SCHAUMBERG, Ill. (AP) – A rare century-old U.S. nickel that was once mistakenly declared a fake has sold at auction for more than $3.1 million.

The 1913 Liberty Head nickel is one of only five known to exist. But it’s the coin’s
back story that adds to its cachet: It was surreptitiously and illegally cast, discovered
in a car wreck that killed its owner, declared a fake, forgotten in a closet for
decades then declared the real deal.

It was offered for sale by four Virginia siblings at a rare coin and currency auction in
the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg on Thursday, and sold for well over the expected 
$2.5 million.

The winning bidders were two men from Lexington, Ky., and Panama City, Fla., who 
bought the coin in partnership.

According to early history of United States, the government was supported by
internal taxes on distilled spirits, carriages, refined sugar, tobacco and snuff,
property sold at auction, corporate bonds, and slaves. The high cost of the
War of 1812 brought about the nation’s first sales taxes on gold, silverware,
jewelry, and watches. In 1817, however, Congress did away with all internal
taxes, relying on tariffs on imported goods to provide sufficient funds for
running the government.

In 1862, in order to support the Civil War effort, Congress enacted the nation’s
first income tax law. It was a forerunner of our modern income tax.

The Act of 1862 established the office of Commissioner of Internal Revenue who
was given the power to assess, levy, and collect taxes, and the right to enforce
the tax laws through seizure of property and income and through prosecution.

 

The Christmas kettle is The Salvation Army‘s famous street
campaign, a tradition that started in 1891, in SanFrancisco
by the Christian organizations Captain Joseph McFee. He
was determined to provide a free Christmas dinner to the
area’s poor.

 
                       Captain Joseph McFee

http://www.onlineredkettle.org/page.aspx?pid=3873

1943