Billion dollar U.S. coin not a fantasy

What will be the first billion dollar U.S. coin rarity?

Sounds ridiculous?

Don’t bet against it.

In the last 50 years, the major rarities like the 1804 dollar and the 1913 Liberty Head nickel have gone up in value by 100 times.

Now some of that is inflation.

The price level generally has gone up by 7.5 times since the beginning of 1967.

That means the real prices of those rarities have advanced by over 13 times.

Aubrey Bebee made headlines when he bought his 1913 Liberty Head nickel for $46,000.

The coin’s current inflation-adjusted value in 1967 dollars would be $613,000.

Collectors in 1967 gasped at $46,000.

They would have thought he was insane had he paid $613,000.

But that is basically what paying $4.6 million today is doing.

Bebee later donated it to the American Numismatic Association.

This organization should be pleased as punch to see it rise in value by 100 times between now and 2067.

That would make it a $460 million coin.

Not a billion, but getting close to that neighborhood.

The very first example of the 1794 silver dollar is said to be worth $10 million.

Crank us 50 years forward and 100 times gain would achieve the billion dollar mark.

Not long ago I wrote that Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, has a fortune of nearly $100 billion.

Imagine what such a fortune will be in another 50 years of compounding for him and his heirs.

I expect if there is a coin collector in the blood line, writing a billion dollar check in 2067 for the 1794 dollar could be a possibility.

Should that be the case, the ANA with its 1913 Liberty Head nickel, 1804 dollar and other rarities should be in darn good financial shape.

Buzz blogger Dave Harper won the Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog for the third time in 2017 . He is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."

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