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The $500,000 fingerprint
tradedollarnut
Posts: 20,147 ✭✭✭✭✭
Based on the price realized of the Newman 1799 dollar (which I graded 66+ and of similar quality), I think it safe to say that this is the most expensive fingerprint on a coin ever:
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Best wishes for a good weekend,
Eric
<< <i>What this coin needs is a good story about how George Washington touched it just before his death on Dec. 14, 1799.
he handed it to his wife
<< <i>Maybe they're thinking they'll tie the DNA to that of a founding father >>
I was thinking along the same line. It would be very interesting to be able to tie
a DNA match to whomever the print belongs to...but you'd have to have their
DNA in a data bank to get a hit.
Could have been anyone from the past that 'pinched' it.
<< <i>I like it no matter whose it was or whatever the story. A testament to its originality and it being natural. I wish every caretaker would just leave their coisn alone and stop trying to figure ways to enhance the darn pieces of metal inorder to reap even more. >>
I'm making no assertions about this coin, but a fingerprint on a coin does not make the coin original; it merely means that a fingerprint is on the coin.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
<< <i>Sorry guys but this coin is famous for being the one truly original bust dollar. Drips with luster - just has that darn print. >>
I clicked on the Press Release and the accompanying photo of this specimen looks quite a bit darker (and more along the lines of what one would expect to see on a truly original coin) than the photo in the OP. The PR photo also clearly shows a second fingerprint at 9 o'clock on the obverse.
<< <i>Press release referencing the two >>
Thank you.
<< <i>
<< <i>Sorry guys but this coin is famous for being the one truly original bust dollar. Drips with luster - just has that darn print. >>
I clicked on the Press Release and the accompanying photo of this specimen looks quite a bit darker (and more along the lines of what one would expect to see on a truly original coin) than the photo in the OP. The PR photo also clearly shows a second fingerprint at 9 o'clock on the obverse. >>
Good catch!
Isn't it amazing what one can do with lighting!
The thread title reminded me of the story of the infamous $40,000 or $50,000 fingerprint on the former MS69 Indian Cent:
http://forums.collectors.com/arcmessageview.cfm?catid=26&threadid=1035
http://forums.collectors.com/messageview.cfm?catid=26&threadid=899748
<< <i>What is going on with the obverse rim at 2 o'clock, and the corresponding reverse rim at 4 o'clock? Minor rim clip? >>
Anyone?
Class?
Bueller?
The second print is almost insignificant in Coinfacts. What does it really look
like in person is all that counts.
“I may not believe in myself but I believe in what I’m doing” ~Jimmy Page~
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947)
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
<< <i>I'm bothered by it, especially @ 500K! It is not a minor print. >>
You missed the point - the fingerprint knocks $500k off the value. From $800k (price realized on the Newman coin) to $300k (a bit more than I paid a couple of years ago).
<< <i>
<< <i>I'm bothered by it, especially @ 500K! It is not a minor print. >>
You missed the point - the fingerprint knocks $500k off the value. From $800k (price realized on the Newman coin) to $300k (a bit more than I paid a couple of years ago). >>
I need to read more thoroughly---thanks for clarifying.
“I may not believe in myself but I believe in what I’m doing” ~Jimmy Page~
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947)
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
And another example of how great TrueViews are.
<< <i>It looks worse in the press release image than the Coinfacts image.
The second print is almost insignificant in Coinfacts. What does it really look
like in person is all that counts.
IMO, both are accurate depending on how the light is hitting the coin.
This coin has an awesome strike, but the eye appeal is not so awesome, jmo.
I knew it would happen.
... not that this one isn't rather impressive even with the print.
I think about a coin prior history - way back then - coins were made not to collect but as a means of conducting commerce. (yes there were presentation pieces but this wasn't one of them) So this coin shows someone a long time ago put away this coin and saved it from commerce and preserved it from alot of history - The coin is about 213 years old - if the average life expectancy was 60 years old then this coin had minimum 4 to 5 caretakers. In the early years, no one paid big bucks for this coin so - hats off to those that owned that coin and saved this coin from circulation, unfortunately one person during that time mishandled the coin - for a brief second. We still have a treasure from our past preserved in great shape except for that darn fingerprint.
100% Positive BST transactions
<< <i>I forgot I had an image I took of this TDN
I think that's true to how the coin really is - the fingerprint is fairly translucent except at one angle
Any chance that this "Boston" specimen traces back to NERCG (Jim Halperin) in the mid-1970's?
Great coin.
<< <i>But a beautiful and historical coin where the print actually adds to its interest, thanks for letting me see it. >>
Unless a print can be proven or documented to belong to a famous person, I don't understand how any print can add anything to a coin other than negative eye appeal.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
I think the fact that the source of the print will never be known, and it may be from the original owner, just adds to the provenance on a coin like this.
I hate prints on most coins. And no doubt this print left some money on the table. But there is something very original about this coin I loved
when seeing it in person, dripping with mint luster, and tagged by someone who held it centuries ago by their two grubby thumbs.
The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin
Coins in Movies
Coins on Television
<< <i>I find it absolutely astonishing how a 200+ year old piece of silver can remain essentially untoned, yet if one cleans a silver spoon and sets it on the counter it will be black in six months. either silver becomes magically protected from tarnishing when it is in the shape of a coin or perhaps there is some other explanation. >>
It is far from essentially untoned...but yes, the higher the silver content the faster it tones. A piece of silver flatware is .925 whereas a coin is .900