The Legendary 1913 Liberty Head Nickel
It was the year 1913. Every person was searching through their small piles of coins for a hyped up 5 cent coin that had been publicized all over the US. I'm talking about the 1913 Liberty V Nickel. It was said that only 5 examples got out of the Mint. Many theories were developed as to how these coins made it out in the public. Some say that the pieces were struck as test pieces while some say that someone accidentally minted 5 coins before the dies were destroyed to be replaced by the Buffalo Nickel. And also this was during the Great Depression, in which a collector named B. Max Behl of Texas offered a huge reward of 50$ (During those times 50$ was a enormous amount of money) to the person who found the nickel. This led to the nationwide hype of the coin. Most of the pieces were sold quietly to private collectors. Million of Americans could be seen stopped on the streets, checking their change for this rare piece of fortune.
Source-www.coins.about.com Image- Bing images
Comments
Mike
Level 7
I have no comment on the existence of the so called five.
ShriekenGriffon
Level 5
These coins are so cool! I have personally seen one of these and an 1804 dollar at an ANA coin show. Was so cooool!!!
user_7180
Level 5
Cool
user_5225
Level 5
Good post.
Quarter quiz dude
Level 5
cool!
Kepi
Level 6
Very cool! Thanks for sharing!
user_6683
Level 4
That's a cool piece of history thank you for sharing!
CMCC
Level 5
Yeah, only five were made. I believe one sold for $4,00,000. A few other sales were in the seven-digit range.
luv2collect
Level 4
5??? Wow. I wish I had one...
nachos10
Level 4
Oh never mind i noticed it
nachos10
Level 4
Ill just remove the tags then
LNCS
Level 5
The image is the Eliasberg example. Can't get the badge cuz you cannot tag it.
CMCC
Level 5
I know! No wonder why no one has this badge!
nachos10
Level 4
Thanks for the correction @Numinerd9. I see your point and I have corrected my blog post.
nachos10
Level 4
Well kinda lol @WinkWink
WinkWink
Level 4
Nice one Nach, Going for the Badge? No one has it yet....
Numinerd9
Level 5
Only FIVE examples of this coin were made - just five, not six. So much hype and speculation in the early 1920's fueled public belief that a sixth copy had to be out there as well. It stands to reason - think of everyone searching their change for something they could've made $500, $600 from - especially during the depression era, which was right around the corner. I probably would've even believed a sixth one was out there too at that time. (Think about it carefully - Wouldn't a big money coin like that have surfaced at some point if it existed? It would've had to have changed hands at least once within that time frame, so it's pretty near impossible that a sixth one is out there.) Of course, I will still have to answer questions from people who tell me they have "the sixth example," just as I'll have to keep having people call me about their 1943 'silver' pennies! Another day, another dream to crush. (sigh)