The Hobby that Promises "Change" in Your Life... Vol 7 rel 2

Before we say anything more - in the photo of an episode of Hawaii 5-O, featuring the 2013 Liberty Nickel, look how Victor Buono is holding his magnifying glass - does he know how these thing work?

As you may know, Wasabi Roll will delve into the most salient events in a wide variety of disciplines and venues, from Medical advances to technological whimsy that may very well change the way we conduct our lives.  With the optimum word “change” as the reoccurring theme.  In keeping with that, change will once again be our topic of late.  

However, to be specific, “change” will indeed be our focus, but not the type you may be used to.  This time, “Change” will be referring to the items in your purse or pockets.  Yes, we are talking about coins. Coins that have been with us for centuries. 

THE NUMISMATIST

Per Wikipedia, Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. While numismatists are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other payment media used to resolve debts and the exchange of goods. 

The focus of the numismatic world is value. The pieces that are collected and discussed have value not only for monetary gain, but actually contribute to the narrative of art and history.  So the Numismatist sees the value in excess of the monetary value conferred by law, which is known as the collector value.

Numismatist are for lack of a better term are coin collectors.  Now almost everyone has an uncle or aunt who have a small collection of coins that they have stumbled on over the years.  Even yourselves with the small Lincoln cent collection hidden under your books somewhere on the shelf; however, the real Numismatist, those that have dedicated a large portion of their free time throughout their lives assembling the finest specimens of coinage known to the bartering world are those we will focus on.

POPULARITY

As for the type of Numismatists, there are several.  Some are focused on countries, or eras, others are focused on a specific coin, like the US Morgan dollar, the Greek Lepton, or the UK Pence.  

But of all the various collector’s there is one single question everyone seems to agree on when surmising the collectability of any given coin, its value.

There are many drivers that define value, authenticity, rarity, condition, but when talking to Jon Sullivan, CEO of Sullivan Numismatics, he attributed value to one word, “popularity”.  He went one to say, “Popularity, is what drives most prices up.”  

In fact, in the US alone there are 235 United States coins that are so popular that they have sold, or

would sell, for a million dollars or more, as of January, 2011. Of the 235 Million Dollar Coin Club coins, 193 are privately held. There are 42 coins that are permanently impounded in museums, most of them in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. For regular United States Mint issues, there are 64 separate issues and 173 individual coins, 145 of them privately held. For Colonials (early American issues) there are 12 separate issues and 20 individual coins, 16 of them privately held. For Territorial gold, there are four issues and four individual coins, three of which are privately held. For United States Mint pattern coins, there are 21 separate issues and 38 individual coins, 29 held privately.

PCGS'S TOP 10 MODERN COINS IN THE US

As for Popularity, Uniqueness seem to driving value.  Is the piece rare, does it have some facet that has separated itself from the literally hundreds of thousands that churn out the door at their respective mints.

The Mint Job

A great example is the 1913 Liberty Nickel story in that list aboe as one of the top most expensive In 1920 the numismatic community learned of five Liberty Head nickels dated 1913, all owned by Samuel Brown, a numismatist who attended the American Numismatic Association's annual convention in 1920 and displayed the coins there. He had previously placed an advertisement in the December 1919 issue of The Numismatist soliciting information on these coins, offering to pay US $500 for each and ostensibly purchasing them as a result. However, Brown had been a Mint employee in 1913, and many numismatic historians have concluded that he may have struck them himself (or had them struck) and taken them from the Mint.

If true, this was not a unique occurrence; such clandestine strikes were actually quite common in the 19th century, with the Class II and III 1804 silver dollars perhaps the best-known instance. Other numismatic authorities, such as Q. David Bowers, have questioned this scenario, and pointed out that there are several methods by which the coins could have been legitimately produced; e.g., they may have been lawfully issued by the Mint's Medal Department "for cabinet purposes," or could have been struck as trial pieces in late 1912 to test the following year's new coinage dies. But Bowers did not entirely discount the private minting theory.

Either way, years later 40 years to be precise, its whereabouts were unknown and it was believed to have been lost. George O. Walton, for whom the specimen is named, purchased it from Newman and Johnson in 1945 for approximately US$3,750, equal to $50,975 today.

Well it so happens that on March 9, 1962, Walton died in a car crash en route to a coin show. He had promised the show's promoters that he would exhibit the 1913 Liberty Head nickel there, so it was assumed to have been among the coins in his possession at the time of the fatal crash. US$250,000 worth of coins were recovered from the crash site, including the 1913 Liberty nickel, which was protected in a custom-made holder. When Walton's heirs put his coins up for public auction in 1963, the nickel was returned to them, because the auction house had mistakenly determined the coin to be not genuine. As a result, the coin remained in the family's possession, being stored in a strongbox on the floor of a closet in his sister's home, for over 40 years.

