LOOSE CHANGE: JANUARY 29, 2023

On January 11, the unique 1870-S half dime realized $3,120,000. Incredibly, the only three privately owned, unique U.S. coins were all in the same FUN auction extravaganza, from three different consignors.

A coin is unique if only one is known in the present. The discovery of the unique 1870-S half dime during the late 1970s was a shock to the coin community. Research by Nancy Oliver and Richard Kelly has since demonstrated that San Francisco Mint officials made preparations and filed paperwork for coins of all then current denominations to be struck and placed in a cornerstone of the San Francisco Mint in 1870. In 1978, however, few coin collectors thought that an 1870-S half dime existed. An 1870-S quarter has never emerged.

To read the complete article, see:
Tom Bender's Collection, Review Part 3: Unique 1870-S Half Dime (https://www.greysheet.com/news/story/tom-bender-s-collection-review-part-3-unique-1870-s-half-dime)

 

A legendary example of the ultra-rare 1958 doubled die Lincoln cent smashed all records for the sale of any doubled die sold at auction by exceeding the virtually unfathomable $1 million mark! The 1958 doubled die cent boasts very strong doubling with only three specimens known. It is comparable to the 1955 and 1972 doubled die cents. GreatCollections of Irvine, Calif., handled the sale where it received 117 bids and was hammered down at $1,136,250 with buyer's fee on Jan. 22 at 3:33 p.m. PST. GreatCollections described it as:

The 1958 doubled die was featured in the appendix of The Lincoln Cent Doubled Die by John A. Wexler in 1984 as a last-minute addition. Everybody who saw it in Wexler's book wanted one! The very next year I would have the honor to hold one in my hand and meet the owner, Charles Ludovico of Pennsylvania. My first one in hand was at Combined Organizations of Error Collectors of America's (CONECA) Errorama held in conjunction with the Garden State Numismatic Association in 1985, and then I had the honor to hold a second specimen in hand was at Errorama 1986, held at the same location.

Ludovico was quite a few years older than I am and he is surely gone by now, but I wonder what he'd think to see one of his pennies fetch more than a million dollars!

To read the complete article, see:
1958 Doubled Die Cent Smashes Records (https://www.numismaticnews.net/us-coins/1958-doubled-die-cent-smashes-records)

A Korean bank's unique campaign has recently become the talk of the town.

Hana Bank (CEO, Lee Seung-yeul), one of Korea's four major banks, is introducing 'Money Dream' campaign to boost the bank's digital platform and give "wealth energy" to customers by providing eco-friendly pillows made with unfit banknotes.

Many Koreans believe that having a bank-made item at home can bring wealth to the household that owns it. Hana Bank played on this superstition and created a pillow called 'Money Dream' which can be read in Korean as 'giving money'. Made with recycled unfit banknotes, The 'Money Dream' pillows have become popular lucky draw gifts to Hana bank's customers.

Hana Bank expects 'Money Dream' campaign to provide customers with the opportunity to feel the "wealth energy" stuffed in their pillows while protecting the environment.

To read the complete article, see:
Hana Bank's ?Money Dream? Campaign for Recycling Unfit Banknotes (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hana-banks-money-dream-campaign-for-recycling-unfit-banknotes-301731452.html)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web