Error holder 1898 Morgan Dollar Rattler with a special surprise...

I owned this holder several years ago. I wish I had kept it, but at the time I needed the money. Anyway, I was going through my image library and came across this holder that I hadn't thought about in a while. It is a PCGS Rattler labeled as an 1889 Morgan Dollar graded MS-63. But the coin in the holder is an 1898. That in of itself would make it a special piece.



But I noticed something in the holder at the time and I'm glad I took some photos, because this is the part I had forgotten about. Right in the middle of Liberty's neck was a small orange spot. When I got my loupe out, I was able to see what it was.



A little closer and you can see what it really was...



This started me thinking about the encapsulated cricket. I REALLY wish I would have kept this coin/holder now. It was an error label with an encapsulated bug, I'm thinking possibly a small spider. I wonder who owns this coin now? I bet this could start a good bidding war today with the rattler craze happening.

 

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That is certainly interesting. It could be one of the earliest mechanical errors.
I'm not a big fan of the bug but I agree that it could have added extra excitement for some bidders.

 

I have and sell numerous bugs encased into a lucite marble. They sell pretty good in my antique shop. This would have been a coin to keep. Very neat with that small insect and an incorrect label.

 

Wait Lady Liberty has crabs?

 

This is one of those coins that I wish I could have kept. I'm finally in a position in life where I don't have to flip some of the neat stuff I come across to pay the bills. But the hunt will always continue and hopefully I can find something similar.

If I recall correctly, the dealer didn't even notice the error on the label. I purchased it for what a generic 1889 would have been going for. Oh well...

 

It makes you wonder how many times it had traded hands since being slabbed without the error being noticed?

 

Be nice if you could track it down and buy it back.

 

That's what I wondered when I originally bought it. The thought also occurred that possibly the dealer bought it from the original submitter. Who knows..

I would love to be able to do that.

 

I can only imagine.

 

Someone with dyscalculia labeled that slab. I do that frequently. It is actually very common in people with dyslexia.

 

Old slab mania would make this an expensive $50 coin once you add the error and the spider. I'd attribute the spider and put a sticker on it if someone sent it to me.

 

Imagine how it would do at Great Collections...

 

They accept my stickers now, so maybe they'd send it to me for attribution.

 

I wonder if the encapsulated arachnid has given Ms Liberty a hickey.

 

Let’s hope she is allergic to them.

 

Looks like an immature yellow sac spider (Cheiracanthium mildei) which is common in California buildings. It’s an introduced species native to Europe, N. Africa and Central Asia. It does not build webs. One is pictured below. If the coin and spider are re-holdered, maybe PCGS will put the spider genus and species on the label.

Cal