Are there any numismatic mysteries that have yet to be solved?
abcde12345
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This is the only one I am aware of:
Details: Over the past fifteen years in New York City, a highly organized coin scam has taken place, with thousands of citizens falling prey to it. A man named Jerry Diner was one of the victims. While talking on a pay-phone in midtown, he was approached by a man calling himself "Joe" who appeared to be drunk. He claimed that he had found a bank envelope on the ground with coins inside of it. He asked Jerry to call the doctor whose name was on the envelope to tell him that they had found his coins.
Jerry called "Dr. Stone" and told him that he and Joe had found his coins. He told Jerry to give Joe $100 because he was offering a $1000 reward for the return of his coins. Joe claimed that he could not take the coins to Dr. Stone himself. Jerry decided that he would give Joe $160 for the coins so that he could take the coins back to Dr. Stone. The two went to an ATM and Jerry gave Joe $160 in cash. After getting the money, Joe disappeared into the crowd.
Jerry then took a cab to Dr. Stone's office. While in the cab, he noticed that the coins were worth about $2000. He thought that it was strange that the reward was about half as much as the price of the coins. However, he figured that the coins also had a sentimental value to Dr. Stone. When he arrived at the address of the office, he realized that it was actually an apartment building on the Upper East Side. He spoke to the doorman, who confirmed that there was no Dr. Stone living there.
Jerry then realized that he had been scammed. It was later discovered that "Dr. Stone's" phone number was actually for a pay-phone. The coin scam is not limited to New York; there have also been similar scams reported in Florida, Boston, and Baltimore. The scammers usually target people who are affluent or can easily get money from an ATM. The coins are usually not worth more than a few dollars.
Suspects: None known
Extra Notes: This segment first ran on Unsolved Mysteries in the October 11, 1989 episode.
Results: Unsolved
Links: No known links.
Comments
Now that we've solved the Omega mystery, nothing else quite measures up.
Yes!
A: The year they spend more on their library than their coin collection.
A numismatist is judged more on the content of their library than the content of their cabinet.
Who produced the plethora of O-mint counterfeit Morgan Dollars some time prior to about 1940 ?
The truth as to whether @ricko is actually hoarding MILLIONS of dollars worth of monster toned silver in his basement?
What do the “E and L” counter stamps on early bust quarters really stand for and who made them?
Why do I get more enjoyment looking at coins that I collected from pocket change as a grade schooler than I do from looking at coins that I paid thousands of dollars for later in life?
That’s immediately what I thought of when I first saw this thread. There have been numerous theories put forward, but all of them seem to have holes.
I would guess that you have already answered your own question.
🙂
Interesting topic !!!
What’s a pay phone?
When will I add my first $10 Indian to my collection?
How did these coins end up where they did?
Roman coins have been found in Venezuela and Maine.
Roman coins were found in Texas at the bottom of an Indian mound at Round Rock. The mound is dated at approximately 800 AD.
In 1957 near Phenix City, Alabama, a small boy found a coin in a field from Syracuse on the island of Sicily, and dating from 490 B.C.
In the town of Heavener, Oklahoma, another out-of-place coin was found in 1976. Experts identified it as a bronze tetradrachm originally struck in Antioch, Syria in 63 A.D. and bearing the profile of the emperor Nero.
In 1882, a farmer in Cass County, Illinois picked up a bronze coin later identified as a coin of Antiochus IV, one of the kings of Syria who reigned from 175 B.C. to 164 B.C., and who is mentioned in the Bible.
Ancients in America? – Strange discoveries https://coolinterestingstuff.com/ancients-in-america-strange-discoveries
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Bad transactions with : nobody to date
Where is the 1870-S quarter?
Where is the second 1849 Double Eagle?
When will a 1964D Peace Dollar (a real one) appear.... and how long will it take for it to be confiscated.
Cheers, RickO
Why were the 10 1933 $20 gold pieces given to the Mint for authentication and not PCGS
Lafayette Grading Set
For all 1792 and 1793 US Mint issues of patterns and coins, which engraver created the specific dies for any of the patterns/coins has not been proven.
My guess is that the Langbord family already had a very good idea that the coins were authentic. But that they were looking to establish legal title to them.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
The 2004-D Wisconsin Statehood Quarters with high and low leaf are a guarded mystery . Nobody in the shop knows anything, and internal investigations turned up theories, not fact. Ah, but the coins are authentic. Miracle Gro ?
Why does it seem that Gold goes down the week of a Long Beach Show?
We'll find out next week if the 'trend' continues !
for PCGS. A 49+-Year PNG Member...A full numismatist since 1972, retired in 2022
The "Dr. Stone" coin scam appears to be a version of the "Pigeon Drop" scam which involves a wallet with paper money in it.
The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin
Coins in Movies
Coins on Television
This is an old scam, usually involving an envelope of cash.. I forget the name of it.
Easy, aliens.> @dcarr said:
According to the newspapers of the time they were even out West. Mexico or China would be my guess. Since they were around before WWI, I don't think it had to do with disrupting our economy during a war.
Because the Mint is the final authority! The only mistake was sending more than one.
Pretty sure there are several great rarities taken in the DuPont robbery which have yet to resurface.
Sean Reynolds
"Keep in mind that most of what passes as numismatic information is no more than tested opinion at best, and marketing blather at worst. However, I try to choose my words carefully, since I know that you guys are always watching." - Joe O'Connor
whenever I have sufficient funds to buy certain coins, why can't I find any for sale?? and a follow up, why does it seem when those same coins are readily available that I am caught short??
1854-S Half Eagle!
How many 1917 London Mint gold Sovereigns are held by the U.S. Government?
