A look back in numismatic history – a story too good to be true

Carl, a customer of mine who resides in Northern Illinois recently shared a neat story with me and I thought it was interesting enough to be worth a short article for N.O.W. News. Here is how the Hicksville Silver Dollar Hoard became reality.

Carl’s uncle whose name was Frank owned and operated a ten-acre nursery in the town of Hicksville, N.Y. He believed one is better off with silver dollars than paper dollars not only because of inflation but, also because silver dollars had potential as a numismatic investment. This was in the 1950s when silver dollars were getting little or no respect like they have today. At that time, one could get a silver dollar at any bank for face value and that is exactly what Carl’s uncle did.

He would deposit his weekly receipts and any extra cash would be exchanged for silver dollars. The clerks knew the Saturday visit would be reality so they would set aside and save any silver dollars that happened to come in for the week. Naturally, the hoard of dollars grew exponentially. At first, the dollars were put into cigar boxes and later into five-gallon buckets. This went on throughout the decade. One does have to give Carl’s uncle credit for having the discipline to save and the foresight to see the value of the silver dollar before many others ever did.

Uncle Frank knew what dollars were the better dates. Carl can remember one tube of 20 was made up of high grades and tough dates. A quick assessment of value put them at a retail price of $500.00 each. Like with any hoard, the high-mintage coins were the most prevalent. There were great numbers of 1921 Morgan Dollars and many 1922 to 1926 Peace Dollars. Also, a good number of the coins showed bag marks, minor rim nicks, and scuffs, some were polished and cleaned, some were uncirculated and even a few were proof-like, but, these were the common date variety. Carl’s uncle would take whatever the bank had and if they didn’t have silver dollars he would buy silver half-dollars. Again, face to face.

A Look Back in Numismatic History – The Hicksville Silver Dollar Hoard | Member-Written NOW Articles
One of the entry points to Hicksville. What treasures might be in your town waiting to
be discovered and sold for some big money? (Kenneth C. Zirkel / Wikimedia Commons)

Uncle Frank passed away in 1963 and the hoard of dollars went to Carl’s two cousins, Claire and Lu. They knew nothing about coins or values, so they divided the hoard by numbers. Carl was the only numismatist in the family so his two cousins eventually asked him to organize coins and help in selling. Carl stated that he spent two days looking at and sorting the dollars. Half of the hoard was sold by one of the sisters in 2008 for $110,000 to Old World in McHenry, IL. In 2011, the other sister asked Carl to sell her share and it went for $300,000. The buyer again was Old World. As you can see, timing does play a large part when selling. Spot silver, condition, and rarity are also contributing factors.

One thing is for sure, the old saying, “sound as a silver dollar”, certainly was true in the case of the Hicksville Hoard collected over time by a man with foresight.

Have an interesting numismatic topic you’d like to share with your fellow NOW members?

Send your article to evan.pretzer@protonmail.com today!!!

For more NOW Articles Written By Members, join N.O.W. today!