The 1905 Liberty-Nickel

Some of you are members of or familiar with the Rotary Global History Fellowship (RGHF), www.rotaryfirst100.org . RGHF has historically honoured a group of Rotarians with membership into the 1905 Society with the presentation of a 1905 “V” Liberty-Nickel. The award was introduced in the year 2001 by the founder of RGHF, Jack Selway, and is presented “with sincere thanks for those who have shown leadership and stewardship” in preserving Rotary’s History (www.1905society.org ).

1905 Society Award (From left) RGHF-Pres. M. Ingemanson, RC NY, W. Ziegler and PDG K.-H. Guentermann, RC Ammersee. The pic was taken by Dayton Y. Lee, from the same club as our RIP nom. Dong Kurn Lee, RC Seoul Hangang, Korea.

The 1913 Liberty-Nickel

The 1913 Liberty-Nickel is the second most expensive coin in the world*. Only five of these coins had been minted wrongly in 1913 under mysterious circumstances. Officially, in 1913 a portrait of an Indian was scheduled for the Nickel.

The 1913 Liberty-Nickel This Nickel was sold in 2005 for 4,15 million USD

Today it is assumed, that Samuel W. Brown, then employed by the Philadelphia Mint, was deliberately involved. After waiting a few years, he bought the rare coins from the engraver George T. Morgan. In 1993, the 1913 Liberty-Nickel reached the price of one million USD. In 2005, at an auction in New Jersey, the Nickel was sold for 4,15 million. [Translated in part from the Deutsches Muenzen Magazin, January 2007] Probably you can understand, that far from being ungrateful about having received the 1905 Liberty-Nickel, I would nevertheless trade it against the 1913 Liberty-Nickel.

*The most expensive coin to date is the 1933 Double Eagle, who was sold in 2002 for nearly eight million dollars.