Aloha! NGC-certified Hawaii Five-O Coin Sells for Over $4 Million

A 1913 Liberty Nickel certified by Numismatic Guaranty Company™ (NGC®) — known as the Hawaii Five-O coin — has realized over $4 million in a private sale, one of the highest prices ever paid for a coin. The private sale conducted by Stack's Bowers was the 14th time that an NGC-certified coin realized over $1 million this year alone.

1913 Liberty Nickel graded NGC PF 64+ and pedigreed as "The Hawaii Five-O Coin." Sold for over $4 million. Click images to enlarge.

Only five examples of the 1913 Liberty Nickel exist, none of which were officially authorized. Their origins remain shrouded in mystery, but there is no doubt that they stand at the pinnacle of numismatics today. At one point, "Colonel" E.H.R. Green acquired all five, but two are now enshrined in museum collections.

This example is graded NGC PF 64+ and displays “The Hawaii Five-O Coin” pedigree. That police procedural featured the ultra-rarity in a 1973 episode titled "The $100,000 Nickel," which helped increase the public's appreciation for coin collecting. NGC certified the famous nickel in 2004.

"None of the 51 million coins certified by NGC has captured the public interest in quite the same way as this one," said Mark Salzberg, NGC Chairman. "NGC is proud of its long history of certifying exceptional numismatic rarities like the Hawaii Five-O 1913 Liberty Nickel."

The coin was displayed by Stack's Bowers at the Long Beach Expo in October 2021. The auction house announced the sale on November 8.

The numismatic world has seen seven-digit coin sales occur at a frenzied pace this year. In January, an NGC-certified 1787 Brasher Doubloon realized $9.36 million, an auction record for any gold coin at the time. In October, an NGC-certified Great Britain 1937 Edward VIII Gold Pattern 5 Sovereign realized over $2.4 million, a record for any English coin sold at auction.

To see the complete list of NGC-certified coins that have realized prices over $1 million this year, click here.