Titanic Anniversary
Dreamcrusher
Posts: 210 ✭✭✭✭
I am reminded that today is the anniversary of the sinking of Titanic. I have an old stock certificate from International Mercantile Marine that was the parent company of the White Star Line. I have it framed with a 1912 nickel. Who knows, maybe the nickel was in the pocket of a survivor or perhaps was used to buy a newspaper the following day. You can never be sure. To me, that is what numismatics is all about. The story behind the coins.
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Thanks for the reminder.
That was pretty cool getting to see the Titanic exhibit with a complete reproduction of the staircase and many of the artifacts brought up from the Titanic as it was on display in Las Vegas at, if I recall correctly, The Rio.
A Goggle search identifies a number of coins, and even banknotes, that have been recovered from the Titanic over the years. The coins even included gold Bristish sovereigns and some of the bank notes were of U.S. origin. It would be a fun project for someone to make an attempt at putting together an inventory of the coins sourced from the Titanic.
Then there were survivor's coins as well with at least one having brought a hefty sum at auction.
Always the Titanic.
Where's the love for the Lusitania?
My Paternal Grandmother's Father went down on the Titanic and was lost. He was going ahead first by himself and then had plans to bring the family over later. My grandmother was just a small girl and the rest of the family made it over later. There was a large write up about in in the Star Magazine back in about 1985 when she finally gained US Citizenship in her 80's.
Here is my personal remembrance of the Titanic. I had the counterstamp punch made a couple years before the 100th anniversary, and I used it on a limited number of 1912-dated coins and a bunch of 2012-dated coins.
Certainly a historical event.... And now they have luxury tour ships that dwarf the Titanic. Cheers, RickO
1912 dated Lincoln Cents were offered at one time, too.
My uncle got one and it was worn almost slick.
Still had a readable date, though.
Pete
P.S.
He even had a piece of coal that was salvaged and sold to people.
Here is the most common Titanic relic there is for the general public, a lump of coal.
I have read that there was an active coal fire in the ship's bunker at the time that it sank. Supposedly it was a common problem in those days.
Another bit of trivia was that there is a "Jack Dawson" (Rose's squeeze in the movie) buried in Nova Scotia who died on The Titanic. He was a coal leveler which met his job was to move the coal piles around down in the hole to make sure they were even.
I saw the Titanic exhibit years ago in Boston and they had a large piece of the hull that was being "desalinated" (if that's the correct term) to remove the salts from it so it could be better preserved. I got to reach out and touch it.
I also have a few pieces of the coal.
So, I touched the Titanic, and on a trip to Kennedy Space Center I touched a moon rock.
Could be interesting ot have a movie on this one.
I wrote to Titanic survivor Marshall Drew in 1987 and enclosed this news article which he graciously signed and returned to me. About 10 years ago I went through one of the Titanic exhibits which had several Marshall Drew items on display.
I have one of those relics too - same box and everything. Cost me just $10. I read that these types were from the original sale (mid 1990s) with these packaged in boxes. Years later (around 2010-12) they got much smaller and were sold in little display cases for $50. Not sure what they sell now but I think the original ones are the best ones since they are the bigger chunks and not super overpriced at their time of sale.
I touched a moon rock back in 1998 when I visited the Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.
I have not had the privilege of touching the Titanic (or part of it). Would love to someday visit the Titanic exhibit one of these days.
I understand that the last smokestack was there for aesthetic reasons and was not hooked up to an engine.
I recall a Pawn Stars episode where someone brought in coin allegedly from the Titanic. I don't recall whether or not it actually was or not.
I have a sinking feeling that this thread won’t stay afloat for more than a few days. But if I’m wrong, please don’t throw me overboard, as I’m getting ready to eat a nice burger.
One may correctly believe my attempt at humor is not too funny. If that’s the case, please save me by throwing me a life preserver, or else the sharks on this forum will eat me alive!
I initially just saved a draft, waiting awhile to post, as I wanted the women and children to go first! 😂
Steve
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
I remember that episode. I believe it was a half dollar. It was authentic but the Pawn Stars didn’t buy it. It was slabbed by either NGC or PCGS and stated on the holder its history. I believe it was later sold for over $100,000 at an auction then again resold more recently for a quarter million dollars (if I recall correctly).
This thread should stick around for a while. The coin references should save it.
Pete
The Pawn Stars coin was a 1906 0 Barber half-dollar slabbed at VF details, improperly cleaned, attributed to John W Gill, a victim of the Titanic on the label. Pawn Stars did not purchase it. The coin expert indicated it was worth about $21,000 having been sold for that price sometime before the episode.
It's amazing what you can find on the Internet.