OTD: ‘King of Canadian Coins’ tops estimate at small-town Alberta auction

Realizations do not include buyer’s premium.

On today’s date in 2019, Canada’s 1921 half-dollar, known as “The King of Canadian Coins,” realized $57,000 in an unreserved public auction hosted by Alberta’s Scribner Auction.

Originally expected to bring at least $50,000, the coin is one of Canada’s utmost numismatic rarities. The coin offered in 2019 is one of only about 75 examples believed to survive the melting pot when the government resurrected the 50-cent denomination in 1929.

Consigned by Wymond Hazelwood, the owner of Brick Road Collectibles in Rocky Mountain House, Alta., the coin crossed the block as Lot 294 of Scribner’s Coin and Currency Auction. It was certified as Very Good-10 by Professional Coin Grading Service.

“I told him, ‘Let’s get a fair market value as best as we can for that coin, all from this little town in western Canada,’”  Scribner owner and auctioneer Katrina Scribner told CCN leading up to the 2019 sale.

In business since 2000, Scribner is located in Wainwright, Alta., a town of about 6,000 people, which can double depending on the exercises happening at the local Canadian Forces Base. Throughout its decades-long history, the auction house has exclusively conducted sales with no reserve price.

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