Half Disme and silver Libertas Americana medal on tonight's Pawn Stars

1TwoBits

I was surprised to see Walter Husak on Pawn Stars trying to sell a half disme and silver Libertas medal. Jeff Garrett was the expert that gave the appraisal for Rick.

The half disme was too much, but Rick was able to buy the Libertas for $150k on Jeff's $200k estimate. Anyone else watching?

1TwoBits

vplite

Thanks for the heads up - I see 2 new episodes starting a 10. PST.

Zoins

Sounds like a fun episode!

keyman64

I watched. All I could think during the episode was, "Is that really the right outlet to sell coins like that?" But what do I know? Did he just want to be on TV so that was his method of "paying" to be on TV, giving up $20-50K?

Walkerfan

I watched it and thought it was super cool. The seller wanted 600k for the half disme. Garrett estimated it at between 500 to 600k. I had to laugh, as Rick was almost afraid to handle it....Such an expensive and historical piece. It graded MS 65! He said he didn't think hwase could find a buyer for it and it would be a financial hardship for the store. Lol He did end up buying the silver libertas medal for 150k, so yes, I think the seller left nearly 50K on the table, as it was worth 200k all day long.

PS--I wondered who the seller was, so I googled Walter Husak.....very interesting.

Batman23

I suppose that if you owned $800,000 in two coins and likely had much more value in your collections/accounts/etc... Dropping $50,000 for the chance to be on a popular TV show and showing off your prized half disme is not a big expense. Definitely an accomplishment of life that some might desire. And maybe with the current market (Disclaimer... I do not know the libertas medal market at all) that was an OK deal for some quick cash.

Sounds fun, I need to find this episode now!

Justacommeman

He paid way way too much for the Libertas in 61 IMHO. A 62 CAC went for 108K three years ago (Heritage) . It was being marketed for 125k ish last year. It was offered to me and I passed. Not sure if it sold. Probably did. Maybe that was an good buy. FWIW the PCGS price guide is 100k on a 61. They can come rather scruffy in that grade as you can imagine. Beautiful, rare, valuable but scruffy. I'm shocked Garrett gave a 200K estimate on it. Wonder if I missed something. Wonder when the episode was filmed. Hopefully Cardinal will chime in.

I enjoyed the episode very much. Thanks to the OP for call out.

mark

3keepSECRETif2rDEAD

...I just watched it in the man cave...it’s clouded with smoke in here so I had to stand up for a closer look when the segment ran...Way Cool

Timbuk3

Saw it, "awesome" !!!

Treashunt

@Zoins said:
Sounds like a fun episode!

Nah, they are in Vegas, FUN is in Florida.

291fifth

The PAWN STARS show has gone downhill since they actively started recruiting "rarities" to be offered on the show. Too much of the material offered is wildly overvalued by the owner. Much of the rest, when purchased, is bought for far more than a pawn shop should actually pay.

CommemDude

Despite the obvious set-ups with prearranged sellers, its interesting to see the negotiating process...Its actually a great public relations for pawn shops because they never show any rips of old ladies bringing in bags of gold coins.

In one episode, their guitar specialist appraiser gave an estimate of 30K and they ripped it for 14k crying "long time to sell this thing blah blah" only to flip it the next day to the same appraiser for 30K Thats as close as they have come to showing the dark side of pawn shops.

ricko

I really do not watch much TV at all...and the only time I watched that program was when Charmy was on it. Cheers, RickO

BigMoose

Walter told me the episode was filmed this past September. Apparently Jeff Garrett knew Rick was actually looking for a silver Libertas Medal. Walter had one and the meeting was arranged at the Long Beach Show.

oih82w8

Is that episode available on youtube? I missed it of course with my "night time" job.

PhilLynott

@291fifth said:
The PAWN STARS show has gone downhill since they actively started recruiting "rarities" to be offered on the show. Too much of the material offered is wildly overvalued by the owner. Much of the rest, when purchased, is bought for far more than a pawn shop should actually pay.

