Rampant fraud appears to be afoot in the collectibles market.  But first, some important background information: Collectors Universe (CU) is the parent company of Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) as well as Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA).  The latter subsidiary, PSA, is a branch of Collectors Universe that authenticates and grades sports trading cards and memorabilia and helps set prices in the sports memorabilia industry — in much the same way that PCGS authenticates and grades coins and helps set prices in the numismatic industry.  This parent company, and its subsidiaries, have been considered the industry leader in authenticating and grading collectibles for several decades.

Over the years, I have become aware of issues at PCGS as I’ve come across more and more examples questionably graded coins – results which I found hard to believe or trust.  And as the years have passed, I have slowly lost confidence in PCGS’s ability or desire to property authenticate and grade coins. 

In July 2019, I read an article in the Washington Post newspaper about how the FBI was getting involved investigating fraud relating to baseball card collector’s suspected rampant fraud in their hobby.  Federal officials are questioning whether hundreds of sports cards, worth millions of dollars, may have been improperly altered by card “doctors” and then improperly graded by PSA, to inflate their value. 

Read Newspaper Article

Soon after this article appeared in the newspaper, a thread on this topic was started on the PSA Forum (a part of the Collectors Universe (CU) Forum).

See Forum Thread

One of the replies (posts) to that thread (from a forum member named Season6, responding to an earlier post from an employee of PSA named AFLfan) eloquently captured my feelings about Collectors Universe and more specifically about PCGS.  In my opinion, the entirety of this collector’s comments on PSA could easily be applied to PCGS.

AFLfan, I feel compelled to comment on your replies. I understand you work for PSA and you are required to respond and defend PSA and its actions, or compelled to do so out of loyalty. I get that. But look at this situation from a complete hobbyists perspective and not a corporate one, and certainly not a wishful thinking one.

PSA’s role in the hobby is to provide assurance. People buy, people sell, and PSA sits in the middle and provides assurance to the buyer that what they think they are purchasing is, in fact, what they are purchasing. I’ve been in the assurance industry for 25 years. If I (or PSA) cannot accurately identify right from wrong, legitimate from illegitimate, altered from unaltered, then my (or PSA’s) opinion is of absolutely no value. And even if I (or PSA) can’t identify those things 5% of the time, my (or PSA’s) opinion still has no value, because those error rates cause doubt about all conclusions of all opinions. This is the fundamental problem that PSA is facing right now. There are a whole heap of altered cards out there in PSA slabs. Which means PSA failed in its role.

You note that “Steve Sloan and PSA have been working on this situation since it first came to light.” Working on this situation? Unless you are working on a time machine to go back and shore up your processes to avoid this mess in the first place, I’m not sure what this statement means other than empty deflection of criticism. It’s not about what you are doing now or even if you make efforts to make collectors whole (although I’m sure the hobby would greatly appreciate that). The fundamental question is whether PSA provides value in the hobby if their processes can allow these mistakes in the first place (que outrage from the apologists). And I’m not currently sure how you can answer that question sufficiently. Of course everyone will have their own opinion on this matter, and their seem to be numerous big collectors who will support you either way, possibly because realizing/accepting your limitations would invalidate their own expensive collections built on the whole concept of PSA’s value/premium…an unpalatable thought to be sure, so these people will keep the faith either way.

You say that “there is likely no one that regularly participates on this forum that knows all of the details of the situation.” What do we need to know other than the fact that there are all sorts of high profile altered cards in PSA slabs that PSA didn’t identify? Is there anything else to know? Please, allay my concerns because this doesn’t seem particularly complicated to me (PSA’s role).

Your post also says “Please allow those that do have that information to do their jobs.” First, no one is preventing anyone from doing their jobs. Chatter from collectors doesn’t interfere with anything, so that statement is inappropriate and, again, seems overly defensive. Second of all, do you, or PSA, seriously believe you deserve the benefit of the doubt in this situation? Let’s clearly understand PSA’s role in this situation. PSA is the assurance provider in the industry. PSA failed to identify a large number of high profile cards which were altered, and you’ve put your (incorrect) stamp of approval on these cards. That was PSA’s role. And PSA failed in that role. Period. There’s no other way to look at this situation. I find it concerning (although not surprising) that PSA’s communications seem to want to angle or frame the situation as if they are an innocent bystander that is trying to add value and help the hobby. The reality is PSA has already failed, and if their value to the hobby isn’t being seriously questioned by collectors, those collectors don’t understand assurance, or don’t want to. Arthur Andersen made mistakes and disappeared very quickly. At one point they were the most respected name in their business. They made mistakes, lost trust, and were gone (an oversimplification, I understand, with many dissimilarities).

So I’ll say as respectfully as I can, I appreciate your role in this and understand some of its complexity. I understand PSA’s role in the hobby and hope it can somehow reclaim and restore trust. But the reality is, I don’t see PSA’s role in this situation as particularly complicated. I find the silence concerning. Doubt is dangerous in assurance. It is worse than dangerous. And right now, all I currently have is doubt about PSA’s role in the hobby, given this situation.

Yes this is my first post. I have collected for decades and keep my collection private for my own reasons. Those facts don’t invalidate my concerns or opinions.   – Season6

I am not sure if this problem is repairable or not at this point, but it is hoped by this collector that PSA, PCGS, and Collectors Universe starts to focus their attention on mitigating these past mistakes and improving their standards & methods moving forward.  The need to solve this crisis in confidence is becoming dire.

One of the Unicorns (extreme rarities) in the Lincoln Cent series (especially for toned Lincoln collectors) are those coins graded PCGS MS67BN. This is an extremely rare grade / color-class combination. Just to emphasize how rare — from the founding of PCGS in 1985 until 2012 (a time period spanning 27 years) — the highest graded Wheat Lincoln Cent in the Brown Color Class was MS66BN. In May 2012, the very first MS67BN was graded: a stunning 1956-D Lincoln Cent. Since May 2012 (about 6.5 years) nine more MS67BN Lincolns have been graded making the total population 10 (as of November 2018) in this rarefied grade / color-class combination.

Shown below is a side by side comparison of thumbnail images of all the 10 known PCGS MS67BN Lincolns as of 11/25/2018. All images are either TrueView (TV) or CoinFacts (CF) photos shot by Phil Arnold — the lone exception is the 1909-S VDB (coin #4), where no out-of-the-slab photo was taken. For this latter coin, I used the slab auction photos from the Great Collections website. I believe that if a TV or CF photo existed for this 1909-S VDB, it would have a bit more “pop”. The remaining “phantom” coin in the group is the 1936 that was graded in July 2017, where no known photo exists.

It’s interesting that after the first MS67BN was graded in May 2012, two more quickly followed in the next 10 months. Following those 3, there was a long gap of almost 4 years that lasted until December 2016. Since then however, we’ve gotten about 3 graded per year. Theories on this recent relative increase could be near-term “grade-flation” or perhaps more high-grade toned Lincoln submissions, in the past few years, prompted by the addition of PCGS “Toned” Lincoln Registry Sets (which give bonus points to BN’s) in 2016.

