I ran across a TV show in prime time the other evening featuring a group of lottery winners. Each had won big — multiple millions of dollars. In the show, billionaire Donald Trump was going to give them financial advice from his experience as a major mogul.

I instantly realized my meager holdings would hardly benefit from any of the included insights, so I watched only briefly. From what I saw, the show was highly produced. The creators clearly expected and probably garnered a big audience. Why? My guess is twofold — first, we are all voyeurs wishing to know who has what. Secondly, everyone likes to dream and think, "What if?"

Next month, a family from Salem, Va. will experience the reward of one of those "what if" moments when they sell one of the most famous coins in history. It's a coin that, for decades, was kept in an ordinary family box in the closet. They had been told the coin was a fake. It wasn't.

The story began in the 1940s when a North Carolina collector named George Walton (no, not of THAT Walton family) purchased one of only five known 1913 Liberty Nickels for a whopping $3,750. Understand that, back then it was an obscenely high amount to pay for any coin, much less a lowly nickel. But, again, there were only five in existence making it incredibly rare.

In 1962, Walton was killed in a car crash. Responding officers said they found hundreds of coins scattered about the crash site — evidently from his collection. One of those was the 1913 nickel in a plastic case. It was returned to George's sister Melva who lived in Salem. Shortly thereafter she had the coin inspected. Whoever the "expert" was who looked at it deemed it a fake. He believed something was amiss near the coin's date.

Believing the coin to be a fake, Melva put the coin in the unsecured box. In fact, she only kept the coin for sentimentality's sake because 1913 was the year of her birth.

Fast forward to 2003. A newspaper story that year talked about a $1 million reward for the missing nickel. The Walton heirs couldn't resist. That year, they arranged to take their "fake" coin to the American Numismatic Association convention where the four other 1913 Liberty nickels were slated to be exhibited and real experts were waiting. After all, what if?

At the convention, in a secret midnight meeting, a team of recognized rare coin experts assembled by Collectors Universe, Inc. — the company offering the reward — examined the Walton's coin. They compared it to the four other specimens. The pros conferred. After 40 minutes, their verdict was in. They unanimously agreed the Walton nickel was the missing fifth coin.

One explanation as to why Walton's nickel was thought to be a fake in 1962 was due to a small imperfection under the coin's date. It could have been a very skillfully altered date. By comparison, though, the other four 1913 nickels also had tiny metal imperfections.

After that 2003 meeting and verdict, the Walton heirs could have opted to trade their authenticated nickel for the million dollars offered. They passed. Instead, they loaned it for public display at the American Numismatic Association Money Museum in Colorado Springs. Now it's going on the auction block. The pre-sale estimate is $2.5 million.

The sale is slated for public auction on April 25 at the Central States Numismatic Society Convention in Schaumburg, Ill. conducted by Heritage Auctions. Few of us could afford such a coin, but, for those who like to dream, much more information is available from the auction house online at www.HA.com.

The important thing to remember is that many more rare coins remain out there in family boxes and other hiding places. They may not be worth $2.5 million, but $5,000, $10,000 or $20,000 items are found more often than many might imagine — actually, all the time.

I have to believe even Donald Trump would agree the thing to do is keep your eyes open, always double check the facts and confer with real experts. After all, what if?

Editor's Note: A JPEG visual of the $2.5 million 1913 Walton Liberty nickel has been sent with this column.

To find out more about Peter Rexford and features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.