Your Cart is Empty
ONRCOINS
Ohio artist makes ‘poor man’s V75’ American Eagle replica
By Jeff Starck , Coin World Published: Dec 27, 2020, 10 AM
Call it the “poor man’s V75” privy-marked American Eagle, End of World War II 75th Anniversary silver dollar.
When artist Andrew Gonzales saw a collector’s rendition of the sold-out V75 privy-marked 2020-W American Eagle silver dollar in a sale listing in a Facebook group, he knew he had to act.
A quick sketch by David Li combined with the artistic talents of Gonzales led to creation of “about five” uniface examples in pewter riffing off what was one of the most popular — and infuriating — coin products released by the United States Mint in 2020.
In order to comply with rules about selling coins in social media groups, which often require sellers to share images of the exact item they’re selling, Li quickly drew (some might say scribbled) a rendition of the coin inside a sealed U.S. Mint box — which he wanted to remain sealed because grading services treat opened boxes differently when assessing a coin’s eligibility for a special label. If the box were opened, bidding for the coin would decrease, since certain certification designations would be unavailable.
Li’s Nov. 20 auction for the rarity — one of 75,000 sold by the U.S. Mint — closed that day for $480, far more than the $83 issue price, but in line with the market at the time.
Li’s auction generated dozens of comments and reactions from members of The American Coin Club sales group, where the auction was hosted on Facebook.
Zeke Jezek joked, “I would be disappointed if the coin inside doesn’t look like the picture.”
Robert J. Berthold said to Li, “You missed your calling; you really should have been a coin designer.”
Seth Pickett said, “Can I buy just the drawing? Asking for a friend...”
The original article and others like it can be found at https://www.coinworld.com/news/us-coins/ohio-artist-makes-poor-man-s-v75-american-eagle-replica