A breakdown of each coin follows:

MS67BN #1:  1956-D

Date Made:  May 2012
Current Owner:  PCGS Member Wondercoins
Provenance:  Raw Mint Set to Wondercoins
Cost: < $100 Estimated (Raw Mint Set)
Current PCGS Registry Set:  None

In May 2012 the first MS67BN Lincoln was graded by PCGS.  It was a stunning 1956-D Lincoln which was removed from a Cardboard Mint Set and submitted to PCGS by member Wondercoins and his daughter Lauren.  This coin achieved the unknown-til-then grade of PCGS MS67BN.  Amazingly, the PCGS Price Guide lists this singularly unique coin at $125 (which is insanely low) – the marketplace value of this is many, many multiples higher due to the grade rarity, it’s top pop status, it’s stunning color and eye appeal, and demand from toned Lincoln collectors.  What follows is the story of that coin:

Backstory (by WonderCoins): My 22 year old (at the time) daughter, Lauren, deserves all the credit for this coin. Lauren splits her time between being a third year Psychology major at the University of California, San Diego and a working numismatist/screener with me. She has been an active screener since 2006. In April 2012, I visited a safe deposit box I had not been to in a while in my hunt for top-end Washington silver quarter candidates (I currently have the top set of Major Variety (93 pc) Silver Mint State Washington quarters and I am putting the finishing touches on the set before the upcoming Registry deadline). I came across a “cache” of lovely toned Mint Set Lincoln cents I had picked up along the way over the past (30) years. I gave the pile of roughly 30-35 coins to Lauren and I asked her to pick me out (3) coins that I should submit. I was a little surprised that two of the coins she selected were dated 1956-D and the third coin was dated 1957-D. Lauren had so much date / mintmark selection, that, at first, I thought “why submit two of the same date / mintmark”. But, in any event, she picked them out, so I decided to submit them exactly as she picked them. The (3) coins graded MS67BN, MS66+RB and MS66+RB. -Wondercoins

MS67BN #2: 1957-D

Date Made: July 2012
Current Owner: PCGS Member WingedLiberty
Provenance: DJDilliodon to GreatToning to A.Keena to WingedLiberty
Cost: $560 (NGC MS67RB #2553945-002) June 2011
Current PCGS Registry Set: WingedLiberty Fireball Rainbow Collection

This was the 2nd Lincoln Cent that PCGS has assigned an MS67BN grade, out of nearly 500,000 Wheatbacked Lincoln Cents graded since they starting grading coins in 1985.  This was owned early on by Aaron Keena when it was slabbed by NGC as MS67starRB. Aaron sold it to Winged Liberty in June 2011 for $560. I suppose there could be some question on whether this should have been classified a BN or a RB coin (NGC thought it was RB, when they graded it a number of years ago, however the coin could be slowly turning darker and more colorful as time passes) — but, in any case, who am I to argue with the grading experts at PCGS! The definition of a BN coin is it contains less than 5% original mint-fresh copper color (the color copper that cents have when first being minted). So the ultimate question is what percent of this coin shows original mint-fresh copper color? If it’s less than 5% then it’s classified a BN (Brown); if it’s between 5% and 95% then it’s classified a RB (Red-Brown); more than 95% and it’s classified a RD (Red).

Backstory (by WingedLiberty): The funny story with this coin is it was a sort of an accidental buy.  When I first got back into coins in 2011 after a long 40 year hiatus, I was excited by my recent discovery of toned coins. In addition, I had also recently discovered Matte Proof Lincolns a few months earlier and was interested in adding one of those often colorful beasts to my collection. After hunting for a few months, with no luck, I was becoming frustrated. When I saw this pretty and colorful NGC MS67starRB 1957-D Lincoln for sale on eBay in June 2011 (albeit, at a high price of $999) — I wondered if buying that colorful Lincoln Cent might quench my thirst for a beautiful high-grade Matte Proof Lincoln. After some negotiating with the seller, he knocked the price down to $560 for me. After acquiring, I did try to cross this to PCGS with a minimum specified grade of MS67RB, however it came back DNC (Did Not Cross). I was starting to feel like this might have been a mistake — so this coin went on the back burner and was mostly forgotten for a year. Then in an email discussion I was having with a fellow collector, this coin came up in conversation. He suggested I crack it out and send it in raw. Since some time had passed since buying, it was less painful for me to crack. I was amazed when it came back from PCGS in an MS67BN slab — at the time it was the 2nd known MS67BN.  Afterwords I wondered if the reason it DNC’d the first time is PCGS wanted to “drop” the color class from RB to BN. To my delight that grading decision made this a grade / color-class rarity.  Just to add a bit more historical information on this coin — this coin was originally owned by Collectors Universe Member djdilliodon about a decade ago. When I posted a photo of this coin in the NGC slab on the Collectors Universe Forum board in 2011, djdilliodon posted this comment …  “Boy I miss that coin . IMO I feel the 67 grade is well deserved and was one of the reasons I sent it in to NGC for grading. It’s twin graded a 66 and while still nice, it wasn’t as colorful. ” djdilliodon then consigned this coin to eBay seller GreatToning, where it sold to a dealer named CaptivatingCoins (Aaron Keena) in located in Oregon. I then bought this coin from CaptivatingCoins (many months later) in June 2011 and I have owned it since that time.
So this coin has been in an NGC slab for a number of years. Also djdilliodon, the original owner of this coin and the person that originally had it slabbed by NGC, shared a photo with me that he took of the coin, just before he sent it into NGC and I can tell you the coin has not changed at all (the color has been and is completely stable). – WingedLiberty

MS67BN #3: 1916-D

Date Made: March 2013
Current Owner: “Jeffrey”
Provenance: Heritage to Angel Dees to “Jeffrey”
Cost: $2,990 (PCGS MS66BN #21675451) January 2008
Current PCGS Registry Set: None

This coin is what I consider to be the first rock-solid Brown (BN) in this rarefied group of coins and might be my favorite amongst all of them. I know, how can anyone pick a favorite!  I love them all. The first two examples above (1956-D and 1957-D) could have graded Red-Brown (RB) on another day and/or by another grading group.   it’s interesting that this third coin was dated 1916 as 1915/1916 were the years the U.S.Mint retooled the dies allowing for exquisite detail.  I love the smoothness of the color and the dimpled fields, which reminds me a bit of a Matte Proof Lincoln.

Backstory (by WingedLiberty): This monster 1916-D was auctioned off on the Heritage Auction site in January 2008. At the time it resided in an MS66BN slab. It was still a rarity, even at that lower 66 grade — a quality most of the early mint-marked Lincolns in high grades enjoy. Andy Skrabalak of Angel Dees bought the coin in the auction and sold it to one of his customers. The new owner kept this coin in the MS66BN slab for some time. A few years later, Andy led the charge to upgrade the coin for him, sending it into PCGS for regrade in March 2013, where it popped to MS67BN. That single point bump in grade caused a radical shift in the PCGS Guide value from around $3,000 to $10,000.  Kudos to both Andy and the buyer of this monster for their good eye on the upgrade potential of this coin! – WingedLiberty

MS67BN #4:  1909-S VDB

Date Made: December 2016
Current Owner: Unknown
Provenance: Great Collections to Unknown
Cost: $20,350 (PCGS MS67BN #82900919) February 2017
Current PCGS Registry Set: None

There is no out-of-the-slab professional PCGS photo of this coin.  The only images available were the Great Collections Auction photos — so I attempted to mock up an image similar in appearance to the PCGS photos for usage here.  That being said, if PCGS had taken it upon themselves to image this super-rarity, I am sure their photo would have shown more “pop”.  As it is though, with this somewhat impaired through-the-slab photo, some might wonder if this coin actually deserved a 67BN grade.  It’s just hard to tell from this limited view.  There were 14 independent bidders on this coin, placing a total of 42 bids. Four of the bidders placed bids over $18,000 and two over $20,000.  Guide Price is $21,000 so this coin sold near PCGS Guide.

