RICK HARRISON: What can I help you with?
Well, I've got a really cool half dollar.
RICK HARRISON: OK.
It is a 1906, $0.50, improperly cleaned, John W Gill.
And what is that supposed to be?
He was one of the victims of the Titanic.
RICK HARRISON: Whoa.
FREDERICK: This coin is an incredible link to history.
One of the most famous maritime disasters.
It has an unbroken chain of pedigree
all the way back to 1912.
I paid $75,000 for the coin about a year ago,
but I'd really like to reappropriate
funds and buy some more toys for some of my collections.
RICK HARRISON: God, this is pretty amazing.
You know, everyone knows the story of the Titanic.
You know, it was the unsinkable ship.
FREDERICK: Absolutely.
And the big problem was, it was a new steel process, which
made the steel really brittle, so
when they ran into an iceberg everything started breaking up.
And it sank in a few hours, but there was a lot
of floating bodies afterwards.
There was a few ships that came by.
Anything that was on their body was cataloged.
It was sealed up, sent back to the family members,
and they were buried at sea.
Yeah, these guys picked up 239 bodies.
He was tagged body 155.
RICK HARRISON: Hm, OK.
So how did you get it?
I bought it from an avid collector about a year ago.
OK.
And so this was auctioned off at one point?
Obviously, you got the catalog here.
It's like, 2002.
FREDERICK: 2002, yeah.
It was auctioned on the 90th anniversary
of the sinking of the Titanic.
RICK HARRISON: OK.
This coin by itself would be worth $40 or $50,
but the fact that it belonged to someone who died on the Titanic
is a complete game changer.
And how you looking to get out of it?
About $125,000.
And where did you come up with that figure?
OK.
A $1 bill that came off of one of the survivors of the Titanic
sold for $125,000.
Now, the story of the Titanic isn't the survivors.
It's the victims.
So kind of figure this has to be worth the same kind of money.
It's got a million dollar story behind it.
I'm a little bit intrigued.
Let me call a coin buddy of mine.
Let me have him take a look at it.
Absolutely.
See what he thinks about it, and we'll go from there.
OK? - Fair enough.
All right. I'll be right back.
Take your time.
This coin is one of a kind.
It's a wonderful link to history.
And I really would not go less than $50,000.
This is what I called you about.
It's a half dollar supposedly off the Titanic.
Wow. It's a fantastic item.
RICK HARRISON: Do you know anything about it?
Well, John Gill was one of the unfortunate victims.
He was 24 years old, second class passenger,
left his new bride to start a new life.
And there are very detailed records
that I was able to access that described
the kinds of things that were found on Mr. Gill's corpse.
There's a gold watch.
There's a gold ring with his initials on it.
But there were coins in there, and this is one of them.
RICK HARRISON: Cool.
This wouldn't be the first item I have actually
handled from the Titanic.
Something like this is highly unusual,
and collectors really line up for that kind of thing.
RICK HARRISON: So, what do you think it's worth?
Well, apparently this coin had sold in 2011 for about $3,850,
and then again in 2014 for about $21,000.
A coin like this really has to reach
the ultimate audience where you could justify
charging much more than that.
So $21,000?
Right in that ballpark.
I would have to think that even at $21k,
it was in the wrong auction.
That's it would seem to me, they missed
the wrong target audience.
DAVID VAGI: So, with an item like this value,
it was only determined when several extremely interested
parties are all aware that it's selling,
and they have the opportunity to compete.
There is no such thing as an accurate value.
RICK HARRISON: OK. Thanks, man.
I sort of got the gist of it. - All right.
Appreciate it. Thank you.
Appreciate it.
FREDERICK: I understand where the expert has come up
with his number from, but I think
it's value stands on its own, not
what it sold for previously.
I mean, if it sold, like a year ago for $21,000,
there's no way of justifying $125,000.
I just don't see it happening.
It's something I'd pay like $10,000 for it,
because it's something where the price waxes and wanes.
Just depends on how cool the Titanic is at that time.
So I mean, is there a realistic price you'd
be willing to take for it?
I guess I'd really need to be at $75,000.
Yeah, I mean--
There's no way we're going to make a deal then.
- Understood. - OK.
Have a nice day, man.
You as well.
Thanks so much.
I think the offer of $10,000 was a bit shocking, quite frankly.
This seems to be so far below what
other people would value it at.
It's hard for me to take it seriously.