You have evidence so I have no reason not to believe you. I am surprised at how much $$$ was paid, but it must have been an amazing coin to own.
Is it the one at the link below that sold in March 1981 for $625k from the Garrett Collection? Did you mix up your dates and prices or is this a different coin? Check out this 1787 $15 Brasher, Breast Punch on PCGS CoinFacts! https://www.pcgscoinfacts.com/coin/detail/488
Pics don't show the true color. PCGS hasn't seen the colors that these come in as seen in auctions. Very nice coin that I was able to get for good price.
Beautiful coin. Thanks. Could see if it will cross to NGC for straight grade. Or could send in for conservation at either service, which would get it a straight grade but all the toning would be gone. Cal
Thanks! My nickname is more likely, "Lawnmower Man" Cutting grass/ trimming hedges/ maintaining gardens.....seven days a week/ from April to end of November But, it pays the bills, and allows me to spend 120K @ year on my collection! Other benefits, I can bring ice cold Coronas/ go shirtless/ get a awesome tan/ walking 260kilometers @ week keeps me in top shape.....never ever get sick or need a doctor John
Just under $2K for a silver token with a mintage of 5 pieces... I'm a small fish. Only spent >= $1K on 3 numismatic items in my life.
A prime example of why one shouldnt believe everything one reads! Bowers & Merena reported that the coin was sold out of the Garrett Collection at $625k, however reliable sources in late-'81/early-'82 related to us that the coin had actually been "returned to the book!" For whomever's & whatever reasons, Q. David and the powers-at-be of General Mills, B&M's then parent company, decided the coin's "non-sale" wouldn't do. We were told a horsefeathers story that the new owner had experienced a reversal and was prepared to take a substantial loss to raise money. Theoretically it made no difference to us and we proceeded with the purchase. But to this day, what irks me most is that Q.D.B., who had to have known the details of the reality, is still perceived as so damn squeaky clean …more horsefeathers. Obviously it's water under the bridge and I've had to move on, but more than a third-of-a-century later, such things still should disturb us all. Sam_I_am
Anything squeaky needs a little oil now and then. Image is very important to some so your story doesn't surprise me at all. At least you ended up with a once in a lifetime coin.
Fortunately, I have had several once in a lifetime numismatic, notaphilic and numismatic experiences. I was raised in this business and can honestly claim over sixty years of experience, yet I'm only 70. I hope to share some of them on CoinTalk.com in the future. I really love the hobby/business, but the ignorance & avarice of too many in it detracts from from the pleasure. Sam_I_am
Quite frankly we didn't have new photos taken of the coin; we couldn't have improved on the photos used & widely published by B&M. If we had held on to it longer, we were intending to produce holographic keychain & other souvenirs of the coin, but other business matters diverted us from that project. Unfortunately, the only images that were distinctly ours are the glass holographic plates which I still have. If I may share another thought on that particular Brasher specimen… for all the many years it was in the Garrett Collection at John Hopkins University, it was described as a Choice VF-35. And why would or should anybody want it graded by a so-called TPG? ¡It was & still is unique! Did its re-grading and its encapsulation as an AU-50 really change it or make it more/less valuable or desirable? Really??? More horsefeathers …quite frankly, I think not. Sam_I_am
Kripes, if ya lived in NY metro in the eighties, it was The Son of Sam. Don't think they're one and the same........