Backstory (from the Great Collections auction listing):  The presently-offered specimen is one of the very finest 1909-S VDB Lincolns in existence. In terms of numerical grade, it is tied for finest known. This piece is certified MS-67 Brown by PCGS; it has a population of 1 with none graded finer in the Brown color class. While PCGS has certified other pieces as MS67 Red-Brown and MS67 Red, this coin is equal in terms of numerical grade but can be acquired at a more reasonable cost. In terms of technical quality, this specimen is certainly among the very finest pieces in existence. Its smooth surfaces are devoid of spots, defects, flaws, or any detracting characteristics. The luster is intense and fully intact. The color is even, natural, and extremely pleasing. When copper coins tone, they often acquire unsightly splotches or carbon spots. This example, on the other hand, shows the kind of uniform coloration that copper specialists covet.

MS67BN #5:  1937-D

Date Made: May 2017
Current Owner:  PCGS Member ChloeBess
Provenance: Boston Coins to ChloeBess
Cost: $1,550 (PCGS MS67BN #84290741) May 2017
Current PCGS Registry Set: ChloeBess Abe’s Coloring Book

The fifth MS67BN was a 1937-D Lincoln that has striking bold obverse colors of green, pink, amber, and gold.  it was auctioned off on eBay by Boston Coins in 2017.

Backstory (by ChloeBess):  This 1937-D is spectacular. It was my first 67BN, purchased in May 2017 when I was just beginning my set. Boston Coin discovered my desire to own this type of rarity and sent me a photo. I bought it with no hesitation. It is one of my favorites in my set, and I think it has a true personality. I don’t know how it acquired its look, but it shimmers when holding it — even with the deep colors.

MS67BN #6:  1936-D

Date Made: June 2017
Current Owner:  PCGS Member ChloeBess
Provenance: GreatCollections to ChloeBess
Cost: $439 (PCGS MS67BN #84014737) June 2017
Current PCGS Registry Set: ChloeBess Abe’s Coloring Book

This 1936-D was bought off the Great Collections auction site.  This is a beautiful coin with smooth and even brown toning — with slight hints of pink and green.

Backstory (by ChloeBess):  A month after I bought the 1937-D above, this 1936-D showed up in a Great Collections auction. I think I bought it for a price that it deserved (a bit lower than most other 67BNs). That lower price was probably because it’s almost all brown and the lack of any other bright vivid color kept other bidders at bay. In my case, I consider true brown a color just as any other, and while the reds and greens, etc. are more popular, I like this in my set because of its perfect condition and almost total commitment to brown. Under inspection, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to see it upgraded to 67+ someday, which is something I will attempt sometime when I have nothing else to do. -ChloeBess

MS67BN #7:  1936

Date Made: July 2017
Current Owner:  Unknown
Provenance: Unknown
Current PCGS Registry Set: None

There is no known photo or ownership information on the seventh example:  1936 Lincoln.  In any case it was certified shortly after the 1936-D.  I did check PCGS Certification numbers around the 1936-D hoping I might stumble onto it, but no luck.   This coin is MIA (missing in action).

MS67BN #8:  1916

Date Made: March 2018
Current Owner: PCGS Member Ronyahski
Provenance: Angel Dees to WingedLiberty to Ronyahski
Current PCGS Registry Set: None

This coin was upgraded by Andy Skrabalak of Angel Dees fame and sports razor sharp details and an explosion of blue, violet, pink, teal, and amber color on pristine lustrous surfaces. This is one of only three MS67BNs dated before 1936.

Backstory (by WingedLiberty):  I have been chasing this coin since 2012.  I fell in love with it the first time I saw it in CoinFacts (it was MS66BN at the time).  Over the years, I had, on occasion, pinged various dealers asking if they had ever seen it — with no luck.  In January 2018, someone approached Andy of Angel Dees at a coin show wanting to sell him this coin.  Andy bought it and immediately thought it was an upgrade candidate to MS67BN,  After some effort Andy received the upgrade from MS66BN to MS67BN.  At that point, it was actually out of my league in terms of price, but I had been hunting it for so long, I wanted to own it at least for a short while — so I bought it. While in ownership of this, I had 2 great photographers (Robec and Phil Arnold) shoot a lot more images, so it’s catalogued really well now. After a few months of fun, I asked Andy if he could attempt to sell it to the other interested party, which he was able to do at a very small profit to me.  Thanks Andy.

MS67BN #9:  1957-D

Date Made: August 2018
Current Owner: PCGS Member ChloeBess
Provenance: Great Toning to ChloeBess
Cost: $600 (PCGS MS67BN #34118080) August 2018
Current PCGS Registry Set: ChloeBess Abe’s Coloring Book

A very beautiful Mint Set toned 1957-D Lincoln with striking green on the obverse.

Backstory (by ChloeBess):  I purchased this 1957-D from Dick Abrahams (Great Toning) who was handling it on consignment. I’ve known Dick for many years and he was aware of my interest in high grade Lincoln toners. He did not price it for me, but asked me what I thought it was worth and what I would be willing to pay for it. Based on the photo, I offered $600. I thought it was on the high side for this date but it fit well with my set and gave me a third 67BN. The owners plan before that was to go into a Great Toning eBay open auction — and my bet is, the owner felt the price I offered was about all that would fetch so he simply sold it directly to me. We will never know!  There are other 67BN’s of this date and I felt this one was different in that it was very green.  I have to say that I love this coin, and especially love the green which makes it a solid BN. -ChloeBess

MS67BN #10:  1957-D

Date Made: November 2018
Current Owner: PCGS Member Robec
Provenance: PCoins to DimeFreak to WingedLiberty to Robec
Cost: $495 (PCGS MS67RB #27610790) November 2014
Current PCGS Registry Set: Robec Spectra Lincolns

Another really beautiful Mint Set Toned 1957-D.  It’s the third 1957-D in this select group. The strike on this coin is hammered (somewhat rare for Lincolns minted in the late 1950’s) — and the colors on both sides, fiery and exquisite.

Backstory (by Robec): This coin had been slabbed PCGS MS67RB for a number of years. I photographed it for DimeFreak (the owner at the time) in early 2013 while it was still PCGS MS67RB. The cert number at that time was 11031706, a very early cert number, so clearly it was initially graded quite a while ago. There was no Reconsideration Service back then, only Regrade, so it was more convoluted to upgrade coins. The general thought by many who saw it was it should have been given the BN designation early on. WingedLiberty bought this coin from DimeFreak in April 2013. Winged Liberty then sold it to me (still in the MS67RB slab) in November 2014 for $495. Over the next few years, I made several attempts at color class reconsideration (all unsuccessful). Finally in November 2018, with the help of Gary Ugrinovskiy, the coin was finally given the correct Brown (BN) color classification allowing it to join this rarefied group.

