pontiacinf - $250 - paid - delivered - received.
#61 -cosmicdebris (from HuliganRS) - coin (plus $10 donation) $275 - paid - delivered.
#62 -rkfish - $250 - paid - delivered.
#63 -rkfish - $250 (plus a roll of State qtrs.) - paid - delivered.
#64 -JDscience- $250 - paid - delivered.
#65 -supercoin - $200 (plus $50 towards #69) - paid - delivered - received.
#66 -Ronyahski - $200 (plus $66 donation) - paid - delivered.
#67 -MS67PLUS (donated $160)
#68 -DeepCoin (donated two rolls) - paid - delivered.
#69 -TRADERBOBZ - $200 (see #65)- paid - delivered - received.
#70 -mrpaseo - $250
#71 -morganluver - $200 - paid - delivered.
#72 -Oak - $200 - delivered
#73 -DcamMike1 - $200 - paid - delivered - received.
#74 -DcamMike1 - (donated $80 and a roll NY State Qtrs.) - paid - delivered - received.
#75 -keithdagen - $200 - paid - delivered - received.
#76 -PQpeace - $200 - paid - delivered.
#77 -The "Miles Standish" coin, (originally $400 by Miles) $1000, by TM - paid.
#78 -HuliganRS (from cosmicdebris) - $200 - paid - delivered - received.
#79 -kranky - $175 - paid - delivered.
#80 -andy700 - $175 - paid - delivered.
#81 -rwhite - $200 - paid - delivered.
#82 -MonkaPop - $250 - paid - delivered.
#83 -dpoole - $250 - paid.
#84 -Jeffrey - $200, (plus $50 donation) - paid.
#85 -goldnuggets - $200 - paid.
#86 -spinaker - $200 - paid - delivered - received.
#87 -beartracks42 - $175 - paid - delivered - received.
#88 -goose3 - $175 - paid - delivered - received.
#89 -Bcsican - $175 - paid - delivered.
#90 -braddick - $175 - paid - delivered.
#91 -Flying56eagle - $175 - paid - delivered - received.
#92 -willy - $200 - paid.
#93 -Flying56eagle - (Cobaugh Trust coin donation) - paid - delivered - received.
#94 -CarlWohlforth (donated $200) - delivered - received.
#95 -itsnotjustme (donated $100) - paid - delivered - received.
#96 -davidh - $200 - paid - delivered.
#97 -anonymous donor - paid - delivered.
#98 -registrycoin - delivered - received.
#99 -wondercoin (donated original "911" pcgs ms67 NY State Qtr.- coin #1) - delivered - received.
#100 -David Schweitz - $1000 - paid - delivered - received.

lazeroo · December 7, 2007 12:47PM

then this is the write up,
I still have my coin. Plus I still use the flag the icon that I and everyone else switched to in the days following 9-11.

Below is an article about the 9-11 quarters that I wrote and was published in the Numismatist several years ago. There are footnotes at the end, but it would be a pain to indciate where they go in the story. However, anyone who reads all the article can probably figure where the footnotes go.

Mark

On Tuesday, September 11, 2001 at 9:30 AM on the Professional Coin Grading Service web site’s (www.pcgs.com) U.S. Coin message board, DcamMike1 posted: “Turn on any news!”
Moments later pmh1nic posted “It’s looking like a terrorist attack. I heard a report that both planes had been hijacked but no word on from where.”

These first posts about the terrorist attacks were followed by others throughout the day. Swiftly posters’ feelings turned toward sympathy for the victims of the attack. Mitchell Spivack (Mitch), whose PCGS board nickname is “wondercoin,” posted a message with the heading, “Auction: 2001 NY State Quarter PCGS-MS67 Proceeds to Fire Fighters”: “It is a tragic day in the history of New York and our great country. … I have a really high end 2001(p) New York State Quarter grading PCGS-MS67. The coin goes to the high bidder at midnight tonight Eastern Time. The winning bid money will be mailed directly to the New York City Fire Fighters who are risking their lives to save the victims trapped in the debris. … Bidding starts at $1.00.” This post lead to an endeavor that resulted in 100 NY State quarters being graded, numbered, and encapsulated by PCGS with a special insert. More importantly, it also resulted in over $40,000 donated to the UFFA Widows and Childrens Fund. This article tells the story of these “9-11 quarters.”

Mitch’s auction ran for 7 1/2 hours. By midnight Steve Heller, whose nickname is “RegistryCoin,” made the winning bid of $125. Twenty minutes afterward, Steve posted “Put the coin up again, Mitch. I donate it to the forum for another go.” This time Mitch put up the coin in an auction that was scheduled to last until Friday.

On Wednesday, September 12, Mitch posted: “PCGS has just agreed to reholder this coin as the ‘911’ coin … PCGS also suggested they number this coin #1 and that I consider a series of 50 coins dedicated to the New York City Fire Fighters. …In the meantime, the winner of this auction closing Friday will receive this coin specially numbered ‘1’ with reference to ‘911’” Immediately Mitch received a donation of 14 MS66 NY state quarters from an anonymous coin dealer who wanted the coins to be used as #2 - #15. The 9-11 coin project was off and running. Leading the endeavor were Mitch, Steve, who kept track of the coins’ owners, and cosmicdebris (Bill Hemenway), who kept track of the donations.

