Rare penny may fetch $150,000 at auction

LEWISTON – A rare 1793 penny that surfaced in a coin collection this summer is expected to fetch more than $150,000 when it is auctioned off on Tuesday.

The minimum bid for the Strawberry Leaf 1-cent piece has already been covered, said John Pack, associate director for auction consignments for American Numismatic Rarities in Wolfeboro, N.H.

American Numismatic Rarities is handling the auction, which is being held in Baltimore. Pack said he can’t reveal where the bidding now stands for the coin, but he’s not surprised the minimum bid has been reached.

“This is a very sophisticated property,” Pack said.

The coin surfaced over the summer when it was brought to Republic Coins and Collectibles in Auburn. The Auburn woman who had the coin said her father had purchased it around 1941 for $2,750 and gave it to his wife as an anniversary gift.

When the man was killed in World War II in the Solomon Islands two years later, his widow put the coin in a safe deposit box. When she died, the coin passed on to her heirs.

Pack said the coin is rare because there are only two others struck by the same die that are known to exist, and one other known to feature the unique Strawberry Leaf pattern.

Pack said inquiries about the oversized 1-cent piece – it’s nearly as large as today’s half dollars – have come from a varied group.

Some are purely copper coin collectors, while others value the Strawberry Leaf for its rarity. For Pack, “It’s a career highlight to have handled it,” he said.

According to American Numismatic Rarities, the coin was the first Strawberry Leaf specimen ever sold at public auction when it brought $77.50 in 1877.

Since then, collectors have had only eight opportunities to bid on a Strawberry Leaf cent at public auction, and only three of those chances arose during the 20th century, once in 1950 and twice in the same 1984 auction.