1913 Proof Nickel Pattern - J-1789a

Coin Details

Auction Record

Olsen specimen (PR-64): $3,737,500, Heritage Auctions, January 2010. McDermott-Bebee specimen: donated to ANA Money Museum, Colorado Springs.

Description

Judd-1789a is a die variety of the legendary 1913 Liberty Head nickel, distinguished from J-1789/1950 by a minor die characteristic or state. The "a" suffix in the Judd catalog denotes a sub-variety, indicating that while both J-1789 and J-1789a share the same basic design — Charles Barber's Liberty Head obverse and Roman numeral V reverse — they exhibit a detectable die difference that merits separate catalog entries. Given that only five 1913 Liberty Head nickels exist, the assignment of multiple Judd numbers to what is essentially a five-coin population reflects the extraordinary scrutiny these coins have received from numismatic researchers. Every detail of every specimen has been studied, photographed, and debated for over a century. The five known specimens are traditionally identified by their most prominent owners: the Eliasberg, Walton, Olsen, McDermott-Bebee, and Norweb examples. The Walton specimen has a particularly dramatic history — it was dismissed as a counterfeit after its owner's death in a 1962 car crash, stored in a bank vault for decades, and not authenticated as genuine until a dramatic public examination at the 2003 ANA convention in Baltimore.

Rarity Notes

R-8+. Only 5 specimens known total across all die varieties. The 1913 Liberty Head nickel is one of the most recognizable and valuable coins in the world. Each specimen carries a unique provenance and history.

Cross References

Judd J-1789a; die sub-variety of J-1789/1950; Charles Barber (designer); Samuel W. Brown (attributed striker)