RICK: Hey, how's it going? WILL: Doing good.
RICK: What have we got here?
Got a set of Oregon Trail commemorative half dollars here
and some memorabilia from the old pioneer, Ezra Meeker.
RICK: This is cool.
He was the guy who got him to make the coin, right?
WILL: He was.
It's really a really cool coin because a lot of people
think it's the prettiest coin we ever did.
And through the 1920s, we made some incredible coins
in this country.
And now, there's just a bunch of old dead guys on them.
WILL: My deceased wife was a descendant
of the pioneer, Ezra Meeker.
I'm selling the coins for $5,000 and the letter for $5,000.
If I get the full price, I'll spend
the money as a down payment on a retirement property.
RICK: Oregon Trail commemorative coin.
They really hit the line on this.
It's a beautiful coin.
It's got an American Indian on one side and the wagon
in the back going across the United States.
WILL: Pretty much as Meeker did.
RICK: What are these up here?
The centerpiece of this presentation is a letter from
the old pioneer Ezra Meeker to the members of the American
Numismatic Association, a collector organization
encouraging them to buy this half dollar
because they'd pay $1 and $0.50 profit would
go to mark the Oregon Trail.
He actually went out at age 76 and took his wagon
all the way back across America to meet President
Teddy Roosevelt, shown here.
RICK: That is really neat.
WILL: And he sold these postcards
to subsidize the trip.
RICK: OK.
RICK (VOICEOVER): Hundreds of thousands of people traveled
the Oregon Trail in the 1800s.
Land was free.
If you had 40 acres, you could create a farm.
You could make a good living for your family.
And it was a new life.
RICK: So you want to sell this stuff?
WILL: Yes. - OK.
How much were you looking to get out of them?
WILL: I'm looking to get $5,000 for the coins
and $5,000 for the ephemera.
Any reason you never got these graded or?
No, not particularly.
RICK: Here's my concern.
I can grade them or you can grade them.
And it really means nothing unless you
have like NGC or some other grading companies grade them.
Do you mind if I have someone come in
and take a look at them?
OK. That'd be fine.
RICK: Let me call my buddy. He grades coins.
Maybe he can help me spread some light on this.
All right? - Sounds good.
Give me a few minutes. I'm going to give him a call.
WILL: Thank you.
I'm excited that an expert is going
to come in and evaluate this material because an extra eye
never hurts.
RICK: Well, this is what I called you about,
the Ezra Meeker letter.
It was dated 1928.
So I'm sure there's a collectible thing there going
on.
But the big thing is, he has the complete set
of the Oregon Trail.
DAVID VAGI: OK.
RICK: But they're not graded, so basically I called
you up to ask what you think.
Ezra Meeker was the quintessential pioneer.
In the 1850s, he brought his family
by oxcart along the Oregon Trail all the way to Oregon.
This was an incredible journey.
It took five or six months, a real trailblazer.
RICK: That is neat.
Ezra Meeker met with two presidents, got before Congress
to get them to produce these coins.
And he was extremely active for two decades,
raising money for this cause.
I've only seen a few of these documents, like three or four.
So what do you think they're worth?
What's really strange about it,
it is probably 10,000 times rarer than some of these coins.
But it's principally of interest to members of the association.
The ones I've seen sell in the past
tend to bring less than $400.
Now let's take a look at the coins.
So it's no surprise to you that grade
is extremely important in establishing value.
Not in the least bit.
DAVID VAGI: Yeah.
What I'm looking for is to see if there's
any wear on the coins.
It might reduce their value to collectors.
I see nice original luster.
I don't see any major impairments.
A couple of them look like they're a little cleaned,
but these are pretty nice.
Some of them appear to be very high grade.
RICK: So what do you think they're worth?
It's the kind of thing I think you could pay $2,000 for.
And there's perhaps some room to actually make a profit.
But in the end, it's going to come down to how
they all grade individually.
RICK: OK.
Thank you for your input.
All right.
Thank you.
If Rick can buy these coins at the right price,
there are a lot of collectors out there that want them.
So I don't think he'll have any trouble getting rid of them.
RICK: So this right here, I just think we're not
going to make a deal on this.
This right here on the other hand,
I'll give you $2,000 for, for the coins.
In a wholesale bid for these things, in MS 63,
which there's no argument that they're at least that,
that's $3,700 something.
How about $3,700?
There's no money for me to be made that way.
I mean, it's going to cost me $500
to get these things graded.
I mean-- I mean, I'll go 21.
My absolute rock bottom is $3,300.
[music playing]
Um-- no.
[chuckles]
I'm sorry.
I guess we can't make a deal today.
You change your mind, give me a call.
- Appreciate you. - Have a good one.
WILL: I'm going to keep the letter for posterity because
of the emotional attachment.
The coins I will take to another outlet or a coin
show and sell them there.