The American Numismatic Association reports that its membership has declined slightly in recent years from about 32, 000 to 27, 000.

WSJ: Collectors Weigh Impact of Silver-Dollar Sale

In 2003, her children brought it to the American Numismatic Association's World Fair of Money, where the other four Liberty nickels were on display.

BBC: Rare Liberty Head nickel sells for $3.1m

"Basically a coin with a story and a rarity will trump everything else, " Douglas Mudd, curator of the American Numismatic Association Money Museum in Colorado Springs, Colo.

WSJ: Rare 1913 Nickel Auctioned for $3.1 Million