Avram Freedberg Reveals Surprising Sale of Rare Canadian Coin

PHILADELPHIA, PA, May 22, 2013

It is not often that a coin appreciates to more than 25 million times its face value--yet that is exactly what happened with a rare Canadian penny, reveals Avram Freedberg. Freedberg, who founded the National Collector's Mint, pointing to a recent article from The Vancouver Sun, which presents the details of the sale; the "ultra-rare" Canadian penny was sold at a U.S. auction for roughly $253,000 Cdn. Freedberg has released a new statement to the press, commenting on this one-of-a-kind sale.

"This is another example of how you just never know how valuable a rare or commemorative coin will become," Freedberg opines, in his press statement. "It is not likely that the first people to possess this coin anticipated that it would one day sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars, but of course, coin collectors know that this kind of thing happens all the time."

The coin in question is a 1936 "dot cent" penny, famous among coin enthusiasts as one of only three such pennies to have been produced that year by the Royal Canadian Mint. These dot cent pennies are distinguished from regular pennies by a miniscule dot, placed below the date on the reverse side of the coin.

It was announced in March, by Texas-based Heritage Auctions, that the penny would be offered at an annual, international coin sale in Chicago. A Canadian collector ended up as the auction's winner, walking away with a truly rare piece of Canadian history. Among the thousands of coins sold at the auction, the dot cent penny was the one to fetch the highest price.

"They really are pieces of history," Freedberg offers. Indeed, the dot-cent pennies were prepared following the death of monarch George V, serving as prototypes for potential posthumous coins, featuring the king's portrait. A limited number of similarly "dotted" dimes and quarters were also produced by Canada's mint.

The other two dot-cent pennies previously sold at U.S. auctions for similarly high prices. Today, not even Canada's national coin collection has one of these rare items, all of which have gone to private collectors.

"For the coin collector, a sale like this is ample evidence of what makes numismatics so compelling," concludes Freedberg.

Both a celebrated business owner and a noted humanitarian, Avram Freedberg is perhaps best known for founding National Collector's Mint, Inc. in 1994; he still serves as the president of the company.

ABOUT:

Avram Freedberg, founder and President of National Collector's Mint Inc., established the company in 1994 and continues to lead it in its expansion. Since its establishment, National Collector's Mint has become an internationally respected coin and collectibles company, headquartered in Port Chester, New York. The company has grown from a two-person operation into an enterprise of almost 50 employees. In addition to its focus on business development, the company is a strong supporter of charitable work. On behalf of the organization, Avram Freedberg has donated more than $2 million to numerous charitable causes and looks forward to continuing to use his resources to promote these organizations.