https://www.google.com/#q=world's most expensive nickel that search gives me: http://cointrackers.com/coins/988/1913-liberty-head-v-nickel/ http://coins.about.com/od/famousrarecoinprofiles/a/1913_Nickel.htm Then I found these Googling for "1913 Liberty Nickel": http://coins.ha.com/itm/proof-liberty-nickels/1913-5c-liberty-pr63-pcgs/a/1184-4153.s (log in to see what it sold for; free account if you don't already have one) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1913_Liberty_Head_nickel
From what I can remember 2 people split the price of this coin, and 1 of them was one of the owner of PCGS ...
If it was the Beebe specimen that sold, I once held it in my hand. The Beebe's were big coin dealers from Omaha for 25 years after World War II, maybe longer, and they came to Florida every winter. They brought their 1913 V 5c with them, and tried to attend at least one meeting of every coin club in Florida, at that time, maybe two dozen clubs. [Was it Beebe's?] They came to the Clearwater Coin Club in October, 1957, with the coin, and passed it around the room without a care in the world. This was really a live-wire club, thanks to local collector Bob Hendershott, who passed a decade ago, at the age of 107. Here's a brief bio from Wikipedia: Robert L. Hendershott (August 7, 1898 – March 23, 2005) was a member of the American Numismatic Association Hall of Fame. Introduced to the numismatic hobby by his grandfather, a postmaster in a small Missouri town, Hendershott started collecting coins when he was just 12 years old, finding half cents, large cents, 2-cent pieces, half dimes and other obsolete coinage still in circulation. Hendershott explored virtually every facet of the hobby, from coins and tokens to medals and paper money. He has been a member of the ANA since 1931. Some of his efforts with the ANA include exhibits chairman, and assistant and general chairman at many ANA conventions. He was one of the key organizers of the Tampa (Florida) Coin Club and Florida United Numismatists (FUN), serving as president of both organizations. Robert Hendershott is a recipient of many of the ANA's awards. The awards include the Glenn Smedley Memorial Award, Numismatist of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Award, Medal of Merit, and the Association's highest honor, the Farran Zerbe Memorial Award for Distinguished Service. ============== He was exceedingly kind and patient with pesky kids (like me). In 1957, he was an executive at the local Chamber of Commerce, and that's where the coin club met, in the huge deluxe conference room. He was the first to arrive and the last to leave. The Beebe's had known him for 20 years or more, so they always came to Clearwater. The Good Old Days!
What really sad, the show I seen he died in a car accident . This story was just on strange inheritance ..
The owner of a 1913 V nickel that died in an auto accident was George Walton. The Bebee specimen of the 1913 V nickel is in the ANA museum collection, Bebee donated it to them. While Bebee may have passed his nickel around at the Clearwater club, the coin best known for being passed around like that was the James McDermott specimen. McDermott would pass the coin around at club meeting, at shows, in bars (!), anywhere someone would ask him about it. And it often wasn't in any kind of holder when he passed it around (Which is the reason it is the only one of the five that actually shows wear on the coin.) McDermott also loaned out the coin to clubs to display at their shows that he would not be attending. the Old Fort club in Fort Wayne IN once asked to borrow it. it showed up in the mail in a 2X2 attached to a piece of cardboard in a standard envelope. Sent first class mail, no insurance! (Needless to say it did NOT go back the same way!) Along with Bob Hendershott's other claims to fame is he also wrote the standard catalog on memorabilia of the 1904 St Louis Worlds Fair. (Which he attended!)
Great additional insights, thanks! Bob did more for numismatics than just about anybody I can think of.