MS67BN #11:  1916

Date Made: April 2019
Current Owner: Unknown
Provenance: Unknown
Cost: Unknown
Current PCGS Registry Set: None

This is the second 1916 in this select group.  I am not sold on the toning, I might call this a 50/50 coin in terms of NT vs AT.

Backstory:  Pretty clean of marks, but I am not sure I would have given this a 67 grade.  I am thinking it looks more a 66.  I wonder if the coin is really this flat or matte looking, or if the photo angle chosen was a bit unusual, effectively wiping out any gloss or luster that might be on the coin.

MS67BN #12:  1912

Date Made: June 2019
Current Owner: Andy S’s Pittsburgh Connection
Provenance: Pittsburgh Connection
Cost: Original Cost Unknown
Current PCGS Registry Set:  None

A gorgeous 1912.The colors on both sides are a beautiful raspberry red and violet.  Hammered Strike

Backstory:   It was graded MS66+BN for years, then Andy Skrabalak was able to get an upgrade to MS67BN for the owner in June 2019.  The PCGS Price Guide is not listing a price for this grade and color class, but I am estimating the guide will list it around $2800 eventually.  The retail value would likely be much higher (estimated at roughly two times that amount).

MS67BN #13:  1911-S

Date Made: June 2020
Current Owner: Terry
Provenance: Terry’s Coins of Color
Cost: Original Cost Unknown
Current PCGS Registry Set:  Terry’s Coins of Color

Likely, the most beautiful 1911-S Lincoln in existence.  A semi-key with breathtaking color and strike.

Backstory:  I’m not sure there are words to fully express this work of art! What a beauty. This MONSTER was an NGC MS68 BN originally. The blue color over the cherry reds give this coin a look of few if any in existence. Very Few Cents ever get a BN 67 rating and this one I think could have been a 68!!!!! A prize of any collection!

MS67BN #14:  1957-D

Date Made: July 2020
Current Owner: Unknown
Provenance: Unknown
Cost: Original Cost Unknown
Current PCGS Registry Set:  None

A beautiful 1957-D. This is the 4th 1957-D to achieve the lofty MS67BN grade.  This coin is right in the height of the mint set toning era, so it’s understandable that so many 57D’s made this lofty grade.

Backstory:   Unknown

MS67BN #15:  1909

Date Made: November 2020
Current Owner: Michael Mayeda
Provenance: Curry’s Prism of Color Collection
Cost: Original Cost $37 (raw)
Current PCGS Registry Set:  Curry’s Prism of Color Collection

A beautiful 1909 Lincoln Cent.  1909 Plain coins are much harder to find with beautiful color and in very high grades than the more heavily saved 1909 VDB.

Backstory:  I was making my run on eBay back in may of 2020 when I came across the coin sitting in a PCGS QC holder for $37 through eBay seller dollarsandcentscoinshop.  I looked up the coin on my phone and I thought that it had a good chance to straight grade. It was a very attractive looking coin condition wise too so I took the small gamble and bought it. When I received it in hand I was shocked to see that it was such a nice coin. I cracked it out and it sat around for a few months until I had enough coins to send to PCGS. This was part of a submission of 20 that I considered one of my worst submissions to date because of the terrible grades that I had received. This 1909P was the lifesaver of the group when it straight graded MS66BN. The submission was entered in late August and I didn’t receive grades until early October. By the time I got them back, by chance Jason Wendt was assembling a show submission of Lincoln’s and I took the opportunity to send it in because I felt this coin was truly special. So on the first show regrade grade attempt it upgraded to the coveted MS67BN. 

 

Over the past five years of my searching, I knew that it had been very difficult finding high grade RB and BN color class Circulation Strike Wheatbacked Lincoln Cents.  Since the BN color class is where color tends to show up the most strongly, clearly I was very interested in that BN color class – and these were particularly hard to find in high-grades and eye-appealing. 

So as an ‘adventure into the statistical realm’, I thought I would total up the PCGS Certified Coin Population of the entire Circulation Strike Wheatbacked Era from 1909-1958 to help me get a handle on the relative scarcity of high grade BN Lincoln Cents.  PCGS maintains these numbers as do other well known Third Party Graders, such as NGC, however for simplicity sake, I will focus just on the numbers compiled by PCGS.

Table 1. Total PCGS Populations of Wheatbacked Lincoln Cents (1909-1958) broken down by color class, for grades between MS64 and MS70.  Interesting to note that for the popular MS66 grade — nearly all (98% or 150,812) PCGS-graded Lincolns are certified in the RD color class, a small sliver (2% or 2,641) are certified in the RB class, and the tiny remainder certified in the BN class is so minuscule (0.17% or 261) it doesn’t register as a whole percentage. (Statistics tabulated January 2018)

I broke down my statistical numbers, shown in Table 1, by grade (along the top) and by color class (along the side).  One should note this Table covers over 330,000 (nearly a third of a million) PCGS-graded Lincoln Cents.  The subset of grades I picked for my table ranged from MS64, which is considered to be a nice solid, reasonably problem-free uncirculated example … through MS66 and MS67, which are very high-end uncirculated examples with few flaws —  up to the nose-bleed lofty grades of MS68 to MS70 (which ranges from near perfection to complete perfection) and of course are rare to an extreme. 

It’s interesting what these statistics show. Clearly at the MS64 level, the BNs are definitely scarcer than the RBs or RDs – but still semi-ballpark.  Still, even at this somewhat generic MS64 grade, there are 7 times fewer BNs than RDs.  But, it’s jaw dropping how the BN populations fall off a cliff starting at the MS65 grade level — and continue to drop precipitously through the MS66 and MS67 grade levels.

The MS66 grade level (the third column of numbers in Table 1) is the most striking to my eye.  In that popular high grade, there are over 150,000 MS67RD Lincolns … while there are only a scant 261 MS66BN Lincolns (as of January 2018) – an astounding 600 to 1 ratio!  With only 261 known PCGS MS66BN Wheatbacked Lincolns, one could almost corner the market on MS66BN Lincolns if one wanted.   Amazingly one collector (Jeff Kelble aka. CopperColor) almost did that in the early 2010’s.  At one point, he owned over 50% of the known population of PCGS MS66BN Lincoln Cents – a truly amazing feat.

At the MS67 grade level, the discrepancy deepens even more, with nearly 17,000 PCGS MS67RD Lincolns in the known universe, while the population of PCGS MS67BN Lincolns is only 8.  This is an incredible 2000 to 1 ratio!  PCGS-graded MS67BN Wheatbacked Lincolns are rarer than some million dollar coins. Of course I am talking about a grade/color-class combination rarity here, which might be considered a bit esoteric by some numismatists.

An explanation for this discrepancy might have been offered by a very famous Lincoln Cent scholar, Mr. Q. David Bowers, who said in his expertly written A Guide Book of Lincoln Cents¹  that for Matte Proof Lincolns (minted from 1909-1916): “Matte Proof Lincolns (1909-1916) described as full RD, with no toning at all, are in my opinion pieces that have been dipped, but certainly others may feel differently, and I respect that”.  From this statement, it appears Mr. Bowers’ is putting forth the notion that there are few fully-natural red (RD) Matte Proof Lincolns — implying that many were dipped or treated to be made red, though clearly that’s just one man’s opinion.

