Have you ever experienced looking through an accumulation of coins and .............

SanctionII

............. had one coin simply stand out from all of the rest and cause you to think "Holy Cr-p, what is this?"

It happened to me almost 4 years ago when I found a 1961 DDR Proof Half, possibly a Cameo, in and OGP set. That caused my heart rate to go up. It also happened again to me recently, though circumstances are such that determining what the coin could possibly be will take some time.

ctf_error_coins

Found a quarter struck on a nickel planchet from a group of supposedly junk errors.

Think I paid about 2 bucks and sold for $200.

yosclimber

<< <i>determining what the coin could possibly be will take some time. >>


An ancient?

howards

That scenario is what started me collecting shield nickel varieties.

I was looking through a dealer junk box and stumbled across an 1868 doubled die obverse with a very wide spread. Had no clue what it was because I didn't know anything about doubled die at the time. Just knew I'd not seen anything like it. So I paid the few dollars the dealer wanted and took it home, and asked questions until I understood the coin.

Still have that coin!

MrHalfDime

Several years ago I helped a local family whose senior member had recently passed away, leaving them a large and very disorganized coin collection. None of the surviving heirs knew anything about coins, and sought my guidance in securing the maximum value for their inheritance. After many months of searching through numerous coffee cans, cigar boxes, and even a Craftsman tool box full of loose coins I was able to organize the collection to a point where it could be sold. After another few months we had completed the orderly sale of the collection, netting the family many thousands in found money. After the sale of the collection was complete, the two brothers came to my house to settle up with me. They brought with them one last cigar box of loose, foreign coins which they had discovered in their relative's desk. I quickly sorted through the cigar box, moving the coins around with my index finger, and spotted one US silver coin, a quarter. I told them that this coin, at least, would have some value, and should not be sold 'by the pound' like the others. It was a Standing Liberty quarter, reverse side up, and I immediately noticed that there were no stars under the eagle. I, of course, though we had found a 1917 Type 1 quarter, a nice coin to be sure. But when I turned it over I was stunned to see that it was was a 1916, in G-VG grade! I was speechless, and told the brothers that we were not quite done. Not my coin, but still exciting to find.

keets

not an accumulation, but about 10-12 years ago when I was doing shift work I couldn't attend a Monday club meeting and the auction. two days later I was riding to another club meeting with my current boss and we were talking about what he had won, I expressed my dissappoinment because there was a 1940 Proof Jefferson listed. he told me he had won the coin and when we got to our destination and settled in he pulled it out to show me and offered it for sale.

I first looked at the obverse and when I turned it over it was a Reverse of 38 that subsequently graded PR67 at PCGS.

drfish

My ex-wife's grandmother left her a cigar box mostly full of silver Washington quarters and Roosevelt dimes. Sorting through the silver,l came across two nice au 1914-d Lincoln cents. Oddly and unfortunately both were added mint mark fakes ( verified by TPG ) The grandmother had a rather large coin collection at one time, so she was likely ripped off purchasing these "key" dates. No one knew what happened to the rest of the collection

GotTheBug

.

johnny9434

i know someone who went thru a jar of his grand fathers wheat backs after the grandfather passed on and got a 1955 double die. he still has it as a memento.

Walkerguy21D

I was appraising a collection/hoard some years back for a co-worker....one small box was labeled 'silver dollars'....which contained junk 21P Morgans and 22P/23P Peace dollars.....except for one beautiful slider 28P Peace dollar. I had read afterward that a number of 28P Peace Dollars were released in the OH area back in the late 50's, and wondered if this was one of those.

amwldcoin

I bought a collection 1 time around 15 years that was Tons and tons of crap to take to the bank. Getting near the end out popped 2 1903-O Barber dimes. I asked the guy how did these end up in your collection? He said they were his grandfathers. I had them graded and at the time were the 2 finest known!

roadrunner

A local coin/stamp dealer gave me a call back around 2003 that they had a small box of circ type and junk coins they had just purchased otc. He mentioned an XF 20c piece, an AU seated quarter, and some other stuff. I made a point to stop down a day later. The price for the lot was $500 which was fair...with one coin removed.....that seated quarter. I paid him the $500 and sold all but the one coin a few weeks later for $500. That 1871 quarter was no AU. It was fully choice unc and would have graded higher if not for the tiny wipe lines it had accumulated from sliding around in that wooden box with all the other coins. It came back NGC MS63 and I wholesaled it for $1200. Made my day. Not a big score but certainly fun.

ianrussell

Not coins, but similar. Back in 1995 or 1996, I lived on the Northern Beaches in Sydney and worked for Stanley Gibbons (a stamp, coin and currency auction house). We received a call from a client about 3 p.m. about her stamp collection that she wanted to sell. It was only a five minute detour on the way home, so I thought I'd go visit that same day. Lovely lady with an amazing home who was selling her late husband's stamp collection. Looking through about 6 albums of stamps - nothing real special - until one of the last pages. He had a very rare unissued stamp of China (1956 With Rays Tiananmen Square), which I had only seen on the front of auction catalogs previously. We ended up auctioning it for the lady for about US$50,000. She was very happy. She had no idea how he got such a rare stamp, but more than likely got it in the 1960s when it was relatively cheap.

