The fifth example of the 1913 Liberty Head nickel passed through several hands and became the property of George O. Walton, a North Carolina collector whose holdings, except this nickel, were auctioned by Stack’s a half century ago. All rights reserved. In 1913 an unscrupulous mint employee produced five Liberty Head nickels dated 1913. Whatever the circumstances, and we will probably never know them, in August 1920 Brown startled the collecting community by displaying five pieces, nicely fitted in a leather case! Green, eccentric son of millionairess Hetty Green, popularly known as the “Witch of Wall Street.” After his mother passed away, Col. Green, as he became known, released all inhibitions and … When the Eliasberg 1913 Liberty Head nickel was sold by Bowers and Merena/Stack’s in 1996 it was the first United States coin to realize over $1 million when it brought $1,485,000. 1913 1938 buffalo nickel starter collection w/27 coins new album. It was not particularly unusual for insiders at the Mint to acquire “special pieces,” and elsewhere it is recorded that a few years later in 1916, Secretary of the Treasury William G. McAdoo obtained a group of pattern silver coins of that year. Now the word was out, 1913 Liberty Nickels actually existed. However, nobody found one, as Col. Green held on to all of them. The Buffalo Nickel was the successor of the Liberty Nickel, which had been minted for circulation from 1883 to 1912. If you were lucky enough to find one, send it to Mehl and a handsome check would come by return mail! The V-Nickel, sometimes referred to as the Liberty Head Nickel, gets its V-Nickel name from the coins reverse design. The 1913 Liberty Head nickel was included as part of a date collection of nickels, without any particular notice being made of it. The Liberty Head nickel, sometimes referred to as the V nickel because of its reverse (or tails) design, is an American five-cent piece.It was struck for circulation from 1883 until 1912, with at least five pieces being surreptitiously struck dated 1913. Today, the same group would be worth on the far side of $15 million to be sure, perhaps even far more! Horse-drawn carriages ruled the roads—and in New York City they also reigned supreme on the just-completed Brooklyn Bridge. As fortune would have it, it was not until November 7, 1944, when Mehl auctioned the collection of Fred E. Olsen, that he was able to personally handle a 1913 Liberty Head nickel, one of the coins earlier sold by Eric P. Newman. No Liberty nickels were made of that date officially, but some years later collectors were stunned to learn that five 1913 examples had surfaced—all of them apparently made on the sly by someone at the Philadelphia Mint. 1944 119,150,000 32,309,000 This was showcased in a spectacular reception held in the summer of 2003 just before the American Numismatic Association, and was hosted by Steve Geppi and John Snyder of Diamond International, arranged by Laura Sperber. A few years later, a prominent coin dealer of the time, B. Max Mehl or Fort Worth, TX, advertised to pay $50 a piece for a 1913 Liberty Head Nickel… Only five 1913 Liberty Head nickels are known today. An offer of $500 each was made for two, but all five had to be purchased, so $333.33 each was suggested for the others, bringing the total price to $2,000.00. You will receive a link to create a new password. But it's the coin's back story that adds to its cachet: It was surreptitiously and illegally cast, discovered in a car wreck that killed its owner, declared a fake, forgotten in a closet for decades then declared the real deal. Afterward, the Green estate was handled by the Chase National Bank of New York City. How the Liberty Head nickels were made remains a mystery because the U.S. Mint did … Times were difficult in the Depression years of 1930s, and the term, “Brother, can you spare a dime?” had true meaning. The obverse features a left-facing image of the goddess of Liberty.. However, they are also highly counterfeited. The purchasers were Aubrey and Adeline Bebee, who donated it to the American Numismatic Association Museum in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where it remains today. Various people in the Treasury Department, including at the Mint, received The Numismatist and no doubt saw the listings. Samuel W. Brown (employed at the mint from 1903 to November 1913) - August Wagner (who advertised the five 1913 Liberty Nickels for sale in The Numismatist in late 1923 and early 1924) - Stephen K. Nagy (possibly a Wagner accomplice) - Wayte Raymond (either as owner or broker) - Col. E.H.R. The Eliasberg specimen is the finest known 1913 Liberty Head nickel. In 1913 the Liberty Head design gave way to the Indian Head/Buffalo type. Chester Alan Arthur was in the White House, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt was napping in a nursery in Hyde Park, New York. It is said that all over America, streetcars slowed down and schedules were missed as conductors looked through incoming nickels hoping to find a prized 1913 Liberty Head! In 1996, numismatic history was