Coin #1 received 27 bids in the three days it was up for auction. By Friday evening, Steve once again prevailed in a two-person bid off. For the same coin that he had three days ago donated to be auctioned a second time, Steve’s winning bid this time was $2,001. But on Tuesday, another collector, identified as “The Lake Tahoe Collection,” contacted Mitch and offered to buy the #1 coin for $2,250. Because this raised more money for the donation, Steve agreed. So the coin that initially sold for $125 wound up in The Lake Tahoe Collection for $2,250.

Seeing how well the auction for coin #1 was proceeding, Rick Montgomery, the then-President of PCGS, suggested to Mitch that the number of 9-11 quarters be increased from 50 to 100. Within a week, PCGS donated 50 MS65 quarters needed for coins #51 to #100 and helped locate some MS66 quarters. Mitch found others searching through a bag he purchased. A few were purchased.

After coin #1 was sold, next up were coins #9 and #11, which were auctioned as a lot. RegistryCoin opened the bidding at $1,250. Within a few hours the bid was up to $1,400. The bidding crept higher until Bcsican won the coins on Sunday with a bid of $1,700. Some PCGS board members posted concerns that they would be unable to buy any of these special coins because of the prices the coins commanded. By noon on Saturday, Mitch, conferring with Mr. Montgomery, decided to price coins #78 though #92 at $175 per coin, to be sold to whomever wanted to buy one. Within 20 minutes, Flying56eagle purchased coin #91. And within 4 hours all 15 coins had been purchased, many for more than the posted $175 price. The immediate sell out established a pattern: Low numbered and special numbered coins were auctioned while higher numbered coins were offered for a fixed price.

The first encapsulated 9-11 quarters were given to Mitch on Tuesday, September 18. Mitch sent a scan of the coin to cosmicdebris who posted the scan of coin #1 in its special 9-11 PCGS holder. Buyers of the 9-11 coins knew that PCGS would encapsulate the coins using a special PCGS insert. Remarkably, by the time the scan was available and posted, well over half of the 9-11 coins had been sold even though the donors had no idea what the insert would look like. The insert features a U.S. flag background with four lines of text: The first line has on it PCGS and the grade, for example “PCGS MS 66.” The second line identifies the coin as “NY Firefighters 9-11” and the third line states “PCGS Limited Edition”. The fourth line has the coin number, for example “#10/100”. The concept of the U.S. flag was developed by Miles Standish, the then-Vice-President of PCGS, who suggested using this insert for the 9-11 coins.

Not all the 9-11 coins were purchased by the members who received them. Flying56eagle (Ron Gue) and merz2 (Donald Merz) arranged for donations so that some of the coins could be given to other board members. They received enough donations so that three 9-11 quarters were donated: one to a PCGS board member who was unemployed at the time and two to young numismatists who were active participants on the PCGS board. Also two of the quarters were given to board members who lost a family member in the terror attacks. Gerry, who lost a son, received coin #44 and Clevegreg, who lost a brother, received coin #59.

The PCGS board has hundreds of participants, covering a wide spectrum of beliefs. So, some of the posts and threads about the 9-11 quarters were negative. However, the negative posts were few and were vastly outweighed by the positive posts. Most board members adopted Mitch’s philosophy, eloquently expressed in a post he made on September 25: THIS IS NOT ABOUT GETTING A COIN IN SOMEONE'S COLLECTION.-THIS IS ABOUT RAISING AS MUCH MONEY FOR THE WIDOWS AND CHILDREN OF SLAIN FIREFIGHTERS AS WE CAN. The auctions and sales continued until October 18, when Steve posted a simple message: Closed. Thank you very much for your positive participation.

On October 22, Mitch posted a message from the UFFA Widows and Childrens Fund:
Subj: Thank-you on behalf of the Fire Fighters
Date: 10/22/2001 11:18:12 AM Pacific Daylight Time

On behalf of the Executive Board and members of the New York State Professional Fire Fighter's Association, Inc. I thank everyone who purchased a coin whose proceeds will go to the Uniformed Fire Fighters Association Widows and Children's Fund.

Sincerely,

Charles J. Morello
President

Collectively the members of the PCGS board contributed $42, 897.07 to the UFFA Widows and Childrens Fund. Steve Heller’s summary of his part in this venture is to the point: “I haven’t ever done anything else so ‘appropriate.’ All the forum members made it possible and all should have an everlasting pride.” Mitchell Spivack says, “Everyone helped out with this great deed and everyone who contributed will remember this forever. But what we gave was a small gesture compared to what the firefighters sacrificed.”

FOOTNOTES

Posters on the board use nicknames, such as DcamMike1. To keep with the spirit of the board, for the most part I identify participants using their nicknames.

Interestingly, none of these three people have ever met another in person. All the communication has been done via the Internet and telephone.

.The grades on the 100 coins vary. Coin #1 is graded MS67, coins #2 through #50 are MS66, and coins #51 through #100 are MS65.

direwolf1972 · December 7, 2007 1:03PM

Very interesting thanks for the info. Until tonight I hadn't heard of these.

PCGS 9/11 Coins

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