I see people saying this a lot and my response is always that it doesn't bother me. I'm not naïve and know things are set up but I watch the show to see cool items and learn a bit about things I've never seen before. Also, whether set up or not, having amazing coins on the show is great for the hobby.

BillJones

Sorry I missed it, but I had a root canal done yesterday, and I felt like death warmed over. I'm a little better today

RogerB

Contrived "entertainment" just like all the others and the radio people like Limbaugh and such.

Enjoy it but don't believe it.

CWT1863

Just watched it. I thought it was a great episode.

Barndog

sounds like the show is just as "real" as the real estate shows (see three, buy one).

Outhaul

Just another scripted "reality" show. Like watching paint dry.

ElKevvo

Funny because my son and I were flipping channels and saw that one last night. I have not watched the show in years so a good coincidence. My son thought the items were cool and liked the history...and he was amazed at the prices quoted! Also the spreads between the experts estimates and the value of the deal. Good times.

K

EagleEye

history.com Episode 16

You have to log in with your cable/satellite provider.

cardinal

@Justacommeman said:
He paid way way too much for the Libertas in 61 IMHO. A 62 CAC went for 108K three years ago (Heritage) . It was being marketed for 125k ish last year. It was offered to me and I passed. Not sure if it sold. Probably did. Maybe that was an good buy. FWIW the PCGS price guide is 100k on a 61. They can come rather scruffy in that grade as you can imagine. Beautiful, rare, valuable but scruffy. I'm shocked Garrett gave a 200K estimate on it. Wonder if I missed something. Wonder when the episode was filmed. Hopefully Cardinal will chime in.

I enjoyed the episode very much. Thanks to the OP for call out.

mark

I missed the episode last night, but I'll watch it online when I can. I was invited to be part of the filming, but work deadlines prevented that; otherwise, I would have gladly been there!

Jeff Garrett is one of the experts that gets brought in to evaluate numismatic items for the show. For this specific episode, Jeff was looking for both a half disme and a Libertas medal, and Jeff was able to locate them and had the respective owners' permission to have them appear on the show. The half disme is pedigreed to the Garrett Collection, and the silver Libertas medal was one that Jeff Garrett had sold some years back. (This particular Libertas medal has been in the Cardinal Collection for the past 6 years.)

Regarding the valuation of the silver Libertas medal in MS61, the piece needs to be regraded, as it is far superior to the other MS61-graded examples. I would call it MS62, or MS62+. The valuation of $200K came from me, and Walter Husak relayed that to Jeff Garrett. Yes, there are a number known in grades of 63 and 64, but this particular piece is one of just 3 known from the earliest state of the dies. That places it as definitely included in the first group of silver medals delivered to Benjamin Franklin on April 4th, 1783, and each of those were personally presented by Franklin himself to its original VIP recipient. These were truly the diplomatic presentation pieces -- and "First Strikes" at that! Following that first delivery, the Paris Mint struck additional batches for Franklin, but then in later years, several more pieces were struck at the request of others who simply wanted one. For example, the magnificent piece in George Washington's medal set was struck sometime around 1790, after Franklin had already returned to the United States, when Thomas Jefferson took over Franklin's role.

During the show, the half disme was a no-sale. The Libertas medal was shown as sold at $150K on camera. That being said, the piece was not actually sold, even though Rick actually did want to buy it for $150K.

keyman64

A great post as usual from @cardinal
Thank you!

Justacommeman

Thanks Martin! I knew there had to be more to the story. None of that was mentioned in the episode. Thanks for filling in the blanks

mark

savitale

@cardinal said:

During the show, the half disme was a no-sale. The Libertas medal was shown as sold at $150K on camera. That being said, the piece was not actually sold, even though Rick actually did want to buy it for $150K.

Oh, man. You mean they don’t actually buy the items they “buy” on the show? That sucks. I thought at least that part was real.

specialist

Rumors have it it was staged. GASP!