Mr. Bowers’ statement led me to wonder if some of that same logic could be applied in a very limited way to older Circulation Strike Lincoln’s — and if that is true, perhaps the reason there are so many more 60 to 110 year old high grade RD Circulation Strike Lincoln cents than there are RB or BN Lincolns of that same age is because many high-grade Lincolns were carefully dipped or otherwise treated, over the years, to remove any toning that had developed so the coins could be sold at the higher RD prices, which for some date/mint combinations is 10x higher. This is a very controversial idea though as I’ve heard from a number of collectors that say it’s very difficult to impossible to dip or treat a copper coin to make it look like a natural RD.  Still, it does give me pause. Copper will naturally darken over time and I would think that a 60 to 110 year old copper coin should probably have darkened or oxidized (toned) a least a small amount, from its age alone.

For these older coins, approaching 100 years, a true original mint-fresh red (RD) state just seems intuitively more unlikely.  Without some sort of man in the loop treatment like this, it makes it hard to fathom or justify the 600 to 1 ratio of MS66RD to MS66BN Lincoln Cents (or the 2,000 to 1 ratio of MS67RD to MS67BN Lincoln Cents) in the wheat era (1909-1958).

This also makes me wonder if the Artificial Toning (AT) or Questionable Color (QC) designation might truthfully be applied (more than it already is) to many of the certified Red (RD) Lincolns in the marketplace (especially those older than 60 years).  How many of those RD Lincoln might have been treated to appear more red and get the much higher guide price valuation?  In any case, I am sure many may object with this theory, but I do think it is worth noting.

I personally find the BNs much more fun to look at with all their unique variations and character — and they are certainly rarer. The RDs always seemed mostly the same to me, common, and somewhat mundane at times – much more replaceable.  If you go into any coin auction site and search for an MS66RD Lincoln you’ll get hundreds of hits, however you’d be hard pressed to find more than a couple of MS66BN Lincolns, if you are lucky.

Perhaps collectors of these, sometimes over-looked and under-loved high-grade BN rarities, should simply keep their mouths shut about this disparity and continue to benefit from the much lower prices of high-grade BN Lincolns in the marketplace.

One final observation on the data in Table 1, based on a rudimentary statistical analysis, I think that our first PCGS MS68RB Wheatbacked Lincoln Cent is overdue.  (note that when i wrote this article, in December 2017, there were no MS68RB Wheatbacked Lincolns, but by August 2018, our first was certified, a 1909 VDB which later sold at auction for $23,000).  It seems anomalous that there is a 0 in that grid box (as of Dec 2017) — just based on the somewhat well-behaved ratios, patterns, and distributions of the numbers across the table.  It is my feeling that the population in that MS68RB grid box probably should be around 3 already – certainly at least 1. Perhaps soon that will happen. That being said, statistics are not always well-behaved.

Next, I wanted to break down and analyze a bit further the part of the 1909-1958 Wheatbacked Lincoln statistics for BN color class only, separated into 5 year categories.  Chart 1 shows the relative populations of MS64 vs. MS65 vs. MS66 in the Brown (BN) Color Class.  The color of the bars represents various grade levels: 64BN (blue bars), 65BN (green bars), and 66BN (red bars).

Chart 1.  This figure depicts PCGS-graded Lincoln Cent populations of 64BN (blue bars), 65BN (green bars), and 66BN (red bars) in each noted interval of years. Note that the first two intervals (bars) are for 1909 as a stand alone year; the first bar is 1909 VDB only and the second bar is 1909 plain only.  Beyond those first two bars, each bar represents a five-year segmentation of minted coins. The rarity of the 66BNs (red bars) is clearly obvious, typically under ten for each five-year interval.

It should be noted that the 1909 VDB and 1909 plain are both represented by 1 year bars — and I started my first 5 year bar with the 1910-1914 period.  The taller relative bars for the 1909 VDB is clearly seen over the 1909 plain – showing how many more VDB’s were saved (kept pristine) over the 1909 plain (about 4 times more!).

Another interesting finding was that some of the most beautiful toning I found in Circulation Strike Lincoln Cents was from those minted in the period ranging from the mid 1930’s to the early 1940’s.  I am not 100% sure why this is, but a theory is perhaps the depression of the 1930’s led many to find inexpensive pastimes – and perhaps collecting Lincoln cents became a more general American hobby.  Also in that era an explosion of coinboards (made with sulfur laden paper, which can react with copper to cause toning colors to appear) led many to put their prized freshly minted Lincolns into those coin display holders where they sat undisturbed for many years.  Over time, this could have led to spectacular toning on some fortunate pristine Lincoln Cents of that era.  Later, with the start of World War Two (WW2) in December 1941, and then with the start of the baby boom in 1946, perhaps the masses of America became distracted with other more pressing things and fewer pristine Lincolns were collected (saved). 

It appears, from my rudimentary experience that most of the great toning on coins minted in the ten years after World War Two ended (dated from 1946 to 1955) was from “roll toning” – that is, undisturbed bank rolls where the sulfur-laden roll paper led to interesting toning patterns developing over decades.  I believe that since this is a rarer event than other types of toning, it lead to the difficulty in finding toners in this 1946-1955 era.  I personally call the 1947-1949 years “murderers row” because finding eye appealing toners in that era is so difficult.

Finally, the well-known “Mint Set Toning” (from the sulfur laden cardboard mint set holders) in the 1956 to 1958 years, rule the day in that late Wheatbacked era.  Lincoln Cents dated 1957-D are an especially rich source of colorful toning – and one can clearly see a spike in BN and RB populations for that date/mint combination.  It’s unclear to me why 1957-D is such a gold mine for beautiful toning but it’s clearly seen in the marketplace.

It’s also interesting that I found the D (Denver) mint seemed to produce more monstrously toned examples than the other two mints.  The P (Philadelphia) mint seems to be the rarest of the 3 mints for eye-appealing color. In spite of that, the most beautiful rainbow-toned Circulation Strike Lincoln I have ever seen is a neon green 1945-P which was owned by Jeff Kelble (CopperColor) through 2017 and currently owned by Daryl Haynor – so it’s hard to make generalizations. 

I sometimes wonder if Denver’s mile high elevation (5,200 feet a.s.l.), perhaps impacted something related to how a coin produced in that thinner air and lower pressure, was struck and/or toned over time.   However, this is pure conjecture.

A few months ago, I stumbled across some really cool photos of a striking antique car (a 1949 Cadillac) completely covered with pennies.  What follows is the background story that I discovered.

In early 1999, a Fort Wayne, Indiana couple by the name of Larry and Theresa Thompson was in the market for an antique car they could restore.  One morning they saw an advertisement for a 1949 Cadillac Series 62 and decided it couldn’t hurt to take a look.  They drove through a light snowfall to the sellers location.  When they arrived, they were accompanied over to the snow-covered car where they carefully brushed off the snow.  It was then they discovered the car was the color of an old penny, which they found charming.  They bought the car on the spot and took it home.

Over the next few months, with this penny idea rolling around in their heads, they began toying with the idea of actually covering the car in pennies. 

When they finally began the project, they originally started by raiding a few family penny jars; but as supplies dwindled, they called on the help of others.  Pennies began coming from friends, other family members, and even strangers who just wanted to be a part of this innovative project.