Then on July 2003, the American Numismatic Association arranged to display the four specimens whose whereabouts were known. As a publicity stunt, public relations consultant and former ANA governor Donn Pearlman launched a nationwide hunt for the missing fifth specimen. He arranged with Bowers and Merena auction house (at the time a division of Collectors Universe, Inc.) to offer a minimum US$1 million to purchase the coin, or as a guarantee for consigning it to one of their public auctions. In addition, a US$10,000 reward was offered simply for letting representatives of Bowers and Merena be the first to see the missing fifth specimen when found. After learning about the reward, the Walton heirs brought their coin to the ANA convention in Baltimore, where expert authenticators from Professional Coin Grading Service examined it at length and compared it to the other four known specimens. 

At that time, it was determined that the Walton specimen was genuine. The coin was sold at auction by the heirs in April 2013 for US$3,172,500, significantly above an estimated value of US$2,500,000.

THE MINT ERROR

The 1913 coin was certainly unique and being unique and the backstory certainly didn't hurt its value.

Many numismatists like to focus on coins that unique in other ways, such as having some unintended flaw, i.e., Mint Errors.  Mint errors are rare because each country’s Mints take great strides in their production processes in that errors are nearly non-existent, so when errors occur, it is an event.

Now many enthusiasts may scoff and argue that Mint errors are a small fraction of the world exchanges; however, what is not disputed is the mint error coins are some of the rarest, and in some cases, the most valuable coins on earth.

Now, for the brevity of this article - we shall spare you with the commotional variety of errors that are sought after, (e.g., broadstruck, Double Dies, RPMs, etc..) but as plainly put by Mr. Sullivan says, “In the Mint error world, the “Mule” Coin is King.”

THE MULE

First Spouse Mule issued 2007 - This specimen was
supposed to be exclusively John Adam's spouse Abigail,
but the reverse ended up being his son's spouse, Louisa

Now a mule is a coin or medal minted with obverse (front) and reverse (back) coin designs not normally seen on the same piece. These can be intentional or produced by error. This type of error is highly sought after, and examples can fetch premiums from collectors.

The earliest mules are found among ancient Greek and Roman coins. Opinion is divided between those who think that they are accidental, the result of an incorrect combination of a new die with one that had officially been withdrawn from use, or the work of coiners working with dies stolen from an official mint, perhaps at a time when one of them should have been destroyed.

The name derives from the mule, the hybrid offspring of a horse and a donkey, due to such a coin having two sides intended for different coins, much as a mule has parents of two different species.

Mule’s whether accidental, a mistake is made and the resulting error coins are recycled; however, whether by being left behind in a cleared bin or smuggled out by a Mint employee, no one really knows, and since most of the infractions at the very least will get you fired if not jailed, no one is really speaking up.  Hence, No one really know how they were made. 

THE KAHUNA

The most “popular” mule today is the Sacagawea new dollar.   On May 2000, Frank Wallis from Arkansas discovered the first authentic mule known on a U.S. Coin - a 2000-P Washington Quarter obverse struck with a reverse of a Sacagawea Dollar. A mule is the combination of two dies which were never intended to be paired together.

Over the years, several other examples of these authentic mules have surfaced. To this day, 15 authentic examples have been verified to exist. In the year 2000, the discovery coin sold at the ANA Convention for a price of $29,900. After the first sale, several other examples have also sold privately for much larger figures with most of them being over the $50,000 range. The highest reported sale price for one of these "mules" was $155,250 (achieved by the eleventh known example in August 2012).

THE CHIMERA MULE

Up to recently, most enthusiast, less those in the field of error coins, firmly believed that one specific mule coin could never be possible, i.e., the Two-Headed /Tailed coin. It was argued that production processes in the United States Mint, and many other Mints around the world, make it virtually impossible for a two-headed (or two-tailed) coin to be manufactured by the mint.

The coining presses that are used to produce United States coins have two different shaped receptacles for the coin dies. When coin dies are manufactured, the shank of the coin die for the obverse is a different shape than the shank of the coin die for the reverse. This manufacturing process design makes it virtually impossible for a coin press operator to load two obverse (or two reverse) dies into the coin press.

“Uh, nature will find a way…”
                                       - Dr. Ian Malcom (Jurassic Park)   

THE TWO-HEADED COIN

2000-P Jefferson nickel struck with two obverse dies

Thus, in June 2017 Coin Week reported a United States 2000-P Jefferson nickel struck with two obverse dies was discovered in 2016 and certified by PCGS.  The in Experts are puzzled as to how this can happen, but the professional authenticators at PCGS agree that the coin is a genuine mint product. Currently offered at $100,000.00 on
https://mikebyers.com/81049724.html

HOW RARE IS THIS COIN?

Only five other unique coins are known to have been struck by two obverse dies that have been authenticated by PCGS or NGC.·         

• The First, an 1859 Indian cent with a dual obverse mule strike was certified as MS62 after submission to PCGS at the October Long Beach show. The pedigree of the coin can be traced to the 1930s, but it disappeared from the market for over 60 years before resurfacing at a Chicago coin show in June 2000. The 1859 dual obverse mule is considered to be a Mint error rather than a pattern. Noted Indian cent expert Rick Snow has traced both obverse dies used to make the coin to other business strike coins.

• The second is a unique two headed 1971 Great Britain ½ Pence struck with two obverse dies on a nickel-copper planchet and is certified by NGC. 

