Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="lordmarcovan, post: 25964772, member: 10461"]This is an old story of mine, which made the rounds on various blogs and newsletters when it got shared by other people.  It came up in a conversation on the General Discussion forum recently, so I've decided to retell it (since all of the earlier web appearances of it seem to have gone the way of the dodo). OK, here goes: In the early ‘90s, around 1992 or so, I used to help out in Wright’s Coin Shop in Asheville, NC. It was a busy day with lots of customers in and out of the shop, and Bill Wright (RIP) was buying a good bit of stuff that came in the door. One customer had what he said was two or three rolls of Buffalo nickels.  For the sake of the story, let's say it was three rolls.  I forget the exact number of rolls- but it was just a few. Bill took the rolls to his desk, opened the wrappers and peeked at the end coins, confirmed they were circulated Buffalo nickels, and quoted the man his usual buying price for average circulated Buffalo nickels. The man agreed, took his money, and left the shop, never to be seen again. Later, after closing time, Bill spilled out the rolls to examine the full contents. It turned out that only the end coins were Buffalo nickels.  The rest were modern Jeffersons; mostly the early 1990s-vintage stuff that was in circulation at the time. So the customer was a crook.  Let's say there were three rolls, each with one Buffalo nickel at each end.  Bill had paid for a hundred and twenty Buffalo nickels, and gotten only six! But here comes the twist.  One of those measly six coins that Bill got turned out to be a genuine <a href="https://www.money.org/break-a-leg/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.money.org/break-a-leg/" rel="nofollow">1937-D "3-legged" Buffalo</a>, in F-VF-ish condition. I'd say it graded about F15. So the scammer had scammed himself!  We laughed so hard at that. There's no telling how the guy knew Bill wouldn't examine the full contents of the rolls right away, on the spot.  He took a big risk by trying that stunt.  And Bill was the sort that would've put a .45 caliber hole in a crook without blinking. Poetic justice happens sometimes. I got to witness it, that one time. So that's my 3-Legged Buffalo story.  <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> As of this posting (December, 2024), after 48 years of collecting, I still have never personally owned a ‘37-D 3-Legged Buffalo.[/QUOTE]

Log in or Sign up

Reply to Thread

Useful Searches