Rare nickel fails to fetch a cent at auction
- January 3, 2007 2:29 PM
- By Commodities
The Associated Press
A rare nickel, thought to be worth about $5 million US, did not attract any investors at auction Tuesday.
The coin is one of five known 1913 Liberty Head nickels. New York-based Stack's Rare Coin Galleries put the nickel on the block on Tuesday.
Bidding started at $4.5 million US, but no one made an offer.
"But we aren't disappointed. We've very happy to still own the coin," said Laura Sperber of Legend Numismatics New Jersey. She is a minority owner of the nickel.
Last year, the same coin was sold in New Hampshire for $4.15 million to one of its current owners, Bruce Morelan, a lifelong collector of coins.
It was struck clandestinely at the Philadelphia mint after its design was retired.
Liberty Head nickels were minted from 1883 to 1912. The design was retired and replaced by nickels depicting an American Indian on one side and a bison on the other.
The highest known price paid for a rare U.S. coin was $7.59 million in 2002 for a 1933 $20 gold piece.
is a multimedia producer for CBCNews.ca. Categories
Recent Entries
- Chinese county revokes rule requiring officials to smoke local cigarettes
- A county in rural China has backtracked on an edict that government employees must smoke only locally made cigarettes after the order was reported in a newspaper.... Continue reading this post
- Brits set to nosh on squirrel-flavoured potato chips
- British tastebuds will never be the same, as a gaggle of outlandish potato chip varieties – including Cajun squirrel – hit store shelves across the country on Friday.... Continue reading this post
- Will a green phone ring up sales?
- In the hotly competitive cellphone market, a small marketing edge can really help. A green edge is even better, with consumers worried about the state of the environment.... Continue reading this post