Viewers should check their local listings for the time the program is scheduled to be shown in their community.

The segment will feature interviews with Paul Montgomery, who offered a minimum $1 million reward for the coin in 2003 on behalf of a division of PCGS’s parent company Collectors Universe (NASDAQ: CLCT), and Ryan Givens, nephew of George O. Walton who had an appraisal business based in North Carolina.

Walton was killed in a 1962 car crash and the 1913 Liberty Head nickel was among the many coins recovered from the wreck. When Walton’s estate was settled among his heirs, Givens’ mother – Walton’s sister – received the coin.

Givens lives in the Virginia house where his mother unsuspectingly kept the famous coin in a closet for 41 years after she was incorrectly told in 1962 that it was a fake.

When he made the reward offer, Montgomery, President of the Professional Numismatists Guild, was President of Bowers and Merena Galleries, then owned by Collectors Universe.

The reward was a publicity stunt created by public relations consultant and former American Numismatic Association Governor, Donn Pearlman, as a tie-in to the ANA World’s Fair of Money in Baltimore, Maryland in the summer of 2003. The show was to feature a display with four of the five known 1913 Liberty nickels, the first time they were to be together since the set of five was broken up in 1942.

Givens, his sister Cheryl Myers and her husband, Gary, brought their inherited coin to the ANA’s 2003 Baltimore convention where it was first examined by Montgomery, Mark Borckardt and John Dannreuther. Hours later they joined a team of PCGS experts led by PCGS Co-Founder and Collectors Universe President, David Hall, who examined the coin along with the four other specimens in a secret, midnight authentication meeting held in the security room of the Baltimore Convention Center. They unanimously concurred that the Walton coin was genuine and, indeed, the long-unaccounted-for specimen.

Montgomery told the Walton family members that night, “It’s genuine, it’s worth significantly more than a million dollars, and God bless you.”

The TV episode has a recreation of that authentication meeting along with information about events leading up to it.

“This story, kept alive by the Givens family, brings to life what our hobby is truly all about,” said Montgomery. “This episode of Accidental Fortune was a blast to work on, but for me was simply the next chapter of an already great story. It makes me wonder what’s next for the Walton nickel?”

The Walton heirs still own the coin. Following the 2003 ANA convention they placed it on long-term loan to the ANA and it has been exhibited at the ANA Money Museum in Colorado Springs, Colorado and various ANA conventions around the country including the recent National Money Show in Fort Worth, Texas.

Accidental Fortune is produced by Mike Mathis Productions of Pasadena, California.

An extensive account of the Walton nickel saga is contained in the book, Million Dollar Nickels (Zyrus Press, 2005), co-authored by Montgomery, Borckardt and Ray Knight.

Related posts:

1. Olsen 1913 Liberty Head Nickel to be Displayed At Portland National Money Show
2. The Olsen 1913 Liberty Head Nickel to be Auctioned by Heritage on Platinum Night at FUN in January
3. Olsen-Hawn 1913 Liberty Nickel Sells for $3,737,500

The future dates include the first-ever PNG Day and PNG Share the Knowledge educational seminar held in conjunction with the annual Greater Houston Coin Club’s Money Show of the Southwest. The upcoming dates and locations of PNG Days for the remainder of this year and next are:

o Wednesday, December 2, 2009, at the George R. Brown Convention Center, Hall E, 1001 Avenida de la Americas, in Houston, Texas. In conjunction with the Money Show of the Southwest, December 3 – 5.

An educational seminar, “Navigating the Bourse,” will be presented by PNG President Paul Montgomery during the Money Show of the Southwest at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, December 4, in room 215 of the convention center. A complimentary light lunch will be available for attendees, courtesy of the PNG.

“Navigating the ‘shark infested waters’ of a numismatic bourse floor really is not that tough, and should not be intimidating for collectors or investors. Many coin dealers are there to help; however, there are some unwritten and oftentimes unspoken protocols that can determine your success or failure,” explained Montgomery. “The seminar will guide you through a few easy, logical steps to make your coin show experiences worthwhile and rewarding with smooth sailing.”

o Wednesday, April 28, 2010, at the Midwest Airlines Center, 400 W. Wisconsin Ave., in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In conjunction with the Central States Numismatic Society annual convention, April 29 – May 1.
o Monday, August 9, 2010, at the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center, 900 Boylston St., Boston, Massachusetts. In conjunction with the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money®, August 10 – 14.

“Invitations to attend the PNG Day events are available free from participating PNG member-dealers as well as from PNG headquarters,” said Robert Brueggeman, PNG Executive Director. “A directory of members is available at the PNG’s web site (www.PNGdealers.com), or you can contact the PNG office.”

For additional information, contact the Professional Numismatists Guild by phone at (760) -728-1300, email at info@PNGdealers.com or online at www.PNGdealers.com.

Related posts:

1. Fort Worth National Money Show Extended to Four Days
2. PNG Modern Coins Seminar at CSNS Convention
3. 2008 ANS Summer Seminar Cancelled – To Resume in 2009