The end of the rainbow

[Figleaf]

That collection must be awesome for the insight it gives of the gap between the artist's wishes and the politically correct wishes, or simply the demands of practicality. To put it together in 10 years you must be super-wealthy and to buy it in one go you must be mega-wealthy. I hope the buyer knows how to handle coins. I'm sorry the collection doesn't go on public display.

Peter

NJ company brokers $30M coin collection sale
By REBECCA SANTANA | Associated Press Writer, 10:13 AM EST, November 17, 2007

TRENTON, N.J. - A New Jersey coin dealer has brokered a deal worth more than $30 million for what it says is a collection of rare, experimental American coins.

The collection consists of about 1,000 coins that are referred to by collectors as pattern coins _ coins that were designed by the United States Mint but never went into circulation because other designs were chosen.

"This collection is an incredible collection ... These were some of the first coins ever, ever struck by the United States government," said Laura Sperber, a partner in Legend Numismatics of Lincroft, N.J., which brokered the deal.

The seller wanted to remain anonymous, and the buyer, who also wanted to protect his identify out of security concerns, would only agree to be identified as "Mr. Simpson, a Western states collector," Sperber said.

"Both the buyer and the seller are very competitive people. And they're very successful in their careers, and they both love the romance and collectability of coins," Sperber said.

It was also important for the seller to know that the coins were going to a "great home," said Sperber _ meaning someone who wasn't planning to resell the collection in smaller parts. "All the years that he spent building the collection would stay intact."

No conditions were placed on the deal, although the seller did request that if anything was sold, the pre-1795 coins that he especially loved would go last, Sperber said.

Highlights of the collection include test designs for the first pennies made in 1792 and six coins from 1872 that are often referred to as "Amazonian" patterns because the female figure portraying liberty is much stronger and regal looking than other versions that had come before her. The coins span a time period from 1792 to 1942, and took the collector about 10 years to gather, Sperber said.

Gathering such a large collection of experimental coins is difficult because such a small number were created in the first place. And they were usually supposed to stay in the possession of the U.S. Mint. After all, these were the rejects.

"To accumulate as many patterns as there are in this collection, that's incredible," said Douglas A. Mudd, Curator of the American Numismatic Association Money Museum in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Sperber said the coins could have made their way into private hands over the years as gifts, or trades with collectors for other coins desired by the U.S. Mint.

The collection has been verified by independent, third-party experts, Sperber said.

Experimental coins are interesting for what they tell you about how people were thinking at the time and to give people an idea of what could have been, Mudd said.

Many of the coins bear a depiction of a woman representing liberty and not the profile of a former president that we're used to on coins currently circulating.

That's because it wasn't until 1909, when Abraham Lincoln made his way onto the penny, that presidents were even allowed on coins.

At the time the first coins were created in 1792, putting the nation's leader on the coin seemed too similar to European monarchies that put their kings on coins. That wasn't considered the best example for a country less than a decade removed from the Revolutionary War.

"To put an individual on coinage was considered very un-republican because the people have the power in a republic," Mudd said.

Sperber would not say how much her company earned for brokering the deal, except to say that they were very well taken care of. Hopefully the magnitude of this sale will get more people interested in coin-collecting, she said.

"They're historical. They're beautiful works of art," Sperber said. "They're just plain neat."
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