Old coin sells for $1.5 million
Vik Jolly
OCRegister - Orange County,CA,USA
Friday, July 6, 2007

Leonard Ortiz, The Orange County Register SMALL COIN, HIGH PRICE: Steven L. Contursi, president of Rare Coin Whole Sellers, displays the 1792 Half Disme coin that he sold to a California educational foundation for a record $1,500,000.

1792 silver "half disme"

Imbue history and add pedigree to a 215-year-old near mint condition coin and it can do wonders for its value. How's $1.5 million?

That's how much Steve Contursi of Laguna Beach got for a rare silver half disme (an early spelling of dime, pronounced deem) that was probably handled by President George Washington and definitely by then-Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson.

The currency was among the first set of 1,500 coins ever made by the United States, authorized by President Washington and struck in the basement of a Philadelphia saw-maker's shop in July 1792 before the federal mint was operational.

"It's part of the birth of our nation," said Contursi, the owner of Rare Coin Wholesalers of Dana Point, who sold the coin to a Sunnyvale educational foundation.  "I felt proud to be a custodian of the coin for six months."

In January, Contursi paid more than $1 million to acquire the coin from a private collector.  Fewer than 400 of the coins are believed to be in existence today.

At 17.5 mm in diameter, the half disme is the third-smallest coin ever made by the federal government, after the gold dollars of 1849 and 1854, experts said.

"The previous record price for a 1792 half disme was $1,322,500 for one that sold in an April 2006 auction," according to Douglas Mudd, curator of the American Numismatic Association's Money Museum in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The $1.5 million is a record price for a half disme. The priciest coin ever sold is the $20 gold coin, a 1933 "double eagle" for $7.6 million.

Jefferson personally received the half disme on behalf of the first president.  The one sold by Contursi is believed by experts to have been handed down through generations in the family of the first U.S. Mint Director David Rittenhouse.  The family held on to one of four half dismes they considered the finest, experts said.

"The age has something to do with (the value).  It is extremely rare, and it's the condition of the coin, too," Mudd said.  "It's in spectacular condition. It's close to how it looked like when it was struck."

The government didn't start minting the half dimes until 1794 and dropped the "s" likely for ease of spelling and simplicity of usage.  The nickel was introduced in 1866.  The half dimes continued to be made until 1873.

While the sale of the half disme was consummated this week, the handover to the Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation in Sunnyvale will take place at the August conference of the American Numismatic Association in Milwaukee.

"I think one it's going to a perfect home," Contursi said.  "The Cardinal Foundation is going to display it, and it will be viewed by thousands of people.  It's a great piece of Americana."

The nonprofit foundation, which focuses on the study and publication of information on early American coinage, is excited about the acquisition.  The coin will be the crown jewel of its collection valued at approximately $4 million.

"I think it's an outstanding item for the foundation," said Director Martin Logies.  "I would expect that most of the U.S. population would not be even aware that a half disme had ever been made by the United States."

Owner of Rare Coin Wholesalers of Dana Point