Stolen Coin Collection: Way Overvalued

The thing most interesting about this article to me was the massively inflated values given by the owner to the police and wheat cents dated 1903, Mercury dimes dated 1901, and other possible "errors".

Buffalo nickels worth 12.50 each? Means they were all nice keys or high grade.
100 JFKs worth $2000? Even the 70D key is only around $15. My sense is this was heavily inflated for insurance purposes.


2/28/2008 6:21:00 AM

Coin collection stolen in break-in

ROSE COOPER
County Editor
A coin collection valued at $16,900 was reported stolen when thieves broke into a garage at a Clarksville area residence, then broke into a safe inside the garage and stole most of the contents.
Robert L. Saxon of Osborne Street, Clarksville, reported the break-in and theft to the sheriff's office on Feb. 17.
Reported stolen, and the value of the money, were 30 various collectible paper currency bills in denominations of $1, $5 and $10, valued at $400; 200 Indian head pennies dated from 1860 through 1902, $2,000 value; 200 Buffalo head nickels in the 1900s, $2,500 value; 40 "V" nickels from 1800s to 1902, $1,000 value; 30 silver dollars from 1800 to 1901, $2,000 value; 150 Mercury and Barberhead dimes from 1800s through 1901, $1,000 value; 100 Kennedy half dollars and sets, $2,000 value; 4,000 wheat pennies dated 1903 through 1959, valued at $3,000; 300 silver quarters dated from the 1800s through 1963, valued at $3,000; and a plastic dollar bill envelope.
"Saxon advised me there were multiple plastic bags of coins, coins in books, loose coins and paper currency," said Deputy R.A. Eldridge of the Clinton County Sheriff's Office.
Total value of the money was set at $16,900.
"The property owner, Robert Saxon, advised me that he was in the process of moving out of the location," Eldridge said.
The residence where the money was taken was on state Route 350 West, Eldridge said.
Thieves pulled a garage door off the hinges to gain entry. "The garage has a sliding door in the front, the side nearest the road," Eldridge said. "Someone had pulled the garage door off the hinges and away from the wall of the garage. Entry had been gained from the non-locked side of the door and it was pulled several feet away from the wall, creating an opening easy enough to walk through," he said.
Eldridge said there were a lot of items inside the garage. "The safe was located in the middle back of a pile of items," Eldridge said. "(The safe) was in a pile of boxes and other items, laying on its back. The door had been forced open on the left side . . The handle of the safe had been broken off," he said.
Left inside the safe were several small old glass bottles, several loose baseball cards, several plastic notebook pages of baseball cards and a broken up cigar box, Eldridge said.
The sheriff's office is continuing its investigation.