Olsen Specimen
While the Eliasberg specimen is the best preserved of the five coins, the Olsen specimen is almost certainly the most famous. It has been graded Proof-64 by both PCGS and NGC. The Olsen specimen was featured on an episode of Hawaii Five-O ("The $100,000 Nickel", aired on December 11, 1973). It was also briefly owned by Egyptian King Farouk.
When Newman and Johnson broke up the set of five coins, the Olsen specimen was sold first to James Kelly and then to Fred Olsen. The latter collector sold the coin to Farouk, but his name has remained attached to it in numismatic circles ever since. In 1972, it was sold to World Wide Coin Investments for US$100,000, thus inspiring its title appearance in Hawaii Five-O the following year. The coin's price doubled, to US$200,000, when it was resold to Superior Galleries in 1978. It has been resold on several occasions since then, fetching US$3,000,000 in a private treaty sale from California collector Dwight Manley to Bruce Morelan and Legend Numismatics in June 2004. Legend sold the coin to Blanchard and Co in 2005 who placed it with a collector, and more recently US$3,737,500 when offered by Heritage Auctions in January 2010. The latest owner's name has not been disclosed.
Read more about this topic: 1913 Liberty Head Nickel
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