Penny worth $3 million? Fred Weinberg says, "It is NOT a genuine mint error."
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Penny worth $3 million?
By Barrett J. Brunsman • bbrunsman@enquirer.com • November 17, 2010
BETHEL - Ken Mason laughed at the notion that a penny he sold for $25,000 in 1972 might be worth $3 million today.
He has no regrets about parting with the 1936 coin, which might be unique because of a minting error.
"It's got heads and tails on the same side," Mason said.
"Some supposed experts say it's a fake," said Mason, 77, who said he found it in 1960. "If I don't ever get a penny more out of that penny, it ain't going to worry me to death."
However, the sock drawer in which Mason once kept the Lincoln penny was traded Wednesday for the keys to a 1979 Cadillac.
The man who proposed the deal was Dan Wilkins, a Californian who bought the penny from Mason 38 years ago.
Wilkins figures the penny is worth $3 million now - based on the value of other rare coins.
"I have never put it up for sale, (but) it's one of a kind," Wilkins said. "I never questioned it's authenticity."
The front of the penny supposedly shows both the head of Abraham Lincoln and the wheat stalks that normally are on the back.
"It looked like it got stuck in the die, and it got re-stamped," said Wilkins, 64.
"It's totally ridiculous (that some) think it's a fake," Wilkins said. "It's jealousy."
Fred Weinberg, a respected dealer in so-called error coins, is among those who think the penny isn't worth much - if anything.
Weinberg said Wilkins was in his office two years ago but wouldn't allow him to see the coin, which prevented him from authenticating it.
But "from the photos he showed me in my office, the coin is without a doubt 1,000 percent damaged," Weinberg said. "It is NOT a genuine mint error."
So-called double struck coins are worth $300 to $500 in general if genuine, said the dealer, who is president of Fred Weinberg & Co.
Wilkins confirmed that he had met with Weinberg.
"They claim it's a man-made coin, probably," Wilkins said of cynics.
Wilkins said he wanted the sock drawer where the penny had been kept by Mason to use in a display for the coin. He hopes to create a traveling museum. "People would come to see the most famous penny in the world," Wilkins said. "If it were fake, it's still a celebrity."
"I was a barber from 1956 to 1970," Mason said, explaining how he came across the coin. "I dealt with coinage all the time.
"I knew it was one of a kind," Mason said. "I socked it away in 1963. I wrapped it up in an old sock, and I put in my sock drawer.
Linky
Ken Mason, of Bethel, holds a photocopy of the Lincoln Penny from 1936 that he sold to collector Dan Wilkins some 30 years ago.
The penny is now worth many times more than that.
By Barrett J. Brunsman • bbrunsman@enquirer.com • November 17, 2010
BETHEL - Ken Mason laughed at the notion that a penny he sold for $25,000 in 1972 might be worth $3 million today.
He has no regrets about parting with the 1936 coin, which might be unique because of a minting error.
"It's got heads and tails on the same side," Mason said.
"Some supposed experts say it's a fake," said Mason, 77, who said he found it in 1960. "If I don't ever get a penny more out of that penny, it ain't going to worry me to death."
However, the sock drawer in which Mason once kept the Lincoln penny was traded Wednesday for the keys to a 1979 Cadillac.
The man who proposed the deal was Dan Wilkins, a Californian who bought the penny from Mason 38 years ago.
Wilkins figures the penny is worth $3 million now - based on the value of other rare coins.
"I have never put it up for sale, (but) it's one of a kind," Wilkins said. "I never questioned it's authenticity."
The front of the penny supposedly shows both the head of Abraham Lincoln and the wheat stalks that normally are on the back.
"It looked like it got stuck in the die, and it got re-stamped," said Wilkins, 64.
"It's totally ridiculous (that some) think it's a fake," Wilkins said. "It's jealousy."
Fred Weinberg, a respected dealer in so-called error coins, is among those who think the penny isn't worth much - if anything.
Weinberg said Wilkins was in his office two years ago but wouldn't allow him to see the coin, which prevented him from authenticating it.
But "from the photos he showed me in my office, the coin is without a doubt 1,000 percent damaged," Weinberg said. "It is NOT a genuine mint error."
So-called double struck coins are worth $300 to $500 in general if genuine, said the dealer, who is president of Fred Weinberg & Co.
Wilkins confirmed that he had met with Weinberg.
"They claim it's a man-made coin, probably," Wilkins said of cynics.
Wilkins said he wanted the sock drawer where the penny had been kept by Mason to use in a display for the coin. He hopes to create a traveling museum. "People would come to see the most famous penny in the world," Wilkins said. "If it were fake, it's still a celebrity."
"I was a barber from 1956 to 1970," Mason said, explaining how he came across the coin. "I dealt with coinage all the time.
"I knew it was one of a kind," Mason said. "I socked it away in 1963. I wrapped it up in an old sock, and I put in my sock drawer.
Linky
Ken Mason, of Bethel, holds a photocopy of the Lincoln Penny from 1936 that he sold to collector Dan Wilkins some 30 years ago.
The penny is now worth many times more than that.
0
Comments
roadrunner
<< <i>I'm gonna go head and take Fred's word for it on this one... >>
An excellent decision!
TD
<< <i>
<< <i>I'm gonna go head and take Fred's word for it on this one... >>
An excellent decision!
TD >>
<< <i>Weinberg said Wilkins was in his office two years ago but wouldn't allow him to see the coin, which prevented him from authenticating it. >>
This is the part that makes no sense. Was the guy expecting to get a megabucks sight-unseen offer?
<< <i>Lincoln Mystery Cent >>
Thanks mrpotatoheadd for the link!
And from the article in COINS: "(Of course, there were only five 1913 Liberty Nickels and they were counterfeit, stolen from the US Mint.)" -- Interesting theory....
