What are some famous collections that were developed in secret over decades?
Zoins
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Doug Bird's 16 #1 PCGS Registry Sets were developed in secret for 40 years before being sold this year.
What are some other famous collections were developed in secret for long periods of time?
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I may be remembering wrong but the Knoxville Collection was under the radar. Still not sure why it was called that as the originator had no connection to Knoxville so far as I know.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
It depends upon someone's definition of "secret" and "famous". I presume that there many (quite) nice collections which aren't "common knowledge" but I wouldn't call any actually famous or even widely known, except maybe within a narrow segment of the collector base. This includes the sets from the OP.
How about known collections with an anonymous owner? For example the Tyrant collection.
I think there are quite a few collections with a general collection name or pseudonym that isn't associated with an identified person.
Twenty years or more ago, I at least was surprised to see the Buddy Ebsen (Jedd Clampett) collection up for sale. I was unaware that he collected.
I'm keeping my collection secret from the wife, does that count?
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
I think there are many collections that are substantial out there that most people don't know exist. For example, I have a couple of customers who have 8 figure collections that have not listed anything on the PCGS Set registry.
The Lilly collection that eventually went to the Smithsonian in exchange for a big tax break. I think this was in the mid-1960's.
I imagine this is the case. Some very nice coins just "disappear" when they are purchased.
Yes, but these would meet the definition of being secret, not famous. Secret and famous are usually mutually exclusive. The Lilly collection mentioned in a prior post above is one of the best ever assembled but I doubt more than a low fraction of the US collector base have either seen it at the Smithsonian or know of its existence.
With the other examples given in this thread, only a relatively low number would have heard of it. Predominantly if they read this forum, collect in the same area or follow the auction circuit. The same applies to prominent (for the specialty) non-US collections that most US collectors have no idea existed.
I secret collection has the potential to become famous when it is finally public...
Yes, but the examples used here aren't famous except under the most liberal definition. How can a collection where such a low proportion of the collector base or low number of collectors have even heard of it be considered famous?
Top registry sets aren't actually famous. Hardly anyone outside of those who collect the series, participate in the registry or at least somewhat closely follow auctions will likely have heard of it. There is a lot more exposure in the internet age, but even if someone reads about a collection (as I do regularly), they are likely to mostly forget about it later because it isn't actually that prominent.
Only a few have any claim to legitimate fame in the sense that a noticeable number of non-collectors have ever heard of the collection or collector. I'd rank Eliasberg first. My understanding is that at least parts of the collection were available for public view through a traveling exhibit, it was profiled in general national media at least on occasion, and the hobby had a higher profile among the non-collecting public at the time.
Others such as Pogue are "famous" within the US collecting community but the overwhelming number and percentage of collectors elsewhere have almost certainly never heard of it. If the broader US public did, most almost certainly don't remember it after it was sold either. It's lost in a sea of "noise" in a saturated media age.
Not knocking these collections but it's no different than prominent non-US collections which the overwhelming percentage of (US) collectors don't know. How many (US) collectors have heard of Bakewell, Remick, or Patterson? These are among the most prominent collections from the coinage I have collected but not relevant to hardly anyone else.
the Kansas Collection of quarter eagles. I don't know who owns it and it is not part of any registry. Doug Winter mentions the collection here or there but it remains mostly unknown. My understanding of the Kansas Collection is it is by far the best collection of liberty quarter eagles put together by any collector.
WWC...by definition a secret collection can't be famous until it is "revealed" or made public. How do you define "Famous"?
It doesn't matter whether it is a world collection or US collection IMO.
Not trying to be argumentative. I think what this thread is actually asking is whether there are any other (near) "best" collections for a particular specialty put together relatively anonymously.
There are certainly many meeting this definition.
In collecting, I'd define Eliasberg and a few others as "famous" but not much else. If any of us were to ask most US collectors today or in the past whether they have some knowledge of Eliasberg, a noticeable proportion or most do and so do many non-US collectors. The "more informed" South African collectors certainly do.