One of the rarest pennies cost a Beverly Hills man a pretty penny.
At an auction last Thursday, Kevin Lipton shelled out $2,585,000 for the Birch Cent, a penny made in 1792 that is named after its engraver, Robert Birch.
It’s the most money ever paid for a one-cent piece. And yes, he said, the purchase made sense.
“It’s like our very first penny,” Lipton, 55, told the Los Angeles Times on Sunday. “It’s such a spectacular coin. It’s so important, so rare.”
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The coin is among 10 similar coins known to exist that were experimentally produced after the founding of the U.S. Mint, said Jim Halperin, co-chairman of Heritage Auctions.
It features a profile face representing Miss Liberty, framed by a motto that was later abandoned, “Liberty Parent of Science & Industry.”
Lipton, who owns a coin wholesaling business in Beverly Hills, had been eyeing the Birch Cent since he saw it in 1981 at a New York auction house.
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That year, Johns Hopkins University consigned the penny for auction, and it was purchased by New York City developer Donald G. Patrick for $200,000. Patrick consigned the coin to Texas-based Heritage Auctions.
At the Orlando auction where he picked up the Birch Cent, Lipton also bought a quarter dollar from 1792 for a mere $2,232,500. All told, he paid about $4.8 million for 26 cents.
Lipton has collected coins since he was 12 years old, and his full-time coin business launched when he was just 17.
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He conceded that he was nervous about plunking down so much, but he’s confident his million-dollar coins will mature.
“They are a great store value, and will only be worth more in the future,” Lipton said. “They are literally Mona Lisas of our coinage.”
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