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Page 12 The Antique Shoppe August, 2019
COLLECTING WITH JEFF
NW PINELLAS: Belleair Bluffs - Largo By Jeff Figler
Palm Harbor

Laura A. Collum JEWEL ANTIQUE MALL The Controversial 1909-SVDB Penny

ANTIQUES
Have you ever heard the saying “a
NAUTICAL ITEMS, penny for your thoughts”? As I thought genuine. Still other people, mainly
Southerners, did not want Lincoln’s
SCIENTIFIC
INSTRUMENTS, CIVIL Antique & Estate Bought about the topic for this summer likeness on a coin. They could not
WAR GUNS, SWORDS & Dealer Space Available column, my first impulse was to write forget the fact that the Civil War ended
MEDICAL ITEMS, about the Statue of Liberty. over forty years earlier.
AMERICAN FURNITURE,
DECOYS, QUILTS “Quality Dealers with Quality Antiques” I researched the Statue, and the The initials were soon removed.
immortal 1889 poem of Emma Lazarus, Collectors were soon to pick up on the
727-585-5568 but I soon dissed that idea. After all, idea that the coins that had the original
Located at
580A Indian Rocks Rd. 2601 Jewel Road even though there are several replica initials would be worth something if
Belleair Bluffs Belleair Bluffs, FL 33770 Statues of Liberties around the world, they held on to them. And of course
Florida 33770 how many have actually been owned they were right. Collectors even a
(727) 581-6585 Mon-Sat 10-5, Sun 12-5 by a collector? Get the idea? hundred years ago knew about supply
or 442-9969 www.collumantiques.com LEN & JAN SPENCER, Managers Then I considered writing about Old and demand.
Email: collumantiques@verizon.net 3 janisbspencer@aol.com 2 Glory, but thought I might save that for By the time the initials were
a later time. I finally decided to write removed there had been 484,000
about a good old American coin. But pennies already printed. People living
not just any old penny, nickel, dime, in San Francisco in 1909 had first crack
quarter, or even silver dollar. A coin at them. Legend has it that one mail
that collectors often wait for months order entrepreneur John Zug had
or even years to go to auction. The 25,000 of them. Legend has it that he
1909-SVDB penny. The coin that many also sold his treasure trove at close to
collectors consider “The Holy Grail” of their face value.
a coin collection. How could a single But coin collectors still yearn to have
penny achieve a 1909 S-VDB
such a status? Lincoln penny.
Why would There are
someone very few that
spend ever come
thousands of to auction.
dollars on a People who
1 single penny? have such a
In 1905,
Lincoln penny
President hold on to
StarboaRD HOme Discover our eclectic Theodore them.
Roosevelt
However,
selection; from
antiques industrial felt it was time for a change of design the coin is on the “want list” of many
with American coins. The Indian
a collector. There was even a story of a
furniture gifts decoR & coastal to Head cent had been in circulation collector in 1958 who sorted through
midcentury
international since 1859. President Roosevelt first a million pennies. It took him a year
contacted Augustus Saint-Gaudens to
to do so. He could not find any 1909
& shabby chic. redesign the penny. He had designed S-VDBs. It has been reported that in
the 1907 Indian $10, and the Double 2017 two original rolls of 1909-SVDB
Eagle. But Saint-Gaudens died in 1907, pennies were discovered. Of course,
31003 US Hwy 19 N and Roosevelt needed someone else the prices of the existing ones fell.
Palm Harbor quickly for the new coin that would Naturally, the condition of the coin
(727) 888-3320 commemorate the 100th anniversary plays a major role in determining its
of Abraham Lincoln’s birth in 1809. value. Using the jargon of numismatic

Open Mon-Sat 10-7 Roosevelt selected the New Yorker dealers, ones who deal in coins, the
Sun 12-5 4 sculptor and engraver Victor David 1909-SVDB coins can be brown, red
Brenner. The San Francisco mint
brown, or red. And, these particular
branch was where the new Lincoln pennies can put at least a few thousand
pennies were first produced. However, dollars in your pocket if they are graded
4 during the production, the Secretary a minimum of an MS64. Not too
shabby.
of the Treasury had them stopped.
Controversy soon shrouded the coin. We should all hope that the penny
What caused the stoppage? There for our thoughts is a 1909-SVDB. Think
had been a complaint that the three positive my friend.
letters VDB, the letters of the designer
Victor David Brenner, took up too much Jeff Figler, one of the world’s leading experts on
room on the reverse side of the coin. collectibles, has authored over 600 published
3 (The S stood for San Francisco.) The articles, and six books on collecting. He is currently
a columnist for several magazines, including
2 letters were simply too prominent, and Sports Business Journal, Sports Collectors Digest,
that Brenner was getting free publicity.
Collectors Journal, and others. His latest book,
Most people thought that the coin was Picker’ss Pocket Guide to Baseball Memorabilia by
Krause Publications, was released December 2014.
1 just fine, even though some people did You can contact Jeff at info@jefffigler.com or by
not think that the wheat stalks looked
visiting his website www.collectingwithjeff.com