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by Dan Carr, 17 Aug 1994
The all-time best TV coin show (IMHO) is an episode of Hawaii Five-O. Second place goes to an episode of The Streets of San Francisco (See below for plot).
As I remember, the Hawaii Five-O plot goes like this:
[This episode, "The $100,000 Nickel", is episode 134 from the sixth season of the show. --Numismatica]
An engraver takes a 1903 Liberty nickel and "re-engraves" the 0 to make it look like a 1, thus creating what looks like a rare 1913 Liberty nickel.
A magician takes the coin to a coin show and asks to see a real 1913 nickel. (The TV show actually shows a real 1913 nickel as well as several other rare coins including an 1804 Dollar).
The magician uses a sleight of hand trick to switch the coins. (It wasn't easy for the magician since everyone, magician included, was wearing white gloves while examining the coins outside of their holders.)
Before the thief can exit the building, the switch is detected and the building is sealed. The security guards begin searching everyone. To escape detection, the thief deposits the rare coin in a newspaper machine!
The thief then exits the building, but comes back later when the "paper boy" comes to remove the money from the machine.
The thief follows the paper boy to a street corner where there is a struggle, the bag of nickels is dumped all over the sidewalk/alley, and the paper boy is killed.
The thief searches frantically for the rare nickel, but there are so many on the ground, and the paper boy's body is nearby.
The thief then sees a child and an older man walking nearby. The kid bends over, picks up a coin, and tells his grandfather, "Look, grandpa, a lucky nickel". The grandfather looks at the coin and says, "Ah, 1913, that was the year I was born".
The thief, overhearing this, follows them hoping for an opportunity to retrieve the nickel.
By now, the police have some idea what is going on, and they are looking for the thief.
The grandfather and grandson go into several stores and end up spending the nickel, but the thief doesn't know where. The coin changes hands several times (becomes circulated!).
At this point, I can't remember exactly what happens, but someone who was looking for the coin (either the police or the thief) give up searching. They presume that someone has inadvertently taken the coin home in their pocket. The person searching then goes to the coffee shop to get a cup. Upon leaving, they pay the cashier, and low and behold, they get the 1913 nickel handed to them in their change!
In the end, the coin is returned (none the worse for wear :) to its rightful owner.
As I remember, the Streets of San Francisco plot goes like this: (The episode title is either "A Collection Of Eagles" or "A Gathering Of Eagles".)
A coin shop owner is romantically linked to the daughter of a wealthy collector.
The shop owner (who is in financial trouble due to gambling, I think) devises a scheme where he makes struck counterfeits of the rare double eagles in the gentleman's collection.
He begins switching the coins one at a time (over a long period of time). Somewhere along the way, a crime is committed (a murder I think) and the police are called in.
At one point, Michael Douglas (the younger cop) takes a crash course in numismatics. When he examines the double eagle collection, he smells a rat, and shows the collector one of the coins. The conversation goes something like this:
Cop: "Notice the flow lines on this 1881. But its supposed to be a proof. Proofs should not have flow lines."
Collector: "Yes, this is not the coin I purchased. This is a counterfeit!"
In the end, the dealer is caught, but I don't remember if the coins were recovered.
Dan Carr
Boulder, CO, USA
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