http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2266967/Rare-200-year-old-half-cent-coin-discovered-matchbox-attic-clear-sells-Wiltshire-225-700.html
WOW, what a story about one old beautiful coin. We can only dream about finding something like that. Bruce
Bowers notes that collecting interest in the US was non-existent during the time. But British collectors were very interested in early US issues, so quite a few pieces made it to the UK. It's entirely likely that Hillary simply bought it from a dealer.
Some of the British collectors were, well, wealthy enough that they even bothered to strike their own Conder tokens - which greatly enhanced the quality and preservation of tokens from that era.
I understand that collecting Conder tokens was wildly popular in England, which spurred the acquisition of US coinage by British collectors, whereas collecting was only in its infancy here.
I have the feeling that example will grade well into AU territory. Any flowing hair half cent is rare on its own, one of that grade will be much more rare.
There was more "disposable" income amongst the gentry in Britain - they were a rarified few but significant in their income and its effect on the economic and political scene. The movies, "The Duchess" and "Pride and Prejudice" explore these types of individuals.
Yeah, and look at the provenance and history that will follow that coin around. You couldn't make up a more compelling story if you tried. Just that fact will add value as well. Bruce
Bowers was talking about the collecting interests in the the 1790's. Hillary died in 1963 at the age of 20 which means that he bought it probably sometime after 1953. Believe me by that time there was a BIG interest in US collecting and even then the 1796 half cent was a major rarity. So if one turned up in a dealers hands then, it would still have been a big deal and would most likely have become known to the collecting world. So I would suspect he did NOT buy it from a dealer in coins. Possibly a dealer in antiques? British tokens from the 1790's at that time were selling for 50 cents apiece or less in Unc. It is possible that this turned up in a group of Conder tokens at an antique shop or flea market. being from the same time period if the seller didn't know coins they probably would have thought it to be around the same value. We would know more if we knew what else was in Hillary's collection.