Husak is a guy who knows to go to a heritage or stacks

there is a deep connection between rick and NGC.. how fake this all was!

BruceS

Can you elaborate further why wasn't the deal done? Was it predetermined that he would accept it, but he didn't want to sell it? Or was it a price issue? Or did the deal fall through after the fact. Thanks for the update cardinal.

northcoin

Just speculation, but perhaps the "sale" was conditional and the condition did not pan out? My assumption is that Rick had a buyer ready to step in for the resale but for whatever reason that deal did not work out.

Treashunt

@BillJones said:
Sorry I missed it, but I had a root canal done yesterday, and I felt like death warmed over. I'm a little better today

Your root canal was probably less painful than watching Pawn Stars.

Coinosaurus

The show is obviously staged, but they come up with interesting objects and some of the dialog works pretty good.

PhilLynott

@savitale said:

@cardinal said:

During the show, the half disme was a no-sale. The Libertas medal was shown as sold at $150K on camera. That being said, the piece was not actually sold, even though Rick actually did want to buy it for $150K.

Oh, man. You mean they don’t actually buy the items they “buy” on the show? That sucks. I thought at least that part was real.

Same thing goes for Shark Tank. They "make a deal" on the show but it's not binding and often after the cameras are off no deal ever gets done.

291fifth

Next thing you know they will be telling me that the truck crashes on "Highway Thru Hell" are staged.

ColonelJessup

1) TY Martin
2) Every time I hear a mid-four-figure offer I think "Any auction company would pay you that much as an advance".
3) That's why they call it "reality TV"

JBK

I finally saw the episode last night. My most pressing question: what is the proper pronunciation of the word "disme"???

I had always understood that "disme" was an early spelling of the word "dime", and that they are pronounced the same way. But, in this show they all pronounced it "diz-me".

P.S - Wikipedia backs up my recollection, not that they are always correct.

cardinal

Everyone knows what you're talking about when they hear the word pronounced "Diz-me." So, in popular language, that is commonly heard.

That being said, the "s" was supposed to be silent, and the pre-vowel-shift pronunciation was used -- resulting in a word heard as "deem."

oih82w8

Pawn Stars: Half Disme Coin and Libertas Americana Medal (Season 15) | History

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTKbcAKbQtU

MrHalfDime

"That being said, the "s" was supposed to be silent, and the pre-vowel-shift pronunciation was used -- resulting in a word heard as "deem."

↑This↑

BillJones

The "seller" "Walter" is well-known to those who attend conventions. I have spent several enjoyable evenings with him.

Coinosaurus

Bob Julian found a contemporary poem in which "disme" was used to rhyme with some other word like "time." In other words, the most likely pronunciation was "dime." There is an essay on the subject, it may be found in 1792: Birth of a Nation's Coinage. There, Joel Orosz also concluded the most likely pronunciation was "dime."

Cardinal is right, though. When you say "half diz-mee" everyone knows what you are talking about.

JBK

@Coinosaurus said:

Cardinal is right, though. When you say "half diz-mee" everyone knows what you are talking about.

I'll bet if you said "1792 half dime" people might figure it out as well.

kimber45ACP

I always thought the s was silent.

Frankcoins

I am surprised someone let the diz-me error get by. Just as there were not "seven stranded castaways here on Gilligan's izz-le (Isle)" the "s" in "disme" is silent. But after 1792, the word "dime" was not used again on coins until 1837 (5c and 10c were used on coins until then) By that time, Noah Webster's 1806 spelling reforms had mostly been accepted for American use -- plough became plow, silent letters dropped for the most part --- but not ISLE since it was already a place name for centuries (as Isle of Man) A few of Webster's changes - tongue-tung soup-soop and women-wimmen just looked too wrong to be accepted.

WillieBoyd2

When I was a kid I heard that the quiz shows were rigged.

EagleEye

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1792-BUST-DISME-H10C-NGC-MS-65/202201328475?hash=item2f14236b5b:g:4cQAAOSwWEZaaD7t