Newman Coin Box

steveben · October 28, 2016 10:15AM

i used to live in a town called old fort, north carolina. it's near christopher bechtler's town of rutherfordton. growing up we learned about the gold rush in north carolina, places gold was found and mined, and cool stories about that part of history.

if you'd like to learn more about this stuff, i highly recommend reading Kagin's book on pioneer gold and:

Gold & Glory: North Carolina Gold & the Bechtler Heritage by Robin Spencer Lattimore

anyway...

i bought a $5 bechtler from the eric newman sale by heritage.

i have posted it before to other threads. it's an awesome piece of coin history that i am really grateful to be the caretaker of, for the time being. anyway, that's not what this thread is about.

but... check out that toning. hmmm.

when i received the coin, i got this little box with it:

***** disclaimer ***** my photos suck. but, you get photos!

this is the top side:

and the bottom:

i wondered many things when looking this box
...how long did newman keep the bechtler coin in it?
...did the coin tone because of it?
...why didn't he fill out the cost on the box?
...where did he keep the box?
...why i am here?
...what is the meaning of life?

then, i wondered...what could i put inside now??

another gold coin maybe? but gold doesn't tone unless it has sufficient amount of other metals that do tone in it's composition, right?

around the same time, i bought two of these:

well, they have 15% silver in them...and i have two! for more information on these coins, check out this link:

dc-coin.com/coloradogoldrushsesquicentennialpioneergold1troyoz999satinfinish-1-1-1-3-1.aspx

this one has been in the box for two years:

the results aren't dramatic, but the two coins do look quite different.

here's the one that stayed in the original holder, in the same safe beside the other coin:

here they are side by side...left was in the box, right was not:

the boxed coin has developed some spotting, which is unfortunate, but the overall look is darker and more orange than the non-boxed coin, which looks more like it did when i got it. i think over time the boxed coin could look more and more interesting...or not.

after all this, i have decided to try again with a 2012 volcano quarter. here's day one in the box:

i hope to update this thread with some interesting toning in the future. we'll see.

mkman123 · October 28, 2016 10:20AM

Very neat, thanks for sharing this!

slider23 · October 28, 2016 10:29AM

I understand that Newman stored coins in many different ways. Some coins would be stored in wooden cabinets, albums, boxes, etc as he wanted to observe how coins reacted in different storage environments.

DNADave · October 28, 2016 10:34AM

I know you didn't ask for my opinion, but I'm going to give it.

That is a sweet looking Bechtler piece. I'd love to own something close to that some day.

RogerB · October 28, 2016 10:46AM

Coin and box are nice small treasures. Eric Newman rarely sold any coins; his interest was and remains in the history and what could be learned from the pieces and their background. "Price" was not a factor for him so it is not surprising that the line is blank. Putting an imitation or fake into the box seems somehow sacrilegious.

Walkerfan · October 28, 2016 10:51AM

Great story and fascinating piece of history.

jonruns · October 28, 2016 12:13PM

GREAT STUFF!!!

1630Boston · October 28, 2016 12:14PM

Numismatic history at its finest.

steveben · October 28, 2016 2:23PM

@RogerB said:
Coin and box are nice small treasures. Eric Newman rarely sold any coins; his interest was and remains in the history and what could be learned from the pieces and their background. "Price" was not a factor for him so it is not surprising that the line is blank. Putting an imitation or fake into the box seems somehow sacrilegious.

thanks for your comments. they are interesting.

he did put a price on lots of coins he bought. if you go back and look, most coins were stored in paper envelopes and had his purchase price on them.

i don't agree with the comment on the dan carr gruber. it's not a fake or imitation coin. while it does not have the numismatic significance as Newman's Bechtler, there are parallels. it is a privately minted half eagle gold coin using local specie. dan owns the clark gruber rights and the coin is made using an actual Denver mint press. to say it's fake or imitation is just not fair. maybe you don't like the coin, that's fine, but please give credit where it is due.