WERE WALTON'S COINS REALLY SCATTERED ON THE HIGHWAY? Öffentlichkeit Deposited
QUERY
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We've had several articles recently relating to dealer George O. Walton. He met his end while travelling to a coin show in 1962 with his 1913 Liberty nickel. The incident is often reported thusly:
A North Carolina collector, George O. Walton, purchased one of the coins in the mid-1940s for a reported $3,750. The coin was with him when he was killed in a car crash on March 9, 1962, and it was found among hundreds of coins scattered at the crash site.
To read the earlier complete article, see: Rare 1913 nickel fetches over $3.1M at auction (www.redding.com/news/2013/may/05/rare-1913-nickel-fetches-over-31m-auction/)
Pete Mosiondz, Jr. writes:
Let me begin by saying that I always enjoy Harvey Stack’s reminiscences. I would like to comment about what I believe to be an old wives' tale concerning George Walton’s coins being “scattered all over the highway†after the crash. I had a couple of small transactions with Walton while he was alive. I was very young and was dealing on a small scale with a limited budget. George was a true gentleman who took care of my meager needs.
After his death I happened to communicate with one of the officers who was first on the scene at the time of the crash. He told me that there were no coins on the highway and that everything was intact. Of course the officer wouldn’t have known about a 1913 Liberty Head nickel so that point never came up. It would be interesting to hear from others who may have knowledge about the crash.
Good question. I've heard the "scattered on the highway" lore for years. Did that actually happen? -EditorTo read the earlier E-Sylum article, see: HARVEY STACK ON THE GEORGE O. WALTON COLLECTION. PART III (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v16n33a17.html)
- 2013-08-18
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