"Olsen" 1913 liberty nickel sold for $3.7 million "Olsen" 1913 liberty nickel sold for $3.7 million at Heritage Auctions Florida United Numismatists (FUN) Auction, at the Orange County Convention Center Thursday.
the 1913 nickel, along with an 1894-S dime and an 1804 silver dollar. Hamrick began collecting coins in 1953 and opened his first coin shop 10 years later, while he was a student at George Institute of Technology.
Warren Tucker [Olsen] was a partner with John Hamrick in World Wide Coin during the 1970s, at the time that they handled the Olsen specimen of the 1913 nickel, along with an 1894-S dime and an 1804 silver dollar. They often displayed the trio at coin shows and conventions, where the present cataloger (Mark Borckardt) first saw the three coins. Today, Tucker is director of world coin auctions for Heritage.
Auction Appearances
B. Max Mehl, November 1944, lot 1551, $3,750 [Olsen]
The Olsen sale included several important rarities in addition to the 1913 nickel. Among the offerings were an excellent selection of pattern coins that included a quintuple stella in gold, a complete set of four dollar gold pieces, 1884 and 1885 Trade dollars, a Mint State 1797 half dollar, and a Massachusetts NE sixpence.
Numismatic Fine Arts, May 1946, lot 1058, $2,450 (unsold) [Olsen]
The second mail bid sale of Edward Gans and Henry Grunthal was originally scheduled to close on May 7, 1946, but the date was changed to May 21. The sale included 1,140 lots of American and world coins.
B. Max Mehl, June 1947, lot 2798, $3,750 [Olsen]
Although the 1913 nickel was consigned by Mehl and never owned by Will W. Neil, the Neil sale had an impressive offering of numismatic delicacies, including a Mint State 1794 dollar, 1804 silver dollar, 1870-S silver dollar, 1838-O half dollar, 1894-S dime, 1843 proof set, a set of stellas, and numerous other properties.
Sotheby's, February 1954, lot 1695, $3,747 [Norweb]
Sotheby's was selected to handle the King Farouk Collection on behalf of the Government of Egypt. The collection was billed as "The Palace Collections of Egypt," since Farouk had been deposed. The catalog was poorly prepared, grouping together extremely important coins into large lots by denomination. The 1913 Liberty Head nickel, for example, was part of a collection of 149 nickels from 1866 to 1948 that was offered in a single lot. Abe Kosoff and Sol Kaplan successfully requested that the 1913 nickel be taken out of the lot and sold separately, and they purchased it for 1,300 pounds (about $3,747).
Abe Kosoff, March 1961, lot 280, $50,000 (unsold) [Olsen]
Two full pages in the catalog were devoted to the 1913 nickel. The sale was remarkable for its offering of the 1913 nickel, an 1804 silver dollar, an 1894-S dime, an 1876-CC twenty-cent piece, and the 1866 No Motto half dollar and dollar. Following Abe Kosoff's tradition, the first lot was an 1856 Flying Eagle cent.
Paramount, August 1967, lot 2241, $46,000 [McDermott]
Paramount International Coin Corporation was selected to handle the American Numismatic Association auction in 1967.
Superior, January 1985, lot 366, $385,000 [Olsen]
Dr. Jerry Buss sold his collection in 1985 due to changing interests and a concern
