I found this thread on another forum, but it is so far out, I'll post it here as well. Look at he Ebay auction, THEN, look at the real cost on the ANA site: Ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/Lincoln-Penny-P...ryZ60437QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem ANA kit http://www.money.org/source/Orders/index.cfm How's that for a profit margin?
What an embarrassment for Colorado Springs and the ANA. (The seller is located in Colorado Springs as is the ANA.) ANA sells this poster for under $20. I have thought about getting one for you, Jack. Our local news last night had a story about a guy that made Lincoln's portrait out of "pennies". I instantly recognized the image as the one on the poster for sale down at the ANA Bookstore. I figured this guy bought the poster and used it as a guide to make his portrait of Lincoln out of "pennies". I shrugged it off. I had no idea he (I assume it is the same guy) was selling it for a HUGE price on eBay. What a disgrace.
Well, if you read the item description, he does say he made it using a full set of pennies. Every year from 1909 to 2008. Only missing the S-VDB. It isn't just a bunch of cheap pennies. So maybe it is worth the premium? From the auction: "The collection of coins used is valued in excess of $1000. Every effort was taken to insure that the collectable coins keep their value. Each coin was carefuly handled by the edge with coin tongs. The coin was then placed in a small Kointain archival coin holder (pictured below). Only then were the coins handled and arranged. The penny inside of the holder was attached to the acrylic glass using artist grade archival acrylic. Each coin is preserved undamaged, and the artwork is designed to be disassembled. Removing the coins will destroy the art but the still keep their full value and integrity."
yea... some one didn't read the listing thats actually really cool, it probably took the guy a long time to mount this whole thing.
Hey, it's actually pretty cool! A complete collection sans the SVDB arranged it that frame like that is probably worth at least $1000 IMO.
Point one - he sells the entire kit with specially matched (in color) coins of all Lincoln Cent years. Point two - the ANA "Kit" is only a diagram. You have to find your own coins, matched in the proper hues. It's probably not worth the price differential but it's certainly going to take you a lot of time, effort and expense to assemble the coins with the right dates and conditions to match what he sells.
