I have a penny
I'd like to sell.
DEALER: That is-- whoa--
not a penny.
DANIEL: It's not a penny?
DEALER: Uh, no.
The United States has
never made a penny.
Most people don't realize that.
Those damn Brits made a penny,
but we've never made a penny.
We've always made a cent.
And the reason why it's called
a cent is because it's 1%--
two different things.
So we made cents.
[laughing]
It's an American
coin, and it was
minted just after we
got our independence
from England, so very old--
1791.
I bought it from an
individual about 30 years ago.
I'd like to get at least $2,200.
I don't think I'll take
any less than that.
DEALER: Early American coins are
an absolute nightmare to judge.
You really have to
know what you're doing,
or you can make an
expensive mistake.
But if it is real, we could
be talking a lot of money.
Did you have an idea
what you wanted for it?
DANIEL: Well, I had an offer--
it's 20 years ago now--
but from a man who I
think is still around.
And he offered me $2,000 for it.
Who knows?
I mean, quite frankly, it's
worth anywhere between nothing
and God knows how much.
So I'm going to give
my buddy a call.
I'm going to have
him come down here,
and he's going to look at it.
And he's going to
explain it to me and you.
Because I don't know
anything about it.
I just don't.
I think you got a few minutes.
Look around.
Maybe there's-- see if you
can spend some of your money.
DANIEL: Thank you.
I'm a bit excited.
I think a second opinion
is going to be great.
It is a real coin.
It is an American coin.
It is early.
And hopefully, he will
see the value in it that I
see in it-- or maybe more.
DAVID: Oh, fantastic.
OK.
Well, this is kind
of interesting.
OK, this is neither
a coin nor American,
but it's very important
to the early coinage
history of the United States.
This was actually struck in
1791, as the date indicates,
in Birmingham, England.
DANIEL: Really?
DAVID: Yeah.
- Birmingham, England.
DAVID: This was actually
manufactured with a very
specific commercial motive.
The United States Mint was
not founded until a year
after this was struck.
In 1791, the United
States Congress
was working with
all sorts of ideas
about establishing a US mint.
And one of the possibilities
was that they were going
to contract out the striking
of coinage to an enterprising
Englishman of the name Walker.
He created the dies for
this, and then they were
struck at a mint in Birmingham.
They shipped a keg--
we know of one keg--
to their agents in
Philadelphia, and they
distributed them to all sorts
of congressmen, senators, VIPs.
In other words, they were trying
to win a government contract.
And the king didn't
chop their fingers
off or anything for that?
DAVID: No, surprisingly.
DEALER: So is it real?
DAVID: Well, I'm going
to check it with a loupe
just to make sure.
It is-- it's struck
rather than cast,
and it has the engrailed edge.
The surfaces are correct.
Everything about it
is absolutely correct.
This is genuine.
- OK, sweet.
And now, is it worth
a million dollars?
No.
[laughing]
DEALER: What is
it actually worth?
DAVID: Based upon
condition, they
range from $200 or $300 or
$400 up to $3,000 or $4,000
or $5,000 if you get one that
is just in amazing condition.
This coin falls quite
a bit short of that.
This is the kind of
coin that retails
somewhere around $750, $800.
And it will very actively
sell at that level.
OK.
Hey, not a problem.
Thank you.
OK.
All right.
Best of luck.
Thank you.
- Thank you.
- See you soon, man.
As with all collectible
coins, condition is incredibly
important to determining value.
This is a very
nice coin, and it's
worth a respectable amount.
Actually, it's worth a lot
more than I thought it was.
I'd give you $500 for it.
I've still got a $2,000
offer on the table for it.
And if I do, I have to
check on that first.
To negotiate at this
point would be moot.
Because there's no way
I would come near that.
So see if the guy is still
willing to pay you $2,000.
If not, come back,
and we'll talk.
I'll give it a try.
We may see each other again.
- OK.
Have a nice day, man.
- Thank you.
I think, since I had a better
offer before, hopefully,
it'll still be out there.
