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RECORD PRICE - Stacks on 11/2/10 for this 1942 J-2059 Black plastic pattern. Sold for $27,600.

orevilleoreville Posts: 11,772 ✭✭✭✭✭
No, I was NOT even close to winning this one!

Item Description as per Stacks:

1942 pattern cent. J-2059, P-unlisted. Rarity-7-. MS-61 (NGC).

Black plastic. Plain edge. Deep ebony color throughout with the devices firmly impressed on Liberty and the wreath, other areas a bit shallow in strike as this curious planchet choice was employed for coinage. The mint was desperate to find any substitute for the copper cent, as all copper was in great need for the war effort to make shells and whatnot. A mix of planchet choices were struck in an attempt to find any substitute that would work, of course the mint finally settled on a zinc coated steel planchet to make the famed 1943 white pennies. It is likely that a black plastic coin like this was too light weight to be practical and not durable enough to withstand continued circulation, but here is an example of just how far the mint was willing to go to find a suitable substitute for copper. A rarity with perhaps 9-12 known of this planchet stock.



From the Tim Benford Collection.


imageimage


Realized price $27,600. This is MORE than TRIPLE the previous high prices! I was blown out of the water.
A Collectors Universe poster since 1997!

Comments

  • like billy may used to say......"isn't that amazing!"
  • Gotta love the 1942 cent patterns. I've been trying to by them for years
  • BroadstruckBroadstruck Posts: 30,497 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Just goes to prove it's all about the right plastic at auctions these days! image
    To Err Is Human.... To Collect Err's Is Just Too Much Darn Tootin Fun!
  • Does this mean that it's in a metal holder? Or, are we going to have to wait for Scotty to invent transparent aluminum?
    Improperly Cleaned, Our passion for numismatics is Genuine! Now featuring correct spelling.
  • pontiacinfpontiacinf Posts: 8,915 ✭✭
    wow O thanks for sharing that. I have never even noticed cent patterns before, but now I will
    be taking a closer look.

    Hope all is well on your end my friend~
    image

    Go BIG or GO HOME. ©Bill
  • coindeucecoindeuce Posts: 13,471 ✭✭✭✭✭
    It would not surprise me to eventually learn that this U.S. Pattern may have been bought by or for the Pattern collector that Legend Numismatics has in their fold.

    "Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
    http://www.americanlegacycoins.com

  • BillJonesBillJones Posts: 33,427 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I could have bought a brown plastic one for a few thousand (2 or 3 grand, I can't remember now), back in the late 1980s. Back then some collectors were concerned about whether or not they were legal to own.
    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
  • orevilleoreville Posts: 11,772 ✭✭✭✭✭
    pontiacinf: Yes indeed all is well my friend! I hope you are doing great too!

    realone: You said:



    << <i>Oreville you must be stoked by the appreciation that you are getting on your investment in them! Congrads....great call...you took the risk...you deserve the reward! >>



    Interestingly, any "satisfaction" that you speak of is definitely outweighed by the sadness that I was not able to procure this black plastic pattern at my expected price of around $5000 TO $7000.

    ...And that my friend realone is the difference between a collector and an investor.
    A Collectors Universe poster since 1997!
  • orevilleoreville Posts: 11,772 ✭✭✭✭✭
    realone:




    << <i>Sorry Sir my mistake and won't happen again, somehow gleamed that from our pm's. >>



    Oh, don't think it was a pure mistake on your part. It isn't. No one wants to see the value of what coins/patterns/whatever go DOWN after they buy them but when the collector, even investor is still in a buying mode, they don't want to pay sharply higher prices. The natural order of things plus the sadness of being priced out of the set they love to do.

    In my view, it is a tug of war between the investor and collector mindset and I believe, to some degree, we all live with that constant tug of war.

    It is only when the collector has reached the end of his accumulation phase of his collecting cycle, (whether in late stages of his life and/or retirement or when after completing a set, etc.) is the collector purely hopeful of respectable price appreciation or in the worst case scenario, no depreciation.
    A Collectors Universe poster since 1997!
  • keyman64keyman64 Posts: 15,452 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Coool
    "If it's not fun, it's not worth it." - KeyMan64
    Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners. :smile:
  • dcarrdcarr Posts: 7,936 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Slab that one in a metal holder ! image
  • CaptHenwayCaptHenway Posts: 31,499 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Does this mean that it's in a metal holder? Or, are we going to have to wait for Scotty to invent transparent aluminum? >>




    (Speaking directly into the wired mouse): "Computer!"


    image
    Numismatist. 50 year member ANA. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner numerous NLG Literary Awards.
  • BroadstruckBroadstruck Posts: 30,497 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I wouldn't want to be into one of these at $28K as they are too risky...

    If you leave it under the light source while taking a photo a bit too long your investment could melt before your eyes! image
    To Err Is Human.... To Collect Err's Is Just Too Much Darn Tootin Fun!
  • Dog97Dog97 Posts: 7,875 ✭✭✭
    Looks brittle. What is it, bakeolite?
    Change that we can believe in is that change which is 90% silver.
  • BearBear Posts: 18,954 ✭✭
    Seems kinda crazy to me. However, what do I know,

    I am just an old fuzzy bear.image
    There once was a place called
    Camelotimage
  • AuroraBorealisAuroraBorealis Posts: 3,591 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Looks like a purchase of passion IMO...Obviously was really wanted and most likely the new owner is very happy...Not that it is my cup of tea but still a very cool coin... image

    ABimage
  • IrishMikeyIrishMikey Posts: 1,561 ✭✭✭
    When I think of all the neat coins I could buy for $27,000 vs. owning a single piece, I just
    have to shake my head. You could put together a really nice set of Flying Eagle and Indian
    cents in choice EF condition, and have money left over.

    image
  • MrEurekaMrEureka Posts: 23,892 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I could have bought a brown plastic one for a few thousand (2 or 3 grand, I can't remember now), back in the late 1980s.

    The brown plastic ones are still sometimes available in that range, maybe a bit more. The black one is far rarer, though, which explains the higher price.
    Andy Lustig

    Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.

    Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
  • Wow. Though it's not unusual to see coins like this go for astronomical prices these days.
  • coindeucecoindeuce Posts: 13,471 ✭✭✭✭✭
    There is a pair of the brown "plastic" variety tucked away that I have seen, which is in the family possession of the heirs to a career employee of Durez Corporation. I dislike the loosely used term plastic as it has been applied in numismatic reference works to the versions manufactured by Durez. They are technically composed of phenolic resin, and as such are very delicate and prone to damage.

    "Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
    http://www.americanlegacycoins.com

  • orevilleoreville Posts: 11,772 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The J-2059 "black plastic" may very well be of the same exact composition as my J-2067 black bakelite 1942 cent pattern shown below:

    1942 1c J-2067 Bakelite.


    1942 J-2067 PCGS/CAC MS-63 (Reiver collection) Formerly NGC MS-63. Pop 1 in all grades. ANR/Stacks June 2006 Lake Michigan & Springdale Collection June 2006 lot 1045 $4,617.00

    Bakelite. Plain edge. Reflective deep black bakelite, a plastic like substance that was used for plugs and other electrical items in the 1950s.

    image
    image
    A Collectors Universe poster since 1997!

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