Long Beach Miracle
homerunhall
Posts: 2,498 ✭✭✭
As most of you know, I do a "Meet the Expert" session every day at each Long Beach show. People show me their coins and ask questions. Most of the questions are like: "Will this coin cross", "Which of these coins will upgrade", "Why isn't this Franklin half FBL", etc. I also get a lot of raw coins shown to me with either "Which coins should I have graded?" or "What are these worth?"
Something very special happened at the recent Long Beach show. An older gentleman in a wheel chair (and a veteran's hat) came up to show me three coins. With him were his wife and his son (probably mid-30's, with a fireman's t-shirt). The first two coins he showed me were well worn common silver dollars to which I said, "just worth their silver value."
I then looked at a 1969 Lincoln cent he had in a paper 2 x 2 pouch. I told him he should get that one graded. He said that was ok and we gave the coin to customer service to write up. Customer service asked me how much to insure the coin for and I said "$100,000". Of course the people's jaws dropped. We sent the coin up to the grading room and I also went up to tell everyone the story and make sure the coin was handled with due care.
The coin was indeed a genuine 1969-S double die and it graded MS63RD. The people consigned the coin to an auction and I expect them to net $75,000 give or take...a life changing event for this family! I'm shown about ten 1969-S pennies at every Long Beach show and of course they are never the rare double die. But this time it was. I'm still smiling.
David Hall
Comments
Great story! Thanks for sharing.
This is one of the best stories I have read, heard about in a very long time.
I like how you handled that one David! The best way to get a great reaction
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That is a cool story!
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Wow, what an exciting story. And thank you for taking such good care of one of our Veterans!!!
Cool. That’s a great service you offer. I bet you made their year!
The expressions on their faces would bring tears to my eyes......wonderful story and good luck, hope it fetches $80K.
bob
nice...
Good for the family!! RD to boot!!
m
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
Cool!
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Nice story, thanks for sharing! I am glad the family took the path they did to maximize their good fortune and not get taken advantage of.
Thanks for sharing that story.
Guess that's the kind of story that makes the Expert from "Ask the Expert" keep coming back!
(I'll believe in miracles when my AU cross-overs all come back MS-65....)
Great story !
HRH - Did you get the story how the coin was acquired ?
Very cool! I was actually submitting coins for grading about five feet from you @homerunhall when you were talking with that man and called over the customer service rep, and I thought to myself that he must have something surprisingly valuable for everyone to react that way. Great to hear the rest of the story, and I love the ending!
Pics or it didn't happen!
sorry, couldn't resist!
That's pretty cool.
Excellent! That's nice to hear.
U.S. Type Set
What an amazing story. I would love to know the back story on this as who found it, when & where. Also how long they've had it.
Thanks for sharing...
Later, Paul.
A free walk through would have been a nice touch!
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Awesome!
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i've seen unbelievable rare stuff mixed in with the common on numerous occasions so i have no problem believing this all happened legitimately.
thanks for sharing.
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You are a good man, David.
Awesome!!!
Great story!!
Miracles DO happen!!
Glad for the old gent.
“I may not believe in myself but I believe in what I’m doing” ~Jimmy Page~
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let us know the auction and link truviews if you have time - thx
Very nice! Amid all the usual questions, gems will shine through. (I hope the guy got a break on authentication and grading.)
WOW... what a great story!
That is a great story. A few years ago it was the 1893-S dollar, and now this. They are still out there.
Awesome!
Cool story.
While not a 100k coin, I remember a sandwich bag of junk coins finding its way to the late Bob Patchins shop in Orange. Mixed in with the junk was a perfect VG10 01-S quarter. Couldn’t believe it and it graded VG10 by our host too.
EAC 6024
What a very special story, David. Your commitment to collectors is exemplary. You set a great example for dealers to follow to increase interest in our hobby. Thank you for your service to the collecting community.
OINK
Great hearing this. You must have felt wonderful, communicating such a gift.
Here's a warning parable for coin collectors...
Awesome!!
Terrific story
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Very cool! They were lucky they stopped by rather than shopping it around. A good number of the dealers there would have totally ripped this guy and his family.
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Great story! Well done and thanks for sharing.
Yes, very good story, thanks for sharing thanks rln
Couldn't have happened to a more deserving family. I wonder how the family knew to bring the Doubled Die? The other two coins were just bullion.
Yep. They are indeed out there.
Pete
I am guessing this is the coin.
https://pcgs.com/cert/35293314
I wonder why he decided to put a seemingly ordinary 1969 cent aside in a pouch? There's a story there also.
Very nice! Excellent results and a good eye.
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Super story.
Alllllright! Feel good story of the year!
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Wow is the correct exclamation for this discovery/find
Thanks for sharing the experience with us.
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Thrilling story!!
Good for everyone!
Nice story makes me want to go into my penny stash! Thank you for sharing.
I love stories like this as it puts a giant smile on mug.
Thanks for sharing it
It does show a good coin story can come from just about anywhere, whether it being a shipwreck, a big buried stash or just a stray coin.
It's great he brought that to Long Beach, no doubt someone somewhere else would have said, "I give ya 2 bucks for it since it's almost fiddy years old!"
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Wonderful. Nowadays everyone can use an uplifting story like this. Truly heartwarming.
And great to see you on the forum again, David.
Lance.
Nice score for the owner! I hope this doesn't incite the newbies with parking lot pennies to show up at the next show.
"A dog breaks your heart only one time and that is when they pass on". Unknown