The pennies were affixed to car one at a time, by hand, using silicone glue.  The work was mostly done by the Thompson Family (Larry, Theresa, and  their two children, Ben and Taylor).  This project took six weeks to complete during the summer of 1999.

It took a total of 38,295 pennies to completely cover the car.  The face value of those pennies is only $382.95, which is not bad!.  All together the pennies add 211 lbs. to the vehicle’s weight, which is about the weight of an adult man in the back seat.

All but four of the pennies were attached head side up.  They’re all U.S. pennies, almost all Lincoln Cents.  Included in the bevy are four 1943 steel pennies, two error pennies, and one 1817 Large Cent,

After the project was completed, the family has continued to use the car on weekends and in the summer — as well as displaying it at multiple car shows each year.  The family eventually decided to name the car “Penny”.  I think it’s great that the Thompson’s always display their Penny Car with a sign that reads “Please Touch the Car!” — so it’s a real hands-on experience for show-goers.

In a 2015 interview, Theresa remarked:  “In the 15 years we’ve owned Penny we’ve had great fun with her and created some wonderful memories.  I like to think we helped to fulfill her destiny.  We would love to know how the original owner feels about what we did — I tried locating him but discovered he’d passed away shortly before our purchase.  Recently, we crossed paths with one of his grandsons at a car show who said his grandfather would have loved the car”.

As an interesting side note, after researching this car, I did a search and found a few other cars with this surface treatment and quickly realized that this really only looks great on an older style antique car — and not so great on more modern cars.

Before you run out and try the same with your car — one issue I thought of might be coins becoming lose and falling off.  How would big temperature changes (hot to cold to hot) and the accompanying expansion/contraction affect the glue.  Imagine cruising down the highway at 60 mph and watching, in horror, as little projectiles fly off your car into cars behind cracking their windshields.   Perhaps some sort of clear sealant could be used over the pennies to help keep them affixed.

In any case, this certainly is one of the coolest and most interesting car/coin synthesis art project I’ve ever seen!

In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt challenged his friend Augustus Saint-Gaudens to redesign the entire line of American coinage from the Cent to the Double Eagle to new and more artistic standards.  However, due to an 1890 law that governed coinage designs, the only coins that were legal to change in 1905 were the one cent piece (1c) and the four gold coins ($2.50, $5, $10, & $20).  Roosevelt empowered Saint-Gaudens to undertake this task and granted him complete artistic freedom.  Unfortunately Saint-Gaudens, who was 56 at the time, was in failing health and only had time to complete the redesign of the $10 and $20 Gold coins (and was only able to make sketches and plaster models for a redesigned one cent coin) before he died in 1907 at the age of 58.  Both of the completed gold coin designs by Saint-Gaudens (for the $10 and $20 denomination) made it into production later in 1907.

The Twenty Dollar Gold Piece: The Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle

Widely acclaimed as the most beautiful American coin ever put into production, the Saint-Gaudens twenty-dollar gold coin (or double eagle) was produced by the United States Mint from 1907 to 1933.

While the resulting Saint-Gaudens $20 Gold design is one of the most beautiful and renowned in history, an early plaster sketch sculpted by the artist shows two dramatically different elements. This “lost” Winged Liberty design, a precursor to the finished version, shows Miss Liberty as she would ultimately appear on the new coin, except that she was portrayed with 1.) large, billowing wings and 2.) a feathered headdress. Until recently this plaster sketch was lost within the Saint-Gaudens studio archives and few were aware of its existence. Finally, it was re-discovered when his New Hampshire studio was made a National Historic Site & opened to the public. While this beautiful design was never actually struck as a U.S. coin, the original plaster sketch was authenticated by the National Guaranty Corporation (NGC).

God or No God?

At President Roosevelt’s insistence, the motto “IN GOD WE TRUST” was omitted from the designs of the new $10 and $20 gold pieces.  This phrase had appeared on the Liberty Head gold coins for over half a century.  Roosevelt was not an atheist, but he firmly believed the coinage of the United States was an improper place for a religious motto.

The phrase, “IN GOD WE TRUST” first appeared on the two-cent pieces beginning in 1864 but it was not mandated. In fact, the Coinage Act of 1873 stated that this motto be inscribed on coins “as space and design permitted”.  When the new eagle and double eagle coins appeared in 1907, the motto had been omitted. However, following a “public outcry”, Congress ordered it restored on the gold pieces — and the Act of May 18, 1908 made it mandatory on all coins “upon which it had heretofore appeared”.

The Ten Dollar Gold Piece: The Indian Head Eagle

No American coin design has escaped criticism and the $10 Gold Eagle of Saint-Gaudens was no exception.

The Caucasian features on the Indian was criticized and those interested in the authentic representation of the American Indian quickly pointed out that no American Indian woman ever wore a war bonnet.  The eagle on the reverse also came under criticism. The leg feathers, ornithologists claimed, were those of a Golden Eagle, not the American Bald Eagle, our national bird.

Saint-Gaudens’ impact on popular and acclaimed Coin Designs of the 20th Century

Saint-Gaudens was a master of the portrait relief. His work in bas-relief (low relief) is unsurpassed to this day and compares with the finest work of the 15th Century Masters in Europe.

Saint-Gaudens was a tireless teacher from 1888 to 1897. An entire new generation of sculptors studied under Saint-Gaudens or became his assistants.  It is to his credit that the designers of the Buffalo Nickel, Mercury Dime, Standing Liberty Quarter, Washington Quarter, Walking Liberty Half Dollar, $2.50 Gold Indian, and $5 Gold Indian were students and/or assistants of Saint-Gaudens.

Roosevelt and Saint-Gaudens

It should be no surprise that these two immensely talented men (Roosevelt and Saint-Gaudens) would become friends and collaborators. Saint-Gaudens would first become involved with Roosevelt on an artistic level when asked to produce an inaugural medallion for the President’s first full term. On January 18, 1905 at the White House, Saint-Gaudens capitulated to Roosevelt’s forceful plea to create an inauguration medal that would be “worthy of the event”. It was at this meeting that Roosevelt and Secretary of the Treasury Shaw asked Saint-Gaudens to consider new designs for United States coins. The medal that resulted from this January day was of supreme artistic merit. Especially notable was the impressive reverse of the medal that featured a heroic eagle on a cliff. This had been a device that U.S coin designer Charles E. Barber rejected back in 1892!  Roosevelt said it best in a letter: “Thank heaven we have at last some artistic work of permanent worth, done for the government.” The reverse eagle design on this inaugural medal was later adopted for use on the $2.5, $5, and $10 Gold Pieces.

Summary

We as coin collectors really owe a lot to this great designer of the 19th and early 20th Century.  I also have to say that I had no idea (until I researched this) of Saint-Gaudens’ impact on some of the most artistically renowned coin designs of the 20th Century. That all of those “collector favorite” coin designs posted above were designed by students of Saint-Gaudens!  You can certainly see the impact of their teacher in the artistry.  And, who knows, there might be many fewer coin collectors today if not for these premier artistic coin designs (seemingly some of the most cherished and loved types) that inspired millions, and came into being due to the influence (direct or indirect) of this great man and artist.