made as Jay Parino paid over 1 million dollars for the Eliasberg specimen of the 1913 liberty nickel. It is uncertain how the 1913 nickels came to be made. It was 1919 before the 1913 Liberty Head nickel first reached print. This volume, well over 100 pages in length, illustrated coins from colonial times to modern, and gave the prices he would pay. How do we know this? In any event, when the nickels first became known to the collecting community, it was Brown who had them. After Farouk was ousted from the throne in 1952 by a military junta, his holdings were put up for sale. 1942 57,900,000 32,900,000 Silver variety, from 1942 to 1945 nickels were made using 35% silver. The Brown advertisements were successful and attracted wide notice. After running the ad, Brown displayed the nickels in 1920 at an ANA convention. In the world of coin collecting today, one of the most sought after of rare coins is the 1913 Liberty Head Nickel. It thus became a showpiece in the greatest collection of United States coins ever formed—a cabinet complete with every date and mintmark from the 1793 half cent to the 1933 double eagle. The fame of the piece grew. Another 1913 Liberty Head nickel became the property of Edwin Hydeman of York, Pennsylvania, then World-Wide Coin Investments, and later was owned by Jerry Buss, purchased by Reed Hawn in Stack’s October Anniversary Sale in 1993, then passed on to others including Laura Sperber and Legend Numismatics. OFCC Coin ID:47.100 - US - 1897 1883-1913 - Liberty Head Nickel - V Nickels - Obverse Design: Liberty, wearing a coronet and wreath - Reverse Design: Roman numeral V, for 5, indicating the denomination, surrounded by a wreath Error message here! As circumstances would have it, in St. Louis young Eric P. Newman, a numismatist and up-and-coming lawyer, desired to buy a piece of St. Louis currency from the Green estate, and wrote to inquire. However, some nickels were struck dated 1913 using the previous year's design of a symbolic "Miss Liberty." These five-cent pieces were minted for circulation by the U.S. Mint from 1883 to 1913. The 1913 Liberty Head nickel is one of only five known to exist. Fill Out a Contact Form and We'll Contact You Later, Everything You Need To Know About Coin Grading. Or, perhaps Nagy and Brown already owned the nickels in 1919, and this was their way of introducing them to the market. So far as I know, Green never displayed them. By that time the Texas dealer was toward the end of his career. Not even the most experienced collectors and dealers had ever seen such pieces before! united states nickel 1913 a34 769. liberty head 5 cent victory nickel 1883 1913 random year. Col. Green was also responsible for hundreds of serial number 1 sheets of Series of 1929 National Bank bills being saved. Can't Email or Call Right Now? It seems that the person involved was Samuel W. Brown, an established coin collector who lived in Philadelphia and worked at the Mint. The same could be said for a number of other characters who played on the stage of the 1913 Liberty Head nickel, including names mentioned in the following paragraphs. a redbook guide to shield & liberty head nickels 1866 to 1913 new&unused c.2015. Mehl handled many great rarities, including the famous 1804 silver dollar, fondly called “The King of American Coins.” However, try as he might, he had never been able to buy a 1913 Liberty Head nickel! More recently, the 1913 Liberty Head nickel has belonged to the family of Dr. William Morton-Smith, an old-time collector whose numismatic interests were spurred by a remarkable discovery. Type: Liberty Head V Nickel Year: 1913 Mint Mark: No mint mark Face Value: 0.05 USD Total Produced: 0 [ Silver Content: 0% Numismatic Value: $3428950 to $4408650.00 Value: As a rough estimate of this coins value you can assume this coin in average condition will be valued at somewhere around $3428950, while one in certified mint state (MS+) condition could bring as much as $4,408,650 at … Another piece went to J.V. It is believed that 5 specimens were struck at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia sometime between July of 1912 and February of 1913. Through agent George Blake such sheets were acquired by contacting the cashiers of the banks that received them. NOTE: Not all US coins are "Lady Liberty's" It's a Liberty Head Nickel Only 5 1913 LIBERTY HEAD Nickels are known and each one is valued at more than 1 million dollars. It could almost be called, to coin a new phrase, a “Hoboed 1913 V Nickel” since the zero has been carved into a 3. In time he could proudly point to such “collectibles” as a full-scale operating railroad in Texas, antique whaling ships at harbor in Massachusetts, his own radio station, and a vast collection of coins. No Liberty nickels were made that year officially, but years later collectors were stunned to learn that five 1913 examples had surfaced, all of them apparently made on the sly by someone at the Philadelphia Mint. No Liberty nickels were made that year officially, but years later collectors were stunned to learn that five 1913 examples