Dr Steve Duckor
Boosibri
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It appears he has passed away. Very nice article from Doug Winter:
https://raregoldcoins.com/blog/2025/2/17/steve-duckor-a-tribute
Legend
21
Comments
May he RIP! Definitely a lot of "institutional" knowledge about coins will not pass to future generations and it is sad.
RIP, Dr Steven Duckor.
RIP. He was truly a legend.
Another numismatist has left the bourse. Condolences to his family, both immediate and extended.
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Very nice tribute befitting a numismatic exemplar. RIP.
He assembled the nicest set of Barber Halves I have ever seen. These coins are particularly difficult to find nice; in any Unc. grade. Yet every one of them had "that look." He was also good personal friends with David Hall.
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."
Interesting write up:
"Steve made more money on a single coin than any other collector I’m aware of. He was the owner of an amazing 1920-S $10 Indian—the finest known example of the rarest date of this design. He bought it 1979 for $85,000, which was a ton of money for this coin at that time; especially for a younger collector with two small kids. I sat with him at the auction in 2007 when he sold this coin. At the time, I told him it could bring $750,000 or maybe even a bit more. I’ll never forget the look on his face when it quickly broke the $1 million dollar barrier, not stopping until it realized a record-smashing $1,725,000. We went out for a celebratory dinner that night and he gladly paid."
Actually anyone who bought gold around 1999 has increased their investment over 10x which has been a better investment than any rare coin.
A huge loss all the way around, rip 🙏
Very sad news.
I followed along while he built and then sold his historic walking liberty half set. He had some amazing Coins. I’ll never forget his 19-D That he got from the Albanese collection. It was truly one of a kind. The strike and originality were off the charts. Is 1920 D was also amazing in premium gem.
May he RIP. He was very much respected and admired.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
I consider Dr. Duckor a true numismatic legend. The hobby suffered a real loss with his passing. RIP!
“The thrill of the hunt never gets old”
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Copperindian
Retired sets: Soaring Eagles
Copperindian
Nickelodeon
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Empty Nest Collection
Matt’s Mattes
https://coinweek.com/coin-rarities-related-topics-the-dazzling-collecting-journey-of-dr-steven-duckor/
My 1866 Philly Mint Set
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@Eldorado9
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
Did not know him, but his influence over my collection looms large. He had a superior eye.
His 1901-s, finest known MS-67+ Barber half:
my condolences to his family and those that knew him well
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
A great loss to the coin collecting family. We shared notes together. My condolences to his family.
terrible news
That was great tribute to a legend who walked in our time.
RIP Dr. Dukor
“We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”
Todd - BHNC #242
I cannot believe that I never met Steve Duckor. I met and knew all of his friends including Dave Akers, Stewart Blay, Doug Winters and one of our posters here, EastonCollection. Perhaps that was due to his being a West Coast guy while I pretty much stuck to the east coast. I did read about his collecting pursuits and I respected his ability to complete his sets. I was more of a type and time traveller and was also following his and Stew Blay’s paths as a decade younger than them.
Steve was a coin collector I respected. RIP.
Coin Photographer.
Very Sad to hear
RIP
Mike
My Indians
Danco Set
Sorry to hear this news. I did not know he had assembled top notch sets of so many series, I just knew about the gold. How he found the time amazes me. GI docs are busy! Very nice heartfelt appreciation by Doug Winter.
I only knew about his Barber halves. They were spectacular!
Sorry to hear this.
I remember Steve outbidding me for this coin in 2008.
If he wanted something, he wasn't going to stop.
Coin Rarities Online
RIP
Ex. Duckor
Sunshine Rare Coins
sunshinecoins.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html
I sold him one of my nicer barber halves years ago
Sorry to hear the news sounds like he was a great guy to be around with good numismatic instincts.
Hope that 1898-O is still in that same holder with a Gold CAC sticker and not a newer MS66+ or higher slab.
I do not know what became of the 98-O 25c - other than the fact that that cert # is not in the CAC database.
Coin Rarities