Disclaimer

Please note that I did discovery on this by doing web searches, so please excuse any mistakes in facts, I did the best I could based on what i could find.

Some of you might be surprised to learn that the United States came very close to having a Saint-Gaudens Cent in 1907, which likely would have continued to be produced for most of the 20th century.

Theodore Roosevelt, who served as President from 1901 to 1909, was the only U.S President known to have taken a deep interest in U.S coinage designs. In 1905, President Roosevelt viewed a number of high-relief coins of Ancient Greece on display at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C. Admiring the ancient coins sculptured relief and artistry, he felt the U.S. coins in production at the time were derivative and uninspired in comparison.

Roosevelt then challenged his new friend and renowned artist Augustus Saint-Gaudens to redesign the entire line of American coinage from the Cent to the Double Eagle to new and more artistic standards.

However, under the terms of an 1890 law that governed coinage designs of the United States, coin designs had to be in place for at least 25 years before changes could be made without the approval of congress. As a result, the coins that were legal to change in 1905 without congressional approval included the one cent piece and the four gold coins only. Roosevelt empowered Augustus Saint-Gaudens to undertake this task and granted him “complete artistic freedom within the limit of coinage law.”

Unfortunately Saint-Gaudens, who was 56 at the time, was in failing health and only had time to complete the redesign of the $10 and $20 Gold coins — and was only able to make sketches and plaster models for a redesigned one cent coin — before he died in 1907 at the age of 58.

So if Saint-Gaudens’ One Cent sketches and models had made it to fruition, we may have had a small cent of this approximate design for a good portion of the 20th Century.

 

Summary

It would have been interesting if there had been a Saint-Gaudens Cent. I wonder how many more collectors might have gotten hooked by this potentially beautiful copper coin, which I think some might say (looking that the plaster model) could have had a bit more artistic merit than the more pedestrian (but still quite popular) Lincoln Cent that followed in 1909.  The one downside of the Lincoln Cent design was it ushered in an entire era of Dead President coins. Most collectors I know love the Allegorical Representations of Liberty designs more than Presidental designs. 

As a personal aside, I keep thinking how I would have liked to have made a few adjustments to the Saint-Gaudens Cent design (what nerve to mess with Saint-Gaudens!).  I would have reversed the position of the date (1907) and the word Liberty, moving the date (and mint mark) from the reverse to the obverse.  I also would have made the laurel wreath smaller providing a bit more margin on the edges.  My attempt at a redesign is shown below.  But that’s just me — it’s kind of fun to think about.   

If the original Saint-Gaudens cent design, with the date on the reverse, came to fruition, I wonder how a reverse-side date might have impacted all those collectors that were shoving coins into coin folders and coin-boards over the rest of the 20th century.  Would most collectors have flipped the coin over in their albums, showing the reverse side with the date? 

Disclaimer

Please note that I did discovery on this by doing web searches, so please excuse any mistakes in facts, I did the best I could based on what i could find.

On June 20, 1945, about four million people jammed onto the streets of New York City for a World War II victory parade.  Buried in the the crowd was a young artist and junior U.S. Mint engraver, Frank Gasparro (1909-2001) hoping for a glimpse of his hero, 5-Star General Dwight D. Eisenhower.  Towards the end of the parade, Frank did get a brief glimpse of his hero, and that one fleeting moment changed future U.S. numismatic history.

As soon as he returned to the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, Gasparro made a sketch that captured Eisenhower’s strong and determined gaze.  Twenty-Six years later, that sketch became the inspiration for one of America’s most iconic modern coins – the Eisenhower Dollar, the last large sized Dollar coin produced in the U.S.

The story of the Eisenhower Dollar starts with the Apollo 11 space mission.  On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the moon.  With America caught up in “space fever”, the U.S. Mint looked for a way to honor this world-changing moon-landing event and it needed a coin as impressive as the achievement itself.  So the one-dollar coin was resurrected.  That large coin size/denomination hadn’t been used since 1935, the final year of the Peace Silver Dollar.

At the same time, the Mint wanted to honor Dwight D. Eisenhower, who died shortly before Apollo 11.  Since as president,  Eisenhower helped create NASA — and without President Eisenhower’s (and later President Kennedy’s) vision, the moon landing might never have happened — Eisenhower and Apollo 11 became the perfect match for this coin.  So Frank Gasparro began work on mating his old 26 year old sketch of Eisenhower with the Apollo 11 Mission Insignia to create this new coin.

The Eisenhower Dollar was minted from 1971 through 1978.  However there are no Eisenhower Dollars dated 1975, since that entire year was used to strike the 1976 bicentennial dollars, which had a special reverse featuring the Liberty Bell.  Special 40% Silver Ikes were struck for Collectors at the San Francisco mint throughout the series.  These coins were basically unloved and little used during their short run, but have been undergoing a collector resurrection in recent years due to their large size, low cost, and short run making collecting the complete set a relatively low cost endeavor.

However it should be noted that extremely high-grade business strikes are quite rare and expensive due to their low field populations.  PCGS lists MS67 business strikes as having a fair market value of between $4,000 and $15,000 each, depending on the year.  High grade proofs remain very low priced however — I recently bought a 40% Silver Deep Cameo PCGS PR69 first-year-issue Proof for $38.

B. Max Mehl was a pioneer of modern coin collecting in the U.S. His magazine ads popularized coin collecting across the span of the 20th Century and prompted hundreds of thousands of Americans, kids and adults alike, to scour loose change and their local banks in search of valuable numismatic treasures.

Max began his business in 1895, in a corner of his bedroom, at the amazingly youthful age of eleven!  Grover Cleveland was President of the United States; and the horse and buggy, trolley, stagecoach were still the primary modes of transportation; yet Max Mehl was to build a numismatic empire which would reach from coast to coast in just a few years.

In 1903, when he turned 19, he applied for and received membership in the American Numismatic Association; and he placed his first national advertisements in The Numismatist in December of that year.

In 1904, he published the first of a series of coin price booklets, which he distributed widely by mail order for 50 cents a copy through his magazine ads.  The first series was known as “Catalogue of Fine Selections of Choice United States, Gold, Silver and Copper Coins”, the second series of his coin price booklets was called “Star Rare Coin Book”, and later shortened to the “Star Coin Book”.

It has been reported by several sources that in the early 1900’s more than half of the incoming mail to Fort Worth went to Mehl.  His draw from his ads was exceptional, as no other dealer was so resourceful at the time.

By 1916 he had a new building erected in downtown Fort Worth and named it the “Max Mehl Building.”  A drawing of it can be seen on the cover of the booklets.  It still stands today.

By 1924, Mehl’s annual advertising budget grew to $50,000 — an unheard of amount even for major retailers of the time.

About 10 years later, during the Great Depression, Mehl ran thousands of nationwide ads — advertising $50 to anyone that could find and send to him a 1913 Liberty Head Nickel (even though they were never released into circulation and finding one was for all intents and purposes impossible).  This sparked a national treasure hunt for the nickel that was worth $50, a huge sum of money during the Depression.  Cable cars and tramways in big cities would often run behind schedule during this era because the conductor was too busy checking all the nickels they collected in fares.  Mehl never got one from the ads, but many years later bought one for a bit over $10,000.

