Which great collectors were / are also great philanthropists?
Zoins
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I recently started looking into Ellis H. (Roby) Robison because one of his coins was was featured in the 2021 PCGS Calendar.
What I learned was that he not only had a great collection, but he was a great philanthropist, selling coins to fund his donations.
Which of the great collectors were/are also great philanthropists?
Here's some info on Robison from the thread:
Harvey Stack wrote:
He was dedicated to education and had contributed for decades to colleges and universities in America. Many an athletic field, herb garden and foundations are named after him and his family. He was especially interested Cornell University, his alma mater, and in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The proceeds of this sale were designated to benefit the cultural and athletic endeavors of these two institutions.
On Cornell Univeristy:
https://cornellbigred.com/honors/hall-of-fame/ellis-h-roby-robison/178
His devotion, advice and financial support to his alma mater started as soon as he graduated in 1918. He was a man with foresight; he saw a need and then filled it. The financial support from Robison and his wife, Doris, enriched such diverse programs as athletics, the Cornell Plantations, and the University Libraries. His concern for student-athletes prompted him to provide funds for such practical gifts as vans for team travel, improvement of the tennis courts, and for women's crew, a shell and a shell house, which is named for his wife. He also provided funds to build the Ellis H. Robison '18 Hall of Fame Room, which housed the Cornell Athletic Hall of Fame memorabilia. In 1978, he initiated the reactivation of the Red Key Society, Cornell's athletic honorary society.
On Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute:
https://rpiathletics.com/honors/hall-of-fame/ellis-h-robison/67
Although a graduate of Cornell University, he provided financial and moral support to RPI Athletics a great many years … A Troy businessman, he started his financial support to RPI sports when he discovered grants were given to academic departments in the school, but none to the athletic department … One of his first and most obvious gifts came in the form of the trophy case that stands in the lobby of the ’87 gym … Donated funds to renovate the hockey locker rooms and also to pay for hockey helmets … Constant rooter for RPI athletic teams, on hand for many hockey, basketball and baseball games, in particular … Once honored at the RPI vs. Cornell hockey game by the RPI hockey team and Olympia … Was honorary member of the school’s Hall of Fame Committee in addition to being an honorary member of Olympia … Contributor to the Hall of Fame as well as numerous other facilities around campus ... Baseball team plays at Robison Field ... Softball team plays at Doris Robison Field ... Swimming & diving compete in Robison Pool.
The following coin is one of only 4 surviving coins mentions the following in the Stack's provenance history gifted to the following universities. How did this work? Was it a tax-deductible donation handled by Stack's?
Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute, Cornell University, Brown University, and Russell Sage College, by gift
Comments
Larry H. Miller, it turns out.
His collection, recently sold for around $24 million. The proceeds were donated by his wife to the hospital system I work for. The money will be used to fund part of a new Children's hospital in Utah.
In this case, is the philanthropist his wife Gail? Did he donate himself or leave instructions for donations?
Here's an article on the sale which makes it sound like the decision to sell was his wife's.
Utah Jazz owner to sell late-husband’s $25M coin collection, donate money to children’s hospital
https://www.deseret.com/utah/2020/9/16/21440039/jazz-owner-sell-late-husband-larry-miller-25-million-coin-collection-proceeds-to-childrens-hospital
Norweb.
You don’t have to be “great “ to give .
I give away money. I collect money.
I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
Of course not, but it’s interesting to note the activities of those who have been given and earned so much. Understanding more about the collectors makes their provenances that much more interesting for me.
It’s interesting that Robison started donating soon after he graduated and makes me wonder what he situation was as a recent grad. Also of note is that many of the things he donated for seemed to be relatively small things that the students needed, not necessarily to get name recognition.
Eric P Newman.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Nice. In addition to his numismatic donations, here's the Eric P. Newman Education Center (EPNEC) at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
@Zoins
I like how Newman's foundation continues to digitize many numismatic periodicals and auction catalogs. I wish it was easier to use the search option, though. Very redundant and hard to use.
I'm glad you picked up Newman's ANA medals! He was a gentleman, and those are great items for your collection.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
I use the NNP quite a bit and find it useful.
Regarding, the search, @Coinosaurus is here and can take feedback.
Here's my Newman 50th Anniversary medal again. I also have the 25th in silver and his collection of annual convention badges. He's a collector I admire and so I couldn't pass them up!
The following is from Wikipedia and it's a but unclear what he donated aside from the 1913 Liberty Head nickel. It would be great to find out more about his activities with some of the named organizations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Henry_Norweb
I do own the following ANS medal from the Norwebs via Richard Jewell. Rich had 2 and I only got this one which I thought was nicer but in retrospect it would have been nice to pick up both!
Here's some information on Larry H. Miller's philanthropic activities from Wikipedia, so while the sale of his collection a decade after his death may be the idea of his wife, he did make major donations during his life as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_H._Miller#Philanthropy
Salt Lake Community College:
https://i.slcc.edu/facilities/miller-campus2.aspx
Eliasberg- Mt. Washington Pediatrics
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Amon Carter
Good info! The Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital's own webpage and Wikipedia mention it was founded by his wife, Hortense Kahn Eliasberg, in 1922. Neither mention Louis Edward, but it's highly likely they were married at the time.
I was just looking through the Roby Robison catalogs again and thought the Stack's catalogs had awesome covers.
Check these out. Anyone else do anything similar?
Josiah K. Lilly Jr. was an Indiana businessman and industrialist who served stints as president and chairman of the board of the Eli Lilly Company, a pharmaceutical firm founded by his grandfather.
Josiah K. Lilly’s estate secured congressional legislation in 1968 for a $5.5 million tax deduction as one condition for donation of the extensive numismatic holdings to the NNC.
The Lilly Collection arrived at the Smithsonian on June 13, 1968.
The U.S. gold coins were on display for decades in a dedicated area in the National Museum of American History, until their storage during renovations over the past decade. Since then, the bulk of the collection has not been on public view.
The extensive exhibit area for the thousands of coins in the Lilly Collection previously covered some 3,000 square feet.
In 2004, the exhibit was dismantled and stored during substantial renovations to the National Museum of American History to accommodate display of the original Star Spangled Banner flag.