• Third, is It is a Chile 10 Pesos struck with two obverse dies on a 1997 Bolivian 10 Cent copper plated steel planchet and weighs 2.22 grams certified by PCGS

• Fourth, is another dateless Chile 10 Pesos struck with two obverse dies roughly on 2010/11 right before  certified by PCGS. Casa de Moneda purchased the new production line and implemented new procedures to their processes to it's daily operation; hence, 2010 would be the best guess due to the markings, etc.  (see below picture - currently offered at $20,000.00 at RicksCafeAmerican.com)

• And finally, there is an extraordinary bi-metallic two-headed 100 pesos coin, also from Chile – that is in a class by itself.  In fact, to date, this is the only coin of it's kind.  Discovered in Chile 12 years ago by a collector, it was purchased by the editor of ErrorScope magazine and brought to the United States shortly thereafter.  In the summer of 2017, it was certified by PCGS as an M63 It is incorrectly labeled as a 10 Pesos.  It will be resubmitted to correct that label error. (see adjacent picture - it will be offered  at handsome sum of $35,000.00 at RicksCafeAmerican.com)

There are three known U.S. regular issued coins struck with two reverse dies.

·   Fred Weinberg sold a two-tailed Washington Quarter for $75,000

·   A two-tailed Roosevelt Dime for $45,000.

·  The third known two-tailed was a Washington Quarter that sold in a Heritage Auction for $41,975.

It’s actually, one of the more “popular” stories, the “Mint Error” experts have known for years that these coins exist.  In fact, there are approximately thirty known genuine two-headed or two-tailed coins that have been authenticated and certified by ANACS, PCGS and NGC. There are only four known "Two Tailed" U.S. coins: three Quarters and one Dime. One of the Quarters recently sold for $80,000.

Most of these world coins that were struck with either two obverse or two reverse dies have been handled by Mike Byers of Byers Numismatic Corp. Two of these are Canadian Copper Cents that were struck with two reverse dies and authenticated by PCGS. A few others from this collection of two headed and two tailed coins are featured below.

In speaking with Jon Sullivan, Sullivan Numismatics, when dealing with two-headed / tailed – or any mule coin, for that matter, these things are known truths…

• Regardless of what you read on the internet, Mints try new things – things happen.  Whether

  

  A most likely 2010 Two-headed coin, struck

  by Santiago Mint - Featured at RicksCafeAmerican.com

  it’s a two-headed, foreign planchet or otherwise – a new metal was switched, an experimental process was in place, outsourced crew, etc… We just don’t know, and with the legalities associated with it, we won’t know. They are all mysteries.

• The origins of these coins are not definite, some were helped, but many were done by accident – and were probably were meant to be destroyed, but as evidenced some slip through.

• Even though recent certifications of these items are getting notoriety, these Dime(s) and the Quarter(s) were known in the 1960s especially by those numismatist that were in the error coin discipline.

• For those who may think that the graders that certify these coins may be mistaken by the coin authenticity, just know, these graders use a small number of the most knowledgeable people in the respective coin’s category; in addition, the testing and expertise thrown at these pieces is exhaustive, so for every certified coin there are literally thousands that are rejected using the very same processes and expertise.

A 2003 Two-tailed coin, struck

by Santiago Mint - Featured at RicksCafeAmerican.com

• As for the mules only getting “popularity” now? (1) The collector probably had his mule kept secret – known but probably confidential for security reasons. (2) Coin grading / certification really didn’t kick in until 1977, and even then was in its infancy – before that it was Sheldon Grading Scale used by coin dealer’s subjective appraisals.

• Only way to truly authenticate a two headed coin is to Certify with one of the top graders who have the expertise and processes in place, i.e., NGC or PCGS 

• Value may be subject to popularity, but usually a US two headed coin can run up to $25,000.00 to $150,000.00 where their world counterparts range from five hundred to $25,000.00. 

• Phenomena with mules – curb appeal – popularity is king.

• Those in the business that cry “fakes” are people that aren’t familiar space – the true argument of interest is whether the coin in question is intentionally or accident.  Either way, if proven authentic, really rare, and really valuable.

We would like to thank our guest...

Jon Sullivan from Sullivan Numismatics.

Please swing by

https://sullivannumismatics.com/

 to see latest and greatest error coins in the market – to date, the nicest collection of error on the internet – simply put, no one has a larger inventory.
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Source(s)

• https://minterrornews.com/features-1-18-18-unique-chilean-numismatic-rarities.html
• https://www.thespruce.com/two-headed-coin-value-768399
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numismatics
• http://www.libertynickels.org/1913liberty.php
• https://www.pcgs.com/News/Mint-Errors-Viewed-By-Many-As-The-Ultimate-Collectible
• https://coinweek.com/coins/error-coins/mint-error-news-pcgs-certifies-unique-two-headed-nickel/

So “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;”

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About Rick Ricker

An IT professional with over 23 years experience in Information Security, wireless broadband, network and Infrastructure design, development, and support.

For more information, contact Rick at (800) 399-6085 x502