The Wilmington morning star., 1946-02-26

the very rare 19O9-S VDB Liacolns
The Willis collection. of Lincoln
head pennies is now complete from
1909 through 1916 and is the pride
and joy of the owner who has many
4 hundreds of dollars tied up j.
United States coins.
Five Missing
Another section of the Willis col.
lection which commands more thar
passing interest from vetera.
Numismats is group of pennies
dating from 1895 through 1857
Only five pennies are missing be-
fore this set will be complete, is
sues of the years, 1896, 1893, 1900
1901 and 1902.
Acquisition by Willis of many Of
the earlier dated coins in this group
came about in most unusual way
Old Coins
According to Mr.. Willis, the coins
were originally the property of Tom
Williams, great grandfather O.
Mrs. Willis, and who operated q
ships Chandler business at New
Bern.
Willis family records disclose
that Great-grandfather Williams
kept a bucket behind the counter oil
his store and every time he took
in one of the big pennies then ir
circulation, ne threw it into the
bucket. The pennies, about the size
of the present-day fifty cent piece,
were in great demand among sea.
faring men of the New Bern dis.
trict for use as boat washers.
Placed In Bags
AS his stock of pennies increased,
Tom williams placed them in bags
and stored them away in an old
iron safe. After he moved across
the river, the old safe was left to
the mercy of the elements, out In
the open back of the Williams
home.
Following his death, members Of
his immediate family, on opening
the old safe, discovered the horde
of old pennies. The bags which held
them, rotted with age, fell apart
when an attempt was made to lift
them up.
Uncirculated Coins
The Willis American coin collec.
ton embraces also. sets of uncir.
culated coins from 1899 through
1860, 25, 10, 5 and one cent
pieces from all three United States
mints, Denver, Philadelphia and
San Francisco. Also nicely arrang.
ed in hard-backed blue folders are
complete sets of proof-coins which
are sold to collectors by the gov.
eminent. In this group are sets Of
coins from 1886 through 1912.
Still another group of folders
hold what is known to Numismats
as Liberty Standing" quarters anc
Willis has complete sets of these
from 1917 through 1925.
Commemorative
Prized by the collector, too, are
his groups of commemorative
halfdollars andSon which he ha,
paid premiums as high as 1925 OF
each coin in order to get one. Some
such coins are now worth $40.
to $500 at present collector,
market prices. Among them is tn,
Roanoke Island'' half-dollar, com
memorating Paul Green's LOS
Colony and which commanded ;
fifty-cent premium, and the "Battl,
of Antietam" commemorative half
dollar on which is stamped tn,
heads of Generals McClelland an,
Robert E. Lee. This coin com
manded premium of 1925.
The Willis collection accumulatee
at considerable expense and thous
ands OF hours of pains-taking effort
were on display at the Hobby Show
sponsored by the City Recreatio,
department last year and are nov
being shown again at the 194(
show which opens today at tn,
Second and Orange USO and which
Will run through Thursday.
More Than Hobby
Coin collecting to Rex Willis i,
more than hobby-it provide.
him with needed relaxation aftel
business hours. And he is ever
ready to talk about coins and car
tell you many interesting thing.
about them-that the first one.
were issued in the East and Yves
IN the eighth century, Be-; tina
the first mint was probably tina
established by Gygas in Lydia
toward the end of that century ane
that the first United States min.
was opened on April 2, 1892, ane
that the first branch was situate
at Charlotte.
And although his wife did moi
cotton to the coin collecting ides
When her husband took it up ir
1886, because he seemed to Spend
all of his spare time with his coins
and not her, she is fast becoming
a hobby-rider herself and can talh
coins" too, with real enthusiasm
For the Hobby" disease is con
taglous--a disease from which ne