1913 Liberty V Nickel
The
1913 Liberty V Nickel is one of the rarest coins today.
With only 5 made in existence, it is truly a remarkable coin.
It was early in the year 1913, the design of the Buffalo Nickel
hadn't been introduced, that wouldn't happen until February.
A numismatist, Samuel Brown, was an employee at the mint at the
time worked in the coining department. George T. Morgan,
who was the engraver at the time, was the most likely person to
have given 5 coins to Samuel Brown. Morgan was
known to have produced many coins on occasion for sale to
dealers and collectors. So Morgan minted five 1913
Liberty V Nickel and gave them to Brown. Brown
attended the American Numismatic Association Convention in 1920
were he publicly displayed the five coins. Since there was
laws governing the production of the Liberty V Nickel, and
since they were technically still in production, it wouldn't
have been all that unheard of, to see a 1913 nickel. Of
course, at the time when the nickel was going through a design
change, there we problems with the Buffalo Nickels designs, and
no coins were to be produced until the design of the new nickel
was complete. Despite of what happened in the past, the 1913
Liberty V Nickel is one of the most talked about coins in
numismatic history, and one of the rarest as well.
There are 5 Specimens of the coin, these are the Eliasberg, the
Olsen, the Norweb, the McDermott, and the Reynolds. The
Elisaberg coin and the Norweb coin and one is housed in the National
Coin Collection at the Smithsonian while the other is at the ANA
National Money Museum in Colorado. The Elisberg specimen was
said to be one of the finest specimens of the coin, graded at Proof
66. The Olsen Specimen was the most publicized due to the fact
that one B. Max Mehl used it in his advertising campaigns to sell
his Star Rare Coin Encyclopedia. He gave the Liberty V
Nickel fame by making it the focal point of his advertising
campaign. He told everyone, if you find one of the 5 only
struck 1913 Liberty V Nickel that you would be able to pay off your house.
Well this sent the public into a frenzy with everyone on the hunt
for the most elusive coin. Not ever acquiring the coin that
made him popular, he popularized coin collecting like no other, and
not knowing that Col Green had all five coins in his possession at
the time.
So you
ask, if these coins are so rare, then they have to have a hefty
price tag for them as well. The Olsen Specimen was just sold at
auction for a record $3 million. This specimen it is in fact
one of the more prestigious of the coins, being owned by the King of
Egypt, King Faurok an avid coin collector. As well as Dr. Jerry
Buss, who was the owner of the LA Lakers. Auctions for other
1913 Liberty V Nickel were 1 to 1.8 million, and it is said
since these coins are still in privately owned hands, that new
records of $5 million could be reached.
The 1913
Liberty V Nickel has been the longest talked about coin in
today's history. The coin itself carries a tremendous
amount of history behind it, from where it has been, to who has
previously owned it. Believing that one could ever own
such a wonderfully rare coin is without question, the question
is, can you own it for the right price.
 
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