Devil-head penny sold
Bought by 'Pegger for $170
By ADAM CLAYTON, STAFF REPORTER

Coin bearing Beelzebub's visage. (JESSE JOHNSTON Sun files) The devil
got his due yesterday.
An American penny with a mark thought to resemble the devil sold for
$170.10 through an online auction yesterday.
A Winnipeg man topped 13 other bidders when he bought the coin, which
has a mark on its surface that looks like a demon's face, complete with
horns, to the right of former U.S. president Abraham Lincoln.
Dieter Hoch said he bought the penny on behalf of a friend who lives in
Germany.

Hoch said his friend -- a holistic medicine practitioner -- wanted to
add the demon coin to his collection of strange and unusual objects.
"It's right up his alley," he said. "I spent many hours discussing the
paranormal with him, so I called him up and I said, "Take a look at this
thing here.' I knew he would want it."

PROFILED IN SUN
Collectibles Canada manager Sheldon Sturrey said the store, which sold
the coin for its anonymous owner on consignment, has sold items through
EBay for far greater amounts.
However, Sturrey said he's never received anywhere near as much
publicity as he has since the devil coin was profiled in the Winnipeg
Sun.
"My phone has been ringing since this thing hit Sunday's paper," he
said, adding he's received inquiries about the coin from as far away as
the United Kingdom and New Zealand.
Sturrey said he had no idea how much the coin would fetch in the end.
Prior to Sunday morning, the highest bid for the penny was $1.44.

"There's no price tag on this kind of thing, so who knows whether it's a
high price or a low price," he said. "It's impossible to gauge."
According to a written description on EBay that accompanied photos of
the penny, the coin has been known to produce a "strange, warm feeling"
when someone holds it. Sturrey said he doesn't believe the coin is
possessed but will be glad when it's gone from his McPhillips Street
store.

"Whether it's a devil coin or a demon coin or whatever the case, better
it be in someone else's hands that mine," he said.

http://winnipegsun.com/News/Winnipeg/2006/08/23/1771147-sun.html