Miracle penny that saved WWI soldier's life to go up for auction.
ms70
Posts: 13,954 ✭✭✭✭✭
"A 19th-century penny that miraculously saved the life of a British World War I soldier is set to go up for auction next week.
The penny belonged to Private John Trickett, who kept it in the top breast pocket of his uniform as a "poignant reminder of home" during the war, SWNS reports. While on a French battlefield fighting German forces in 1914, a German soldier shot at Trickett. The bullet hit the penny, nestled firmly in Trickett's breast pocket, ricocheted through his nose and went out back of his ear, Maureen Coulson, Trickett’s granddaughter, said.
“Everyone in our family saw the penny and heard the story of how it saved my grandfather’s life," Coulson said in comments obtained by SWNS. "He had to come home because of the injury. It damaged his left-hand side and left him deaf in his left ear. It also affected his balance."
Click to see the pictures:
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
Comments
Auction estimate GBP 100 - 200
Current bid GBP 1,150
https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/hansons/catalogue-id-hanson10180/lot-3ac9c96d-1919-4a74-875f-aa11008ebcaf
It's weird seeing the word "penny" being used in a news article and actually be the correct term.
It is a bit sad that no one in the family wants it, especially since the estimate is only a couple hundred bucks.
Maybe I'll bid on it.
I just checked - the bidding is already over a thousand pounds.
The angle from pocket to nose, and impact on the coin do not seem to match the description..... but a low velocity bullet.....?
Awesome piece of tangible family history. What a shame that his descendants would rather have the money.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
So true.
It should be a family heirloom.
Without it, none of them would existed (assuming he had his children afterward)
That had to have hurt like hell
Agree it deserves to be in a museum, but sadly most museums would just send it to storage, if even that. Museums today are like an iceberg with 70% of the valuables donated to them out of sight.
Glad to see it is at least fetching ten times the overly conservative auction estimate.
Awesome piece of history. I'm sure the new owner will be proud!
I would be proud to own that coin... Not for the going price, but for the history.... Cheers, RickO
Looks like it hit two noses.
Wow! Just can't say anymore.
OMG, what an amazing story !!!
I bet it's an ERROR !!!
Here is another coin who saved a soldiers life - only this one is gold.
https://hunley.org/artifacts/
WS
Unless you are family, why would you want it? Neat story, but your several degrees of separation from the events.
Great story and coin!
The Hunley coin story is amazing. I actually saw it at the Hunley museum back in maybe 2005? The sub was still being desalinated and was in a tank. The coin was in a display case in a holder that held it up so you could see both sides. A state trooper was standing guard next to it.
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
They had a piece on the Antiques Roadshow about a bible a soldier had in his breast pocket during the civil war. The bible got winged at the edge but the guy died. A good friend (relative?) who was also in the battle sent the bible back to his family with the story of his death.
Successful BST deals with mustangt and jesbroken. Now EVERYTHING is for sale.
I see there are several accounts of pocket watches saving soldiers and others lives when struck by bullets as well. I recall as a child seeing the one described below on display in a museum.
https://history.lds.org/article/museum-treasures-john-taylors-pocket-watch?lang=eng
As I recall, when they were digging the muck out of the Hunley one handful at a time, the person who found the coin knew what it was even before they cleaned it up. They knew it was supposed to be aboard and were on the lookout for it.