had surfaced, all of them apparently made on the sly by someone at the Philadelphia Mint. Richard Ponterio By using the NGC Auction Central, the user agrees that neither NGC nor any of its affiliates, shareholders, officers, employees or agents shall have any liability for any loss or damage of any kind, including without limitation any loss arising from reliance on the information contained in the NGC Auction Central. Then the 1913 Liberty Head nickels became available. His 1913 Liberty Head nickel became a key attraction in the collection of Ambassador and Mrs. R. Henry Norweb of Cleveland. What were they worth? Finally, he was persuaded to put it into a small plastic holder, which he did, by which time the piece had become somewhat worn. As the years passed, the five 1913 Liberty Head nickels went from here to there, always highly prized. Eric Newman’s collecting emphasis was on older issues such as American colonial coins, paper money, and numismatic history, and Liberty Head nickels, dated 1913 or otherwise, were not among his specialties. When they were or could have been minted has long been in contention. In time, such Buffalo nickels were made by the millions, and were produced for many years thereafter, indeed until 1938. Hide In time, all five 1913 Liberty Head nickels were sold by Nagy as a group to Col. E.H.R. One and all examples had eluded his grasp! In 1967 this specimen was consigned by his widow, Beth, to the Paramount International Coin Corporation of Englewood, Ohio. In time, all five 1913 Liberty Head nickels were sold by Nagy as a group to Col. E.H.R. He lived until 1957, then went to his final reward. Today, this sheet of 100 stamps has been long since broken apart. REGISTRY OF SPECIMENS: The five 1913 Liberty Head nickels, representing the total number believed to have been struck, were in the possession of Samuel W. Brown by 1920. Because they remained in his family and were later described by his daughter. On the stamp collecting scene, he owned all 100 of the famous 1918 “Jenny invert” postage stamps (a 24-cent air mail stamp, with a Curtis Jenny flying upside down—the sheet had been fed into the press incorrectly during the final printing stage). Only 5 Proof specimens are known to exist. The year 1913 was when the old Liberty head or “V” design was replaced by the new Buffalo design — no Liberty nickels with a 1913 date were supposed to be produced. This is part of a large and interesting file I have compiled on this rarity, a confidential copy (not for publication) of which will be given to the successful bidder for the Eliasberg/Legend nickel in our January 2007 auction. In 1913, the Liberty Head design gave way to the Buffalo type. The 1913 Liberty Head nickels are some of the most valuable and rarest US coins in existence with each one worth many millions of dollars. Recent sales of a 1913 Liberty Head nickel were in April 2013 for more than $3.1 million and for $4.5 million at auction in August 2018. The new nickel was designed by James Earle Fraser, who initially produced a number of pattern pieces at his studio. Lost your password? Green, eccentric son of millionairess Hetty Green, popularly known as the “Witch of Wall Street.” After his mother passed away, Col. Green, as he became known, released all inhibitions and spent vast sums on his hobbies and interests. | Privacy Policy. In January 1924 August Wagner, a Philadelphia coin dealer, advertised the five for sale. I volunteered to write an in-depth history of it, but Kelly was in charge, and long historical descriptions, never mind that they might have been interesting to read, were not his cup of tea. It is my studied opinion that the owner, at least in part, was Stephen K. Nagy, Philadelphia dealer and son-in-law of old-time professional numismatist John W. Haseltine. Two are in permanent museum collections at The Smithsonian in Washington, DC and the American Numismatic Association Money Museum in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The story of this famous coin goes back to 1913. Password Olsen-Hydeman specimen. In 1977 I did the appraisal of the coin, then valued well into six figures, after which I facilitated its donation to the National Numismatic Collection in the Smithsonian Institution, where it remains as a centerpiece today. Copyright © Stacks-Bowers Numismatics, LLC 2016. A grass roots interest had arisen, along with other hobbies (such as jigsaw puzzles, miniature golf, crossword puzzles, and attending movies), and all was well. An account of Green and the 1913 Liberty Head nickel appears in my 1979 book, Adventures With Rare Coins, in case you might want to locate a copy (it has been out of print for years). However, I can say that I “helped” with the coin in a way. Ready for production in time, all five 1913 Liberty nickel, gets its V-Nickel name from throne! A handsome check would come by return mail 's design of a coin that would soon become beyond... Using silver for this year and sought advice and financing, received the Numismatist and doubt... 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