A penny might go further in N.Y.

[BERIGAN]

Always wanted an 1909 S V.D.B. so if you find it, sent it to me, ok?

A penny might go further in N.Y.

•A collector is putting back into circulation three rare coins, hoping to plant a 'seed'

By MATTHEW HEALEY

New York Times

NEW YORK - In the next few days, people here might want to take a closer look at the pennies in their loose change. The odds are long, but one of those lowly pennies might be worth more than $1,000.

That is because Scott Travers is going around Manhattan this week making a few routine purchases and deliberately spending three rare one-cent coins.

Travers is serious about coins: He collects them, writes about them and is a former vice president of the American Numismatic Association. He hopes that the sharp-eyed people who find one of the three coins will be caught up in what Travers describes as "the magic of coin collecting."

"I'm planting a seed, and I hope that a new generation of people will come to appreciate the history that coins represent," said Travers, who is 44.

The three pennies that Travers is sprinkling around — to coincide with National Coin Week, which starts today — are almost a century old and among the most coveted by collectors.

One was produced in 1909, the centennial of Lincoln's birth, the first time a U.S. coin showed a historical figure rather than an allegory of liberty.

The coins had the initials of the engraver, Victor D. Brenner, prominently displayed — too prominently for public taste — so they were hastily removed and the coin was reissued. The San Francisco mint produced less than 500,000 pennies with the offending initials. Travers said the value of his 1909-S-VDB coin is more than $1,000.

The two other pennies Travers is spending are also worth a pretty penny because only a relatively small number were made. One is a 1914 penny from the Denver mint, valued at $350. The other is a 1908 penny from San Francisco with an Indian girl in a headdress, valued at $200.

Travers has spent rare coins before. In 1999, he did it to coincide with the numismatic association's convention in New York, although he never found out whether one of the rare pennies was rediscovered.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/3796387.html

Edited April 16, 2006 by BERIGAN

[JSngry]

When was the last time you came across one of those wartime steel pennies?

[marcello]

Yea, the ones made in 1943. I collected pennies as a kid and still check them every once in a while.

[Christiern]

I save any old penny that lands in my pocket...

[Christiern]

And when I was going to London on a regular basis, I always threw those huge British pennies into a pot when I got home ...

[Jazz Kat]

http://americanexchange/money/jazzpennies_tl0_3L