In 1941, Mehl sold the collection of fabled collector William Dunham for $83,000 — a staggering amount for the time.  It included several rarities of U.S. coinage including the 1804 silver dollar, 1822 $5 gold piece, and the 1802 half dime.  These three key coins alone would bring well over $3.5 million today.

In his later years, Mehl moved to Southern California and operated his business from Beverly Hills.

His fame in the field is largely due to his spreading the gospel of numismatics, especially to kids and the common man, as most of the dealers of his day were geared towards wealthy clients who were patrons of the arts.  Mehl is considered by most to be the primary reason coin collecting became so popular in the U.S. from the 1930’s through the 1960’s and provided the fertile ground and wide base of collectors that has allowed this great hobby to flourish today.

I wanted to post this little bio of a great man in numismatics because I just bought a coin which was sold by B. Max Mehl sometime in the middle of the last century.  I am guessing the 1940’s or 1950’s.  The seller still had the original Mehl envelope.  This coin came from an original group of Max Mehl owned Commemorative Half Dollars that was recently sold into the market place with their original envelopes.  A very nice piece of history.

I was looking through the Heritage Auction archives and stumbled on an old auction that showed a 1913 Liberty Nickel (The PR64 Olsen Specimen) selling for $3.8 million dollars back in January 2010.  I did a little research and dug up this interesting history and thought I would share it with those that might not know the lore surrounding this legendary coin.

The 1913 Liberty Head Nickel is one of the most prized, publicized, and valuable coins ever produced. Only five proof specimens are known to exist.¹  Facts are sketchy on the minting of the 1913 Liberty Head Nickel.  It is believed that five specimens were struck at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia sometime between December 1912 and April 1913.

The most widely-accepted theory today is a Mint employee by the name of Samuel W. Brown struck five specimens, after-hours, before the dies were destroyed.  It’s clear that the coins left the mint in some sort of unauthorized manner and were kept secret until 1920.

Early in 1920, Mr. Brown began advertising to buy 1913 Liberty Nickels, which may have been done to provide a bit of “cover”.  Then later that same year, he brought the five coins out of hiding and exhibited them at both the Chicago Coin Club and at the American Numismatic Association (ANA) Convention.

Sometime during the the early 1920’s Mr. Brown sold the 5 coins to August Wagner, a Philadelphia coin dealer, who then advertised the five for sale. The next buyer in line was Stephen K. Nagy, who then turned around and sold them to Wayte Raymond (the famous maker of Coin Albums), who in turn sold them to Colonel E.H.R. Green, a super-collector, in 1929.

A few years later, during the Great Depression, an enterprising coin dealer, B. Max Mehl of Fort Worth, Texas, ran thousands of nationwide ads — advertising $50 to anyone that could find and send to him a 1913 Liberty Head Nickel (even though they were never released into circulation and finding one was for all intents and purposes impossible). This sparked a national treasure hunt for the nickel that was worth $50, a huge sum of money during the Depression. Cable cars and tramways in big cities would often run behind schedule during this era because the conductor was too busy checking all the nickels they collected in fares.

In June 1936, Colonel E.H.R. Green passed away — and the set of 1913 Liberty Head nickels made a more public appearance during his estate appraisal.  It’s interesting that Mr. Green had a special velvet & leather case designed for his rare Nickels, which was made with 8 nickel-sized holes, that were filled with the five Liberty Nickels and three pattern Buffalo Nickels including one in bronze.

Colonel Green’s eight coin set and custom case were eventually bought by Eric P. Newman of St. Louis, Missouri.  When Eric bought the set, the leather and velvet case still contained all eight coins.  The case still exists today and is still owned by the man who bought the set from the Colonel E.H.R. Green estate, Eric P Newman. The case has been pictured in Coin World and was on display at the 2003 ANA that brought together all the coins once again.

Through the 1940’s, the 1913 Liberty Head Nickel was continuing to grow in stature. When individual specimens were auctioned off from the original five that were known, they sold for what was at the time seemed like an exorbitant amount of money, as much as $4,000 each.  Each time one was subsequently sold, the price got higher and the legend grew deeper. Even King Farouk of Egypt had, at various times, two different 1913 Liberty Head Nickel specimens in his world-class coin collection.

Fast forward to 1962, and another twist gets added to the story.  In March of 1962, an owner of one of the 1913 Liberty Nickels, George Walton, had a mishap with his coin. Walton was driving to a coin show where he had told the promoters he was bringing a 1913 Liberty Nickel so it could be displayed.  Unfortunately, Walton crashed his car and lost his life in terrible wreck while en route. A 1913 Liberty Nickel was recovered from the accident scene. That coin was sent to Stack’s in New York where it was declared to have an altered date. (It is important to know that George Walton was known to have owned an altered date specimen, along with a genuine 1913. He would sometimes display the altered date piece as genuine and get his jollys out of watching people ooh and aah over the “great rarity”.)

So for the next 40 years, from 1962 through 2002, only four genuine 1913 Liberty Head Nickels were accounted for.

Finally in 2003, the ANA organized a reunion for the four remaining known specimens of the 1913 Liberty Nickel at their annual World’s Fair of Money.  To add interest they offered a $10,000 reward for anyone that could lead them to the lost fifth specimen.  The Walton’s were contacted by Donn Pearlman at the ANA and requested to bring their altered date piece to the World’s Fair of Money to have it shown as part of the historical display of the 1913 Liberty Nickels.  After the Walton’s arrived and their “altered date” piece was looked at — some started to think that it might actually be the missing fifth coin. So later that night, a very a hushed panel of experts was quickly brought together along with the four known genuine 1913 pieces for an examination, in less than an hour the Walton coin was determined to be genuine and the 5th genuine 1913 Liberty Head nickel was now “found”.

Over the years, the five 1913 Liberty Head Nickels ended up getting named for the owners that held them for long periods of time. The five known specimens are as follows:

• The Eliasberg Specimen, PCGS and NGC PR-66, once owned by Louis Eliasberg was sold in January 2007 by Stack’s Auction House. Current owner anonymous. Current PCGS Guide Value $4.5 Million.
• The Olsen Specimen, PCGS and NGC PR-64, named for early owner Fred Olsen, sold in Aug. 2003 for $3 million to an anonymous buyer. Later sold for $3.8 million in January 2010 by Heritage (auction mentioned at the beginning of this article). This coin was once featured on an episode of Hawaii-Five-O.
• The Norweb Specimen, named for previous owner Henry Norweb, is officially ungraded and in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution.
• The Walton Specimen, officially ungraded but authenticated in 2003 by several experts, held by George Walton’s heirs. Was “semi-lost” for nearly 40 years.
• The McDermott Specimen, NGC PR-55, named for former owner (and vest-pocket coin dealer) J.V. McDermott, is currently in the ANA World of Money Collection. This last McDermott example is in rough shape for a Proof because (from what I’ve researched at least) he used to carry it around with him in his pocket with other coins to show people — and there are reports he would sometimes mail it, first class, rattling around loose in an envelope (with no insurance) to other coin collectors for them to look at — which is incredible to consider.

¹ Note that a few collectors I’ve heard from feel these 5 specimens were actually circulation-strikes from a freshly polished die that have proof-like qualities, but are not true proofs. That being said, both major Third Party Graders (PCGS & NGC) certified them as proofs.