A valuable 19th century gold coin emblazoned with “IN GOD WE TRUST” will help an Indiana congregation secure a long-desired church building of their own as a critical financial deadline looms.
The donor, a widow who wishes to remain anonymous, gave the coin to the GracePoint Church in Valparaiso earlier this year as “seed money” for the church’s construction, a news release from Texas-based Heritage Auctions says. The congregation was founded in 2009 and has been conducting Sunday morning services in an elementary school.
“The coin survived an attempted theft at the donor’s home four years ago, and recently was given to the GracePoint Church in Valparaiso where Pastor Ben Lamb described it as ‘an incredible gift in God’s story,’” according to a news release from Heritage Auctions.
The coin is one of only 10 known surviving Liberty Head double eagles from 1866 with the “In God We Trust” motto engraved in it, according to Sarah Miller, director of numismatics for Heritage Auctions.
“It is expected to sell for $300,000 or more in a public auction in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg, Illinois and online, April 27, 2017,” she said in the news release.
“This was the very first one he ever purchased. He passed away 14 years ago, and she held onto the coin. Four years ago she was attacked at home by four assailants who wanted to steal the coin, but she and the coin were saved by a neighbor. She told me that after the attempted theft it had been a thorn in her side,” said, Ben Lamb, the church’s pastor.
Lamb says Heritage wired GracePoint $150,000 as an advance payment toward the final price at auction for the coin.
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“We were absolutely blown away! Honestly, we were completely stunned by the value of the coin,” Lamb said.
Lamb called the coin an “incredible gift in God’s story.”
“Although this gold piece brought grief to the widow for many years, ultimately it brought incredible joy,” Lamb said. “It’s ironic that the last few hours before our financial deadline, the congregation had to do exactly what the coin’s motto said over a hundred years ago: trust God.”
