The First Chain Cent I Ever Saw
MapsOnFire
Posts: 228 ✭✭✭
Was at Knott's Berry Farm, Orange County California, 1953. Low grade, I'm sure.
1
MapsOnFire
Posts: 228 ✭✭✭
Comments
I'm sure most of us remember our first time.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
@PerryHall... was that remark sarcastic?
No. It was subtle humor.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
@PerryHall
Too subtle for me. I was 10 years old, had my first redbook, and was memorizing it. (No, not the prices.) Our family went to Knott's Berry Farm at least two times each year. (There was no Disneyland yet.) was in awe of the 1793. It was under $100., I think $90., probably forever beyond me. The coin store was called The Miners Bank. Each time we went there I made a beeline to that coin. I remember that it was always there.
Mine was at a coin show in Gatlinburg, Tennessee in maybe 1983. I would have been 11. I remember the guy said it was $5000. I was like, might as well be a million.
Empty Nest Collection
Matt’s Mattes
The first one I seen was in 1978 and a small coin shop in Philadelphia.
As a kid, I remember seeing my first High Relief Saint at a major coin show. I also remember seeing a coin dealer counting out a big pile of $1000 bills during a major coin transaction with another coin dealer. At the time, thousand dollar bills didn't carry any collector premium.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I can't remember the first time I ever saw one but it was likely when I was a kid and that particular cabinet would have been off limits to a little kid like me... and parents weren't THAT accommodating of my hobby.
The first one I ever held to consider buying was early 2000's. It was raw, had barely a wisp of Ms. Liberty's profile and only 3 or 4 identifiable links in the chain so you could tell what it was. But... someone had tried drilling a hole in the middle of th reverse and there were numerous cuts... and it was still $1k.
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I remember seeing one as a little kid, early 80s, the dealer had it in one of those capitol plastic holders.
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I saw one for the first time at age 29 and immediately bought it.
The first one I saw was in the red book.
Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value. Zero. Voltaire. Ebay coinbowlllc
The first Chain Cent I saw was at the Gimbels Department Store coin counter in Philadelphia. They had graded it AG. It was in some ways better and some ways worse. The date was visible had had some help with some tooling. The head was outlined, and the LIBERTY was visible.
The Chain on the reverse was complete, and you make out enough of the reverse to see that it was the AMERI. variety. The price was $270. I sold it several years later at an EAC show. It was not big enough to be called a convention then. I made a decent amount of money, but word spread around the floor, and I was told I had sold it for too little.
I can't remember the first one, but I've held the chain cents in the Smithsonian collection, so I'll guess the first one I saw wasn't the best I've ever seen
Still a virgin.
I dont remember the first chain cent I saw. But I do remember my first large cent. It was an 1818 N-10 from the Randal Hoard (2020 at a coin shop). I had no idea that "pennies" were so big... that a coin so old could look THAT nice (64RB)... or that a "penny" could be expensive. I remember thinking that someone would have to be crazy to buy something like that.
It was beautiful, and it haunted me for months until I bought it...
... a chain cent is a bit of a different animal. I have seen several, but never a very nice one in person.
I am a newer collector (started April 2020), and I primarily focus on U.S. Half Cents and Type Coins. Early copper is my favorite.
Harry Laibstain had "a perfect EF" years ago that I really admired. The cost of $150,000. There have been times when I had that kind of money, but it wasn't then. I still have this one, which has great color and "hard surfaces," but an obverse defect.
I’ve held a couple while ANA and Long Beach lot viewing. Lots of other cool stuff too. It’s a great way to get up close & personal with some really awesome coins.