🥇 BANNER Rarest US Silver coin minted in the 20th century found 1901 S Barber Quarter

[Dr.Tones]

Ok guys. I initially wasn't going to post this. While I was hunting last week I unearthed literally the rarest US silver coin of the 20th century. A 1901 S Barber Quarter!!!! VF/XF (details) with environmental damages and a few scratches. Yes... It's a crying shame its a "dug" coin... But hey... It's the find of a lifetime. There's no doubt in my mind about it's authenticity. The site it was found at, simply put, hasn't been touched since around 1920. I've also had several local dealers (one of which was a former PCGS grader) tell me it's genuine. I know either way it needs to be graded and slabbed, but what are your thoughts? Value? Grade? Where to sell? Thanks! Still spinning! Idaho! On the map!!!

 

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[Guest 1551]

i knew this wouldn't take long to hit banner when i saw it on the other forum. congrats again Doctor.

 

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[coinman123]

Wow, Congrats on such a rare coin! I never expected that someone would find that key-date. Congrats in the banner!


Coinman123,

 

[testing123]

Now that's a big congrats! For me PCGS would be the recipient of this coin. Either way something like this shouldn't be sold raw...too many fakes out there. You could try selling on ebay, maybe with a reserve but people don't like reserves. Could do buy it now. Its free to try those or nearly so. Could do an auction house but their fees are crazy high. Heritage is well known and other places like Stacks Bowers have a good reputation. I hear you may be able to negotiate the commission but that may be for higher roller sellers. There is a buy, sell, trade forum on the pcgs chat forums that is free to post but you might want to sign up now and post a bit as new members selling high value coins is a bit...suspicious maybe? But that is also free to try. In my experience try to avoid mentioning "metal detecting find" when selling...its great for us nerds but can be negative when selling to coin guys. Excuse any typos...typed on phone

 

[Tedyoh]

Wow. My opinion is if I had the chance to sell something that had a face value of 25 cents and make a around about 75,000% to 100,000% profit on it, no brainer. Very nice and congrats!

 

[testing123]

You could also try selling it on commission with a well known coin dealer. Harry Laibstain might be worth a call. Or find a dealer well known for barbers...I can't immediately think of one. On commission the dealer has no real risk plus you don't have to sell wholesale, just pay a percentage commission if it sells.

 

[mindcrime1988]

I agree with many other folks on here, why sell it? Chances are it's only going to go up in value so unless you really need the money I would not get rid of it. You'll probably never see or hold another one. But nobody knows your situation better than you and it is your find after all.

Either way, congratulations on an epic find!

 

[Westfront]

Great find and congrats on the Banner!

 

[CMDiamonddawg]

Congratulation !


CMDdawg

 

[treblehunter]

Its like money in the bank (with a much higher possibility for a much larger return over time), I would never sell it if I found it, unless I really needed that money really bad.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Incredible find DT!! Whether you're interested in selling it now or somewhere down the road I highly recommend you send it in to PCGS for authentication, grading and slabbing. I recently went through that process with my Lord Baltimore sixpence (also a 5-figure coin), and was first steered to one of the country's leading coin experts who used to work for Stack's (now Stack's Bowers) which is one of the premier coin auction houses. He did some very light professional cleaning on my coin, sent it off to PCGS, and upon return sent it to a professional coin photographer for some hi-res pics. The whole deal only cost me $300 which was well worth it. If you'd like contact info for this gentleman please PM me as I'm sure he would be more than glad to assist you. I also have another friend who used Stack's to auction off his Lord Baltimore copper denarium, and sold it for over $42,000. I know first hand those folks do a great job, and I highly recommend them as well. Congrats again on an awesome find, and good luck regardless of which way you go with it.

BTW - the 2015 Red Book shows the VF and EF values a little higher than in your pic. They're running at $23,000 and $30,000 respectively.

 

[Iron Patch]

I don't think it matters what it grades at.
It's still a Banner find.

No kidding there. Even if it was VG it would still be great.


Don't suppose this one was caught on video? Now that is a reaction I would like to see!

 

[ATpro5]

He posted on Facebook last night that he didn't get the dig on film but he is making a sort of "documentary" on the process he's going through. Sending it off for grading,selling,etc.

 

[leenie]

hi dr. thank you for posting a wonderful find. this is why we scratch around in the dirt. great on the banner god bless you all. dave

 

[unclemac]

what is the story of the site and the hunt and the find? did you know right away or did you have to get home and clean and figure it out?

 

[BuckleBoy]

No kidding there. Even if it was VG it would still be great.


Don't suppose this one was caught on video? Now that is a reaction I would like to see!

the reaction was probably "oh, a barber quarter" LOL

I knew the S mints commanded a premium, so when I dug an 1893-S last week had my fingers crossed on price. Couldn't remember which ones were the key dates. Still worth a couple hundred in the beautiful condition it's in, but not even in the ballpark of the value of this great find.

Congrats,

Buck

 

[EasternShoreMetal]

WOW ! Banner find

 

[Argentium]

Amazing ! I thought I was pretty familiar with U.S. coins - for some reason I had no idea this key date/mint even existed
Did you know when dug it that you had a key to the series ? (1913-S has a mintage of 40,000 much less pricey though)
congratulations on your BANNER find !

 

[Gridwalker306]

Congratulations! That's a remarkable "lifetime" find, and deserves banner. This post should probably go into the "the best of Treasurenet" page as well. I actually got butterflies reading this post haha!

It's nice that the obverse is in pretty decent shape, with a rather full LIBERTY. The reverse looks slightly more corroded/pitted, but MAN that's a great coin!

 

[DiggerGal]

Wooooooow!!!! Amazing Find!!!! Congrats!!!

 

[DigIron2]

holy cow what a score,she's a beauty!Congratulations!