MAJOR DISCOVERY!

Your eyes do not deceive you-Yes, that's a ThirdEdition Whitman board for Shield Nickels! This titlewas unknown in the Third Edition when I publishedmy book in 2007, but it seemed that it should havebeen produced, so I included place-holder listings forsuch a board with either clothlike or leatherette paper.Since that time I'd pretty much resigned myself to thefact that it would never be found, but now I am theowner of the only example known to me.

This surfaced in a group lot of Third Edition boardsbeing sold by a small, online auction company Ihadn't heard of before, and I was completely unawareof this opportunity until I was tipped off by a fellowboard enthusiast. Mike Nixon's interest is primarily infilling boards with coins for the purpose of framingand displaying them, and he's drawn to the Kent andFirst Edition Whitman boards. Thus, he suggested I'dbe a more likely buyer for this lot.

Not having bidwith the company before, I was flummoxed by theprocess and watched helplessly as it sold well belowwhat I was prepared to pay. I reported my failure toMike in an email the next day only to discover that hehad bought the lot solely to prevent the boards fromselling too cheaply! Long story short, we struck a deal involving cash and a trade for two of my books.

Though it may appear leatherette in the photo, thisboard has clothlike paper and is thus W5¢A3a. Thatsuggests it was printed early in the Third Edition,obviously in a very small press run for this poor-sellingtitle. Its back is identical to that of W5¢A2b.

Now, here's the second surprise of this story, one thatwill reveal just why this lot was so amazing: The otherboards were all rarities, too-high-grade examples ofboth Liberty Seated Dime boards, Washington Quartersand-Peace Dollars! The 1837-62 dime board and thePeace Dollar board have already been placed with want-list customers, but the remaining two boards are foundon the enclosed price list, which is devoted entirely toWhitman's under-appreciated Third Edition.

SECOND THOUGHTS I mentioned in the last newsletter that I was deleting those Third Edition paper varietiesthat had not yet surfaced, under the assumption that they never will. Well, this episode has proved that miracles dohappen, so the place-holder listings for clothlike and leatherette finishes will remain. I'm sure this news comes as arelief to collectors not wanting to re-label their holdings by dropping the 'a' and 'b' suffixes!

To visit Dave's website, see:
http://www.coincollectingboards.com/