An uncorrected reporting error republished by more than 1,000 media outlets worldwide negligently included a bogus pre-auction estimate of the 1943 bronze Lincoln cent auctioned Jan. 10 by Heritage Auctions.
The South West News Service (SWNS), a global wire service, issued an article to its subscribers inaccurately stating the coin was expected to sell for $1.7 million USD. The correct estimate from Heritage was $170,000 USD-$200,000 USD.
“The error was simply a made-up number by a staffer at SWNS based on an internet search result of a much rarer but similar coin,” reads a statement issued by Heritage last week.
The SWNS number was not in any press materials provided by Heritage to the service, claims the Heritage statement, which adds the final article was “never approved by or fact checked with Heritage Auctions before it was sent to the wire service’s customers.”
The pre-sale estimate was erroneously reported as $1.7 million USD by a global wire service, which pushed the error to its subscribers before it was negligently republished by more than 1,000 media outlets worldwide.
“While the erroneous estimate was not attributed to an auction house expert or representative, many of SWNS’s media clients naturally assumed the figure had come from Heritage.”
SWNS admitted its error via email to Heritage Auctions on Jan. 8, shortly after erroneous stories appeared in prominent media outlets just two days before the coin was set to sell at auction; however, the mistake was not corrected before media outlets published articles around the world.
The coin sold for $204,000 USD, which meets Heritage Auctions’ original estimate.
“The error has ultimately become the basis of misleading and, in some instances, damaging post-auction news reports by some of the worlds’ most widely read media outlets,” reads the Heritage statement, which adds the auction house “strives to provide its clients accurate and transparent pre-sale estimates at all times.”
“SWNS’s error has cast a pall on the successful sale of one of America’s most famous coins. Heritage is demanding that the wire service issue a worldwide correction and that its representatives contact those media outlets that have published misleading and negative articles to set the record straight.”