Volume 29, No.39                                           
October 10, 2004

Coin-onia

   For what it’s worth, I’m putting in my two cents on the search for the world’s most valuable coins.

   For starters, you may be surprised to learn the rarest U.S. coins aren’t even real.  They’re counterfeits or reproductions.  Take the 1913 Liberty Head nickel, for example.  Only five were minted and they’re worth up to $1.5 million a piece.

   How those coins were created is still a bit of a mystery, but production of official Liberty Head nickels stopped at the end of 1912 when they were replaced by a new version bearing the now-familiar image of a buffalo. Mysteriously, five Liberty Head nickels surfaced in 1913 amid rumours they’d been struck secretly by a Mint employee, perhaps curator Sam Brown who had them in 1919.  Today, one is missing but four are accounted for, including one in the Smithsonian and a “dull, scratched, uncirculated” nickel once purchased by King Farouk of Egypt who saw and increased its value.

   Royalty also figures prominently in the story of the most sought-after American coin, the 1804 Silver Dollar.  With only fifteen in existence, they’re each worth up to $4 million, despite the fact they’re  not genuine coins, and weren’t even made in 1804!

   In 1834, the U.S. was trying to get lucrative trade deals so the government ordered the Mint to make two boxed sets of all coins then in use:  gifts for the King of Siam (Thailand) and the Sultan of Muscat (Oman.)  But the gift sets seemed cheap without a silver dollar or a $10 gold coin, which had both been discontinued 30 years earlier. So the Mint found the dies from 1804 and struck the missing coins.

   In time, the Siamese coins went to the family of Anna Leon-Owenswhose work as tutor to the King’s children inspired The King and I. Today, the coins are in museums and private collections but there are some extra counterfeits out there.  That’s because, in 1858, a Mint employee dug out the 1804 dies once again and made his own coins. Only one survives, identifiable because it was stamped over a Swiss medal and parts of the “host coin” are visible.

   Then there’s the 1894-S dime.  When Mint superintendent J. Daggett struck some special dimes for his banker friends, he also gave three to his daughter, Haillie, who was too young to recognize their value.  She used one to buy a dish of ice cream, which instantly became the world’s most expensive dessert!  Twelve of the dimes are now missing but a well-worn one surfaced in 1957 and later sold for $31,000.  It was almost certainly “the ice cream dime.”

   That story reminds me of how even we sometimes don’t understand the value of a heart stamped with the image of God.  So although our spirituality is precious, we exchange it for things worth almost nothing. Over time, our hearts get worn and weathered until we’re bought back by One who recognizes and appreciates our value.

   And like most of today’s rare coins, we begin that journey as counterfeits. Until we commit ourselves to the Lord, our hearts may look genuine on the surface, but they’re mostly for show, or moulded by that lawbreaking, rebellious being who deceives the world and the church by turning out his own version of Christianity. Mirroring the woman’s silver drachma in Jesus’ parable (Luke 15:8-10), all such “coins” are lost. Similar to the restamped Swiss medal, they may appear legit at first, but  expose one to serious examination and what’s underneath is clearly seen.                  

   In the New Testament, Christians shared a unity and fellowship described by a word that meant “things in common.”  The word was koinonia (coy-no-KNEE-uh.)  When we share too much in common with this materialistic world, call it coin-onia.  But call it what it is.

   The Good News is, even when our hearts are dull, scratched and uncirculated, we’re sought-after by the King who pays the highest price and brings even more value to our lives.  In God we trust.

By Rick Gamble, published in Cross Current, the weekly newsletter of the Followers of Christ church family in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.  Reprint at will in not-for-profit publications.  To receive these free weekly articles via email, send a note to sgamble@bfree.on.ca