3,700 1909 S-VDB Pennies in the woods ?

[jeff of pa]

Not Likely, Since Philadelphia is Closer to Washington .
But always Interesting Train Robbery Story

The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.), 09 Dec. 1954.






https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/...ext=&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=2

 

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[SD51]

Good story Jeff! I'd take 3,700 1909 pennies any day!

 

[galenrog]

Misleading thread title, Jeff. Article mentions nothing about date of pennies.

No, I have not yet had coffee this morning. Why do you ask?

 

[SD51]

Misleading thread title, Jeff. Article mentions nothing about date of pennies.

No, I have not yet had coffee this morning. Why do you ask?

The reason Jeff assumed they were 1909's is the article said they were Lincoln pennies and the first Lincolns were made in 1909. If it was late in 1909, then they could be 1910's if the mints released them before 1910. He was hoping they were made in the SanFran mint though!

 

[jeff of pa]

Misleading thread title, Jeff. Article mentions nothing about date of pennies.

No, I have not yet had coffee this morning. Why do you ask?

LOL I Know they were 1909's. The story of the Robbery is on TNet somewhere & In Treasure Books .

this is a well Known robbery

 

[trdking]

GO get your coffee galenrog This will all start making sense after the first sip

 

[jeff of pa]

[h=1]The Hawestone train robbery of PA[/h]

 

[jeff of pa]

It’s 1909 and the Philadelphia mint just produced a fresh batch of coins. East of Lewistown, PA on Route 322 there is an area called the “narrows”, a five to six mile stretch where the mountain sides on both sides of the Juniata river are extremely steep. The highway is on the northern side of the river, and the railroad tracks are on the southern side.
The Lewistown “Narrows”
A train traveling from the Philadelphia mint to Pittsburgh was in the middle of the “narrows” the train was said to be stopped by a single man who had dynamite on the tracks. The train was carrying three large safes containing an undisclosed amount of currency and five bags holding about $6,000 in gold and silver bars, and money was stacked in a corner.

The engine had passed over three sticks of dynamite, which blew off the cowcatcher and headlight. The man then, robbed the train of several sacks of coins and disappeared up the mountainside.The robber threatened the crew and fired several shots at the conductor, Isaac Poffenberger, wounding his hand. The robber then ordered the crew to carry several large bags of coins into the woods, had them re-board the train and fired several shots as the train pulled away.
Example of a VDB
When investigators arrived at the scene, they found the bags still in the woods. The robber had passed up the gold and silver bars and snatched bags containing newly minted pennies. After an inventory was taken, it was realized that the only thing that was missing were several sacks of one cent coins! This man was rumored to be ”Pennsylvania’s Jesse James”, Jesse james would never be reported found.

https://pastandpresent.com/2019/02/07/the-1909-pennsylvania-train-robbery/

 

[PetesPockets55]

That's right, the article does state the robbery took place in 1909 and were Lincoln head pennies (as opposed to Indian head cents).
45 years in the open would probably produce "Uncirculated details" grade. (It's possible some on the interior might be red, but not likely!)

That's a fun article. Thanks for throwing it out here.

 

[galenrog]

Now that additional information has been presented, I am inclined to believe most, if not all, of the cents were indeed 1909 Lincolns. I am not convinced, however, that there were any 1909 S VDB cents in the mix. The robbery was in Pennsylvania, leading me to the opinion that if the coins were indeed all new, there were Philadelphia Mint, not San Francisco.

Time for more coffee.

 

[trdking]

If no gold was taken then the guys in the story are FOS about finding a bag of unopened gold? Something is smelling funny in Denmark

 

[jeff of pa]

If no gold was taken then the guys in the story are FOS about finding a bag of unopened gold? Something is smelling funny in Denmark

re-read the actual news article.

on the original robbery day, the police found the unopened sack of gold.

the robbers screwed up . they opened pennies got frustrated and gave up,
throwing the rest of the bags away thinking there was no gold.
the robbers should have noticed the difference in Weight or size,
But probably in a rush & P.O.'d seeing Pennies

again the police in 1909 found the bag of gold.

the 3 hunters found loose pennies. at best .
I don't even see rotted bag mentioned.
was Probably part of a Dumped Bag's contents.

They say About 3700. so it was Rounded off.
They didn't even give the exact Total, they found.



Davis was telling the Tale of the robbery,
Not of the Hunters Find

 

[A2coins]

Ill be happy with one I have the vdb without the S trying to find a way to install an S on it. Funny that they admit to finding the pennies but werent going to turn them in in case there was gold they were going to keep lol

 

[trdking]

re-read the actual news article.

on the original robbery day, the police found the unopened sack of gold.

the robbers screwed up . they opened pennies got frustrated and gave up,
throwing the rest of the bags away thinking there was no gold.
the robbers should have noticed the difference in Weight or size,
But probably in a rush & P.O.'d seeing Pennies

again the police in 1909 found the bag of gold.

the 3 hunters found loose pennies. at best .
I don't even see rotted bag mentioned.
was Probably part of a Dumped Bag's contents.

They say About 3700. so it was Rounded off.
They didn't even give the exact Total, they found.

View attachment 1747002

Davis was telling the Tale of the robbery,
Not of the Hunters Find

I read it again and am now more confused. I need to sip coffee or something

 

[Swaveab]

Maybe it means 1909s as in plural 1909 Philadelphia mint Lincolns and not the San Fransisco mint. Why would a train go from Philly to Pittsburgh with S mint pennies as that's going the wrong direction? I'd love one from SF too.