TD
he's not always right. I have a rotated die Peace Dollar that I disagree with his opinion on.
<< <i>Even if real, aren't these relative common errors? >>
Not common as Flip-Over Double Strikes are kinda scarce on Wheaties.
1986 issue of CoinAge maazine
"Keep your malarkey filter in good operating order" -Walter Breen
Then send it to PCGS and see what they have to say!!!
I think he deals in REAL error coins.
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I see that Fred owns Press Kit #16. I think we need to press Fred for more details about his press kit. Did it include a vise?
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>"I was a barber from 1956 to 1970," Mason said, explaining how he came across the coin. "I dealt with coinage all the time. >>
Well, in that case, he must know what he's talking about.
<< <i>"I knew it was one of a kind," Mason said. "I socked it away in 1963. I wrapped it up in an old sock, and I put in my sock drawer. >>
Too bad he didn't wrap it in a Taco Bell napkin in 1963. That would now be worth much more than the coin.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
<< <i>Sounds like Wilkins is stuck in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe!
More like the Land of Don't wanna Believe!
The name is LEE!
I converted his PDF file to a jpeg
(seems a fair deal)
Numerous quotes throughout the articles point toward this being a 30-plus-years publicity stunt. E.g., "I was a little concerned at first by the publicity. I thought it might hurt my plans. But really it's done just the opposite. I've been able to give the American people a little hope or fantasy or interest in coins."
<< <i>Ray Charles could tell it's PMD. >>
Oh yeah... Not from a Painting!
<< <i>I'm a billionaire then!!!!!!! >>
Me Too... In Mind, Not Wallet!
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
I learned this lesson early. In high school I was dating a girl who took me home to meet her parents. They were all excited when they heard I knew something about coins. They showed me a coin that her father said he found in a $50 bag of new cents. I examined it, and told them the bad news that it was actually damaged outside of the mint. They got very upset and told me that I was absolutely wrong. In fact, they said, they had turned down an offer of $50,000 for it. I told them -- "You should have accepted that offer." Dead, awkward silence. I left for the movies with her right after that, and I never darkened their doorway again.
Coin Rarities Online
TD
P.S.: What was the movie???
<insert popcorn emoticon here>
pull out a vise and make Fred his own $3 million cent, so the "jealousy" can subside.
<< <i>Dave........may we assume from that story that you were thrown out at first base????
TD
P.S.: What was the movie???
<insert popcorn emoticon here> >>
I actually got along fine with her after that (though we dated only a few more times), but I think I, in my youthful arrogance, caught her dad in a "fib" about getting that $50,000 offer (probably one that he had told many times in the past). So -- I figured it was best not to hang around there any more.
Coin Rarities Online
roadrunner
<< <i>As a dealer, you learn to develop a sixth sense about those people who think they have something rare and, despite all evidence to the contrary (sometimes including pointing out that the word "copy" has been stamped into the field), they absolutely refuse to believe that it is anything other than an extremely valuable rare coin. These days, once I've done what I can to help them I usually congratulate them on owning that item, then get away from them as fast as I can.
I learned this lesson early. In high school I was dating a girl who took me home to meet her parents. They were all excited when they heard I knew something about coins. They showed me a coin that her father said he found in a $50 bag of new cents. I examined it, and told them the bad news that it was actually damaged outside of the mint. They got very upset and told me that I was absolutely wrong. In fact, they said, they had turned down an offer of $50,000 for it. I told them -- "You should have accepted that offer." Dead, awkward silence. I left for the movies with her right after that, and I never darkened their doorway again. >>
Unfortunately their is a huge hole is your story. You were interested in coins and dating a girl in high school.
<< <i>
<< <i>As a dealer, you learn to develop a sixth sense about those people who think they have something rare and, despite all evidence to the contrary (sometimes including pointing out that the word "copy" has been stamped into the field), they absolutely refuse to believe that it is anything other than an extremely valuable rare coin. These days, once I've done what I can to help them I usually congratulate them on owning that item, then get away from them as fast as I can.
I learned this lesson early. In high school I was dating a girl who took me home to meet her parents. They were all excited when they heard I knew something about coins. They showed me a coin that her father said he found in a $50 bag of new cents. I examined it, and told them the bad news that it was actually damaged outside of the mint. They got very upset and told me that I was absolutely wrong. In fact, they said, they had turned down an offer of $50,000 for it. I told them -- "You should have accepted that offer." Dead, awkward silence. I left for the movies with her right after that, and I never darkened their doorway again. >>
Unfortunately their is a huge hole is your story. You were interested in coins and dating a girl in high school.
Actually, there are 2 holes in my story. I also wrote:
"They were all excited when they heard I knew something about coins."
That doesn't sound very credible either, but the incident really did happen.
Coin Rarities Online
<< <i>Hey, why fight lets join em, OK its genuine mint error........could be worth approx $30k to $50k if slabbed by PCGS as a mint error by you know who our own Fred W. >>
A gorgeous toned dramatic MS65 teens example has ventured through a few auctions and dealers at asks of $3.5-5K in the last 2 years.
If the wheat stalks are struck so clearly on the obverse, where is the rest of the reverse?
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>Hey, why fight lets join em, OK its genuine mint error........could be worth approx $30k to $50k if slabbed by PCGS as a mint error by you know who our own Fred W. >>
A gorgeous toned dramatic MS65 teens example has ventured through a few auctions and dealers at asks of $3.5-5K in the last 2 years. >>
Broadstruck, do you only usually read the first line of paragraph, if you read further you would understand what I was saying, but when you just take part of one's quote it can be very misleading, so all I can say is
I didn't see a shot at you, only an attempt to correct the scale. Guy's still a dumbarse.
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