JOHN: Hi there.
RICK: Hey, how's it going?
JOHN: Good.
Got a 1922 proof high-relief
matte-finish coin.
RICK: OK.
Where did you get this?
I won it at a poker
game, believe it or not.
RICK: This is, like, one of the
holy grails of American coins.
And you won it in a poker game?
JOHN: Yeah.
RICK: Whoa.
This is cool.
In 1921, we brought
the silver dollar back.
And the story goes is they
were going to try and make
some really high-relief ones.
What this means by high
relief right here is the image
really comes off the coin, OK?
It's much higher detail.
And I don't know
the exact story,
but there was some problems.
Then they got melted down.
And most people didn't even
know they existed for, like,
15 years.
And then also some
stories came from the Mint
that they actually existed.
So there's a dozen of
these things in the world.
JOHN: It's pretty rare.
RICK: Oh, it's beyond rare.
The 1922 High Relief Peace
Dollar is one of the rarest
coins in American history.
It definitely shocks me
that people will walk up
to my counter and pull
out an item worth $50,000
or $100,000 or more.
I definitely want this thing,
but I have to make absolutely
sure this is the real deal.
Silver dollars is what every
coin collector collects.
Everyone collects
silver dollars,
and maybe they collect
half dollars and nickels.
But they all buy silver dollars.
I mean, that's the mainstay
of collectible coins.
JOHN: OK.
RICK: So how much
do you want for it?
JOHN: $20,000.
What, you want $20,000 for it?
$20,000?
JOHN: Do you think
it's worth that?
Yeah, sure, no problem.
Let's go.
[laughter]
No.
No, this is worth a
lot more than $20,000.
JOHN: Oh.
That's pretty awesome.
RICK: Do you mind if I call a
friend to take a look at this?
I have a few mega,
mega concerns here, OK?
I've never seen one in person.
And I just want to make
sure everything's legit.
And I mean, if someone
was to fake a coin,
this is the one
they would do it on.
I'm actually friends with
a guy who works at NGC.
He's one of their
best coin graders.
And if everything's legit, maybe
we'll do some business, OK?
Sounds good.
RICK: All right.
Hang out.
JOHN: All right.
I think there's a good
chance it's legit.
Obviously nothing in
this world is 100%,
but I'm happy with an
expert coming in, for sure.
Dave.
DAVE: Rick, how you doing?
I am doing
absolutely fabulous.
And this is it.
Aahhh.
[laughing]
JOHN: [laughing]
DAVE: Wow.
It isn't every day
a 1922 High Relief
Peace Dollar walks in the door.
This guy got it
in a poker game.
Oh my god.
It's always nice to get
called in on an exciting coin.
This coin is particularly
interesting, historical.
And it's rare as hen's teeth.
RICK: Now, what exactly is
the story with this coin?
I mean, this was the coin
the government minted,
but no one knew they minted
it for, like, 15 or 20 years?
DAVE: That's correct.
None of these had
transacted until 1937.
These were more or less unknown.
And they carried over the high
relief of the 1921 issues,
all of which, by the way were
stuck in a one-week period
at the end of 1921.
The high-relief design was
sort of a triumph of art
and a failure of technology
because although they were
beautiful, they couldn't strike
them with enough pressure
to get a lot of them out.
So they ended up early
in 1922 having to reduce
the relief of the design.
RICK: OK.
So I assume your main
concern is, is it real?
Yeah.
DAVE: OK.
Definitely.
DAVE: It is in an NGC
holder, which is wonderful.
The holder is completely
intact and genuine.
And the coin is
perfectly legitimate.
It's one of very few known.
OK, so the big thing
is, what's it worth?
One of these sold
very recently that
brought a touch over $100,000.
It was a little bit nicer than
this, but not too far apart.
I think this coin is worth
something north of $50,000
but less than $100,000.
RICK: OK.
Thanks, man.
DAVE: Super rare.
No problem.
- OK.
DAVE: Thank you.
Congratulations.
JOHN: Thank you.
Thank you.
DAVE: All right.
There you go.
RICK: All right.
All right.
RICK: I'll talk
to you soon, man.
Sounds good.
I'm quite excited that
this is the real thing.
Very few specialists
have had the chance
to actually handle them.
But finding one of
these, especially
walking into a pawnshop,
is really extraordinary.
[sigh] I should've
just gave you the $20,000
and not called in Dave.
[laughing]
JOHN: [laughing]
I'm happier now.
RICK: I'll give you $65,000.
What about $90,000?
I think $90,000 is fair.
You were willing to
take $20,000 for it.
JOHN: You weren't willing
to offer me $20,000 for it.
I think $75,000 is fair.
Meet me in the middle at
$80,000 and you got a deal.
RICK: [sigh] It's a deal.
- All right.
- OK.
All right, let's go up front.
I'll write you up.
JOHN: I made $80,000 on the
coin, super excited about it--
definitely going to
keep playing poker.
Hopefully I get another
coin like this sometime.
