Even if you don't know anything about philately, you might have heard of an "Inverted Jenny." This 1918 issue of a 24 cent postage stamp features a blue engraving of a Curtiss JN-4 airplane printed upside down in the center of a red field. That error has led to it being one of the most valuable collectibles in the world of stamp collecting, with a worth far exceeding its face value. While prices have seesawed over the last dozen or so years, the last time one changed hands at an auction in 2016 the hammer came down on a winning bid for a single pristine example of $1,175,000.
While it doesn't bear the error of being wrong side up, there may be a new contender for the throne, this time in the world of numismatics or coin collecting. After all, one of the reasons that the Jenny is so valuable is that in addition to the compositional mistake in its printing, there were just 100 created before they stopped the presses. By that measure this new item in question is very rare indeed. Minted by Littleton Coin, a creator of collectible coins and paper money, it's part of their newest series, Presidential Candidate Coins.
In this latest entry in the world of "things someone thinks are valuable but most do not," Littleton offers 25 different coins, one for each of the Republican and Democratic candidates running for president in 2020. The coins are built on a base of a Kennedy Half Dollar, and the back remains untouched. The front, however, has a full cover overlay bonded to it. For each declared candidate there is a smiling photo of the individual floating on a US flag background surrounded by a field of blue (for the Dems) or red (for the GOP).
If you are a fan of any of the declared candidates, there's a coin for you: a smiling Elisabeth Warren or Pete Buttigieg or Amy Klobuchar. Not to be left out on the right, there's a Donald Trump coin as well as William Weld version. And if you are not sure who to back at this point you can buy a handful: they are just $9.95 each, and the site features flat rate shipping of $6.95 regardless of the number of pieces ordered.
But just as the Democratic party is having issues juggling the nearly 2 dozen contenders for debates, so too is Littleton not completely on top of the current goings-on. If you're following the news, you might have seen man overboard from the good ship Democratic Nominee. Representative Eric Swalwell became the first to drop out of the race to be the party's standard bearer against President Trump. Who dropped out? Well, yes, that's pretty much the point.
None the less, from April 8 to July 8, the exact length of the warranty on your Amazon Fire Tablet, Swalwell was right up there with all the other big girls and boys. As part of that effort, his campaign likely printed hundreds if not thousands of flyers and posters and bumper sticker to distribute as he crisscrossed the country trying to drum up interest. But as for the coin? Littleton doesn't disclose sales figures for individual products, but it's a fair bet that other than the candidate and his mother there were not a lot of orders. And once Littleton gets a chance to catch up on the news, the coin will likely be withdrawn from being offered.
Hence the Non-Inverted Eric.
On the basis of rarity, the Eric Swalwell Democratic Nominee Commemorative Coin is likely right up there with "Amazing Spider-Man Volume #1," Bigfoot sightings and bipartisan legislation. Admittedly, however, while rare and valuable can be related, they are not necessarily correlated. There may not be a whole lot of "Paul Tsongas for President 1992" buttons out there, but scarcity hasn't driven up the price. you can find one online for just two bucks.
Still, it might be worth snapping one of these and putting it in the back of your closet. Twenty years down the line, when someone looks to build the complete set of 2020 candidate memorabilia, there will likely be plenty of Bidens and Bookers and Gillibrands. But if you've got a 2020 Swalwell? We might be talking Jenny valuations.
-END-
Marc Wollin of Bedford had a coin collection when he was a kid, but he finally spent it. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
While it doesn't bear the error of being wrong side up, there may be a new contender for the throne, this time in the world of numismatics or coin collecting. After all, one of the reasons that the Jenny is so valuable is that in addition to the compositional mistake in its printing, there were just 100 created before they stopped the presses. By that measure this new item in question is very rare indeed. Minted by Littleton Coin, a creator of collectible coins and paper money, it's part of their newest series, Presidential Candidate Coins.
In this latest entry in the world of "things someone thinks are valuable but most do not," Littleton offers 25 different coins, one for each of the Republican and Democratic candidates running for president in 2020. The coins are built on a base of a Kennedy Half Dollar, and the back remains untouched. The front, however, has a full cover overlay bonded to it. For each declared candidate there is a smiling photo of the individual floating on a US flag background surrounded by a field of blue (for the Dems) or red (for the GOP).
If you are a fan of any of the declared candidates, there's a coin for you: a smiling Elisabeth Warren or Pete Buttigieg or Amy Klobuchar. Not to be left out on the right, there's a Donald Trump coin as well as William Weld version. And if you are not sure who to back at this point you can buy a handful: they are just $9.95 each, and the site features flat rate shipping of $6.95 regardless of the number of pieces ordered.
But just as the Democratic party is having issues juggling the nearly 2 dozen contenders for debates, so too is Littleton not completely on top of the current goings-on. If you're following the news, you might have seen man overboard from the good ship Democratic Nominee. Representative Eric Swalwell became the first to drop out of the race to be the party's standard bearer against President Trump. Who dropped out? Well, yes, that's pretty much the point.
None the less, from April 8 to July 8, the exact length of the warranty on your Amazon Fire Tablet, Swalwell was right up there with all the other big girls and boys. As part of that effort, his campaign likely printed hundreds if not thousands of flyers and posters and bumper sticker to distribute as he crisscrossed the country trying to drum up interest. But as for the coin? Littleton doesn't disclose sales figures for individual products, but it's a fair bet that other than the candidate and his mother there were not a lot of orders. And once Littleton gets a chance to catch up on the news, the coin will likely be withdrawn from being offered.
Hence the Non-Inverted Eric.
On the basis of rarity, the Eric Swalwell Democratic Nominee Commemorative Coin is likely right up there with "Amazing Spider-Man Volume #1," Bigfoot sightings and bipartisan legislation. Admittedly, however, while rare and valuable can be related, they are not necessarily correlated. There may not be a whole lot of "Paul Tsongas for President 1992" buttons out there, but scarcity hasn't driven up the price. you can find one online for just two bucks.
Still, it might be worth snapping one of these and putting it in the back of your closet. Twenty years down the line, when someone looks to build the complete set of 2020 candidate memorabilia, there will likely be plenty of Bidens and Bookers and Gillibrands. But if you've got a 2020 Swalwell? We might be talking Jenny valuations.
-END-
Marc Wollin of Bedford had a coin collection when he was a kid, but he finally spent it. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
No comments:
Post a Comment