Post date: Apr 23, 2013 9:59:16 PM
A rare 1913 U.S. nickel, only one of five known of its kind, is up for auction and expected to reap millions.
(HERITAGE AUCTIONS) - A Liberty Head nickel coin, only one of five produced at the U.S. mint inPhiladelphia featuring a Miss Liberty design, is up for auction. On the website of Heritage Auctions, the bid for the coin stood at $2.2 million dollars (USD) ahead of the auction which takes place in Chicago from April 24-28.
The coin is called the George Walton specimen, in numismatic circles. Two of the five original coins are in museums, leaving just three examples available to collectors. Of the three, the George Walton specimen has the most remarkable story.George O. Walton was on his way to a coin show in 1962 when he died in a car accident. His 1913 Liberty nickel was recovered from the wreck and returned to his family. It was sent to an auction house, but returned as a fake - an error that led collectors to believe that one of the five 1913 Liberty nickels was lost and possibly gone forever.
Walton's heirs held onto the nickel, though, and in 2003, the same coin was deemed authentic.
While the other two specimens have been offered for sale at public auction on multiple occasions, the Walton specimen has never before been offered, publicly or privately.
The rediscovered 1913 Liberty nickel was displayed at the convention alongside the other four and later lent to the American Numismatic Association in Colorado Springs, CO, where it was on display for nearly a decade. This is its first appearance at auction.