- Ian

SanctionII

Good stories.

Keep them coming.

For my latest experience the coin is not an ancient.

USMarine6

As an auctioneer I come across a lot of common stuff that most of the time should just be deposited in the bank. One day a fellow auctioneer called me and said he had a bunch of coins he needed for me to sell for him. I got to his house and he gave me three milk crates of coin albums. The consigner had no idea and thought that maybe there was about $500 bucks worth. After getting it home I was able to go through and inventory everything. I couldn't believe it when I started pulling out platinum, gold, silver sets from the middle east and Russia. After it was all said and done after my fees the consigner was handed over $8000. The other Auctioneer and consigner were amazed as to what was in those milk crates.

Zoins

<< <i>Not coins, but similar. Back in 1995 or 1996, I lived on the Northern Beaches in Sydney and worked for Stanley Gibbons (a stamp, coin and currency auction house). We received a call from a client about 3 p.m. about her stamp collection that she wanted to sell. It was only a five minute detour on the way home, so I thought I'd go visit that same day. Lovely lady with an amazing home who was selling her late husband's stamp collection. Looking through about 6 albums of stamps - nothing real special - until one of the last pages. He had a very rare unissued stamp of China (1956 With Rays Tiananmen Square), which I had only seen on the front of auction catalogs previously. We ended up auctioning it for the lady for about US$50,000. She was very happy. She had no idea how he got such a rare stamp, but more than likely got it in the 1960s when it was relatively cheap.

- Ian >>



Nice story on finding a rarity! Amazing where rarities can come from.

ricko

I always help (when asked) to evaluate coin collections.... I have never had good the good fortune described in several of the above posts. Always interesting though and I enjoy it... Cheers, RickO

Walkerguy21D

<< <i>Good stories.

Keep them coming. >>


Ok, here's another, although I was not the initial finder....at the Central FL show a few years back, a 'sheet dealer' from the Tampa area who's stock I always check out had a nice original 1880 shield nickel....ironically, a dealer friend of mine had recently told me about flipping an 1880 shield nickel at a big show for a nice profit, saying they were rarer than many people realize and sell for well over Greysheet.
So I inquire about this coin, the dealer says 'dealers have been trying that coin all day long as a Fine, but I think it's a VF, and I want full VF Bid for it. A lady brought a little tin of junk coins into my shop last week, and this was in there. I almost fell over. I've been dealing for over 40 years and it's the first 1880 shield nickel I've ever owned - and you know what, it was the only worthwhile coin in the whole group. How it got in there with the rest of the junk I have no idea, but I did pay her a fair price for it'.....I said, well I'll take it....he then adds 'well since you didn't argue grade or price, I'll knock another $50 off for you'.....After I got home, I checked CoinFacts, and at the time, they stated less than 100 business strikes were known. I sold the coin at Winter FUN to Rich Urich for ~2X....

crazyhounddog

I had a holy crap moment when I looked at your Franklin collection of proof cameos at the coin show. Yeah, holy crap they are just all gorgeous my friend and they have haunted me ever since I saw them.

coindeuce

I previously related the story here of finding a Chain Cent in a box full of crappy English coppers from the 18th & 19th century. The coin graded PO1 at PCGS and was sold for the benefit of the Historical Society of my hometown.

SanctionII

Glad you liked my Frankie Crazyhoundog. It has been fun putting the set together.

amwldcoin

Here's another one with a different spin. Got a call from a friend that an elderly lady in his church had some coins she wanted to sell. He said it probably wouldn't take too long. We went to her house the next day at noon. She greets us and takes us downstairs. In a room probably 20 X 30 was boxes and stuff piled 2 feet deep wall to wall,end to end! I went to work. There was nothing rare...but the sheer volume was unfathomable! After around 6 hours I was going through proof and mint sets. I pulled out a very common mintset that had 10 $100 bills inside with it. I handed them to the lady and told her I didn't think she would want to leave these in the mintset! Around midnight I was half through the deal. Obviously I was never going to finish. I said we need to do something with what I had gone through already. She agreed and patiently waited while I added everything up. When I told her what I would pay she literally fell out of her chair and started crying. It was well into 5 figures more than she was expecting. I had a suburban and had to pile it high! Almost didn't think I was going to have enough room!

Unfortunately I never had the chance to buy the other half. She had a knew boyfriend that convinced her I had ripped her off. My friend talked with her and she said I was cheating her. Her new boyfriend convinced her I paid 1/2 what a gold eagle was worth. This was a 1/2 ounce and he told her it was an ounce. My friend was a deacon at the church and carefully watched me as I figured the deal. His conclusion was the new boyfriend wanted to get his hands in the pot. We never found out what happened with the rest.

What was really sad for me is I never figured out who the man was. He had many coins still in my holders he had bought from me years earlier.