MEMPHIS COIN CLUB SHOW

The Memphis Coin Club was founded in 1936, said Ray Brown, one of the club's leaders, and the coin show has been an annual event almost every year since. More than 50 dealers from across the South and Midwest packed into the arena Saturday to sell just about any type of coin you could imagine.

You could buy a Buffalo nickel for a dollar. One dealer had a table full of somewhat-mangled coins called “large cents” because, well, they're quite large and have a face value of one cent. You could pick any of them for nine bucks. Another table had a box full of old foreign coins, and you could pick one out for a couple of bucks.

In a neat little innovation to appeal to children, show organizers gave those younger than 12 $3 in “show money” — it looks like a dollar but is printed in purple — that could be used at any dealer's table to buy something (the show reimbursed the dealers afterward). What better way to hook kids into a hobby that has seen its popularity wane than let them get a cool old coin for free?

Of course, most of the items there cost a whole lot more than three bucks. Wes Mull, a dealer from Georgia, had an 1878 gold coin with a face value of $2.50. It was a proof coin, though, meaning one that was minted for show and not circulation. Perhaps 20 of them were made, and around a dozen are still known to exist. Price: $12,000.

Steve Ellsworth, a Nashville dealer, had one of the most valuable pieces at the show: a 1795 Jefferson Head cent. Those coins were produced outside the mint system by an independent businessman named John Harper who was hoping to get a contract to supply coins for the nascent country, according to the Professional Coin Grading Service. Ellsworth had an asking price of $59,500. Another of those pennies sold for $184,000 in 2012.

And the show didn't just feature collectible money. Dealers were also selling some jewelry as well as oddities such as coins minted with the face of Batman or the T. rex from Jurassic Park. But one of the most popular items was gold in any form. Dealers were both buying and selling the stuff.

To read the complete article, see:
Collectors pay pretty penny for rare coins (https://dailymemphian.com/section/arts-culture/article/50069/memphis-coin-club-landers-center-desoto-county-collectibles)

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