Release: MONDAY FEBRUARY 24
This past Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial stock index dropped over 1,000 points. The culprit was the ongoing spread of the coronavirus which is affecting international commerce. Naturally, investments don’t stop completely. Especially in times of uncertainty, investors seek alternatives – usually ones they consider “safe.” For example, last Monday, the price of gold jumped $35 per ounce.
In the past, some of those alternate investments have included collectibles. That was especially true in the early 1980s when interest rates soared into double digits and no one knew where to turn. Everything from precious metals and diamonds to rare coins, stamps and real estate skyrocketed. In times of insecurity and doubt, there’s something about tangible collectibles that offer an element of comfort. Sometimes they are also a nice surprise....
Such was the case recently with a baseball bat. Admittedly, it was special because it was used by none other than Mickey Mantle. It had also been signed by Mantle. A young man purchased it back in the 1970s for $150 – the same as his weekly salary. In today’s dollars that would be roughly $600. Mantle died in 1995. Before he did, the man had a chance to meet the slugger and learn a little about the bats he used. He tucked his away.
This past year, some 40 years after buying it, the man pulled the bat out and had it appraised by a sports dealer. The man thought the value might be upwards of $10,000. Nope. The dealer declared it was worth ten times that – $100,000.
Stories of fantastic and unexpected finds such as this are not only fun; they are what dreams are made of. Another such fantasy started 170 years ago. That’s when a man named John Marshall accidentally spotted a shiny gold nugget in a stream near Coloma, California by a mill owned by John Sutter. That set off the Sutter’s Mill 1849 California Gold Rush.
Over the following seven years, an estimated 300,000 miners flocked to the area to pan for the precious metal. Some struck out while others struck it rich. The raw gold nuggets from many of those substantial hauls had to go somewhere. Turning it into coins made the most sense. The problem was the US Mint hadn’t fully set up operations that far west.
Instead, several private firms set up their own mints creating territorial gold coins. Some of the coins had unique designs. Others modeled the images after those on the familiar circulating gold coins of the day.
A number of companies got into the private gold coin minting business. It proved profitable. After all, legions of people were heading into the gold fields. A person could either join them or create a way to profit from supplying the miners.
Some opened rural stores selling everything from picks to produce at outrageously inflated prices. Others charged to assay the gold and strike coins from the raw material. One notable firm was Kellogg & Co. (No, not the maker of Corn Flakes.)
In 1854, from gold rush gold, Kellogg produced $20 coins with a head of Liberty that looked very much like other US gold coins. The difference was on the band of the crown the word “LIBERTY” was replaced with the name “KELLOGG & CO.” They struck another $20 gold coin in 1855.
Also, in 1855, Kellogg produced a hefty $50 gold coin weighing two-and-a-half ounces. Understand, in 1855, $50 was a massive amount of money. You could buy land for $3 to $5 per acre. Those who were rich enough to carry around $50 gold pieces were just that…rich enough.
Not a lot of the $50 Kellogg coins were struck. Only 14 are currently known. Earlier this month, well before the stock market drop, headlines similar to that of the Mickey Mantle bat were made when one of those $50 Kellogg coins traded hands in a private sale by Witter Coin of San Francisco. The price tag…one million dollars. Are there more waiting to be found?
Yet again, the thrill of what may be out there continues, as does the hunt. And, as the excitement soars, so do prices. There just doesn’t seem to be a price ceiling for those who long to hold history in their hands.