Not nearly as exciting as most already posted, but I've always wondered why the '28S walker is so much scarcer in XF/AU/MS than the '29D or S walkers.
Similar mintages, most produced prior to the late Oct Stock Market Crash of '29, and prior to the Great Depression.
My pet theory is that the '28S was released into circulation at the time of issue and put to work in commerce, where the others were held back by banks or the Fed Reserve.....were they anticipating runs on banks, bank failures, and the ensuing Depression?
Since no halves were produced again until 1933, and only at San Francisco, the 28S and their predecessors were kept pretty busy.
Then if the 29D and S were later released during 'better times', with more collectors able to save half dollars, and the low mintages possibly appealing to speculators, we now have a lot of these around in nicer condition than others minted in the 1920's.
Speaking of Half Eagles... where did all of the 1822 Half Eagles go? Only 3 survived out of a mintage of more than 17,000...
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I’ve always wondered that. Seems possible that they were acquired in bulk by only a few individuals or institutions and immediately melted. If a large number of different individuals and institutions acquired a portion you would expect a few more survivors.
I've thought about that angle too... most of the 1820's Half Eagles had significant mintages, yet only a handful survive today... wouldn't THAT be a hoard to find! ;-)
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Why is the mint the final authority on 1933 DE's but not 1959 wheat back cents?
I was really hoping 1 or 2 54-S's would show up on the SS Central America.
Because they are. They make the coins. So if the mint says a coin is genuine it is.
The only "mule" 1959 cent that I can be sure was seen at the mint was mistakenly declared genuine by two of us at ANACS in DC due entirely to inattention. We (me also) didn't even realize it was anything other than a common, normal cent. I even questioned what kind of fool would send this POS in and decided it was just a coin dealer being funny! It was weeks later that a reporter called asking if we had seen many more of these 1959 cents with a wheat reverse.
Gulp!
LOL. PANIC! We got the coin back to reexamine w/o the certificate of authenticity. When we took it to the mint, all of us concluded the coin was a fake. The mint made an optical-comparison with a genuine cent and proved design of the die used to make the mule did not match a genuine die.
Decades later I learned there was a "mule" floating around. Apparently no TPGS would authenticate it. A potential purchaser heard about me and sent me images and paperwork. One was a letter of authenticity from the Mint. I have it all in my files someplace. I needed to see the coin but the seller would not turn it over for exam.
Well at least they only sent 10...
And are keeping the rest hidden?
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
Yeah, if that coin were to just turn up out of nowhere, well that would be the "Find of a Lifetime", wouldn't it? 😗😉
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
While I do still have the coin, I'd like to know what happened to the ANACS photo cert I had for the first variety I ever found- a 1972 DDO-003 in circulation in the 4th grade.
The calendar year mintage was 17,796, but how many of these
were dated 1822 is another matter entirely. It is likely that the
majority were dated 1821 or even 1820. It was not until 1835,
and Mint Director R.M. Patterson, that the mints began to be
more careful about using outdated dies but even then it
happened on occasion.
Still, if there are some 1822 $5, why only 3?
Same with R7+ die pair varieties..
Why only 1-6 remain?
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
Ricko and I think one of the greatest mysteries in numismatics is why some people will pay a ridiculous premium for the tarnish on a coin.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
Exactly.
It's not like other 1820-30's era Capped Bust $5 pieces are ripping up the "relative survivability" charts... there are what 15-20 or so known pieces for most dates. Some approach 100 known pieces. Yet mintages were in the 10's of thousands. I suspect many were melted at some point...
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Gold was revalued in 1834. It became profitable to melt older gold coins and have the mint to recoin them. Fifteen dollars of the older gold coins could be recoined into sixteen dollars of the newer gold coins.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
In Robert Gurney's 2014 book, he interviewed a guy who was part of a counterfeiting operation in Massachusetts in the 1920s, and implied the micro o dollars were made at that time. I've posted this to the forum before.
https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v17n37a08.html
Most of these are easy.
They were in the possession of US coin collectors who misplaced them.
The 800 AD one is harder, because ships did not routinely come to America from Europe at that time.
Theory: shipwreck in the Atlantic in the 200-800 AD period; coins happened to be in a wooden box that floated to America!
It would be more fun if there were examples of modern coins that were found by folks in ancient Rome.
Or if Trump showed up on an ancient Roman coin?
@Nap asks: What's a pay phone?
A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....
End Systemic Elitism - It Takes All Of Us
I know that this will get buried, but I am truly curious why so few people collect twenty cent coins by die variety?
Although I know that there are a few others beside the authors of the excellent doubledimes.com and me, but I almost always get the stink eye from dealers when I walk into a B&M or sit in front of a display at a show when I ask to see their 20c coins and tell them I'm looking for oddball die varieties.
There is a superb reference book available online for free, and the authors both are available and very helpful.
And so many of the other series, especially the seated and bust series have many passionate collectors. Nobody bats an eye at a collector seeking to fill a hole in their bust half die variety set or their seated dime die set.
But twenty cents? so many are content with a single example to fill their Dansco 7070, when there is still so much to be discovered or uncovered. I am by no means an expert, but I often find scarcer die varieties (we're talking R5 or better) offered without attribution at no premium at all over the common die varieties.
I could see this as understandable if a series had no published detailed reference (I'm looking at you, 3c nickel), but the knowledge is out there for these coins, and sometimes I feel that I'm the only one looking.
No one has mentioned the Randall Hoard. AFIK, there is no precise evidence to its origin.
Best, SH
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Lets not forget the recentlt discovered (2013) Saddle Ridge Hoard!
$28K face in US gold coins all dated 1847-1894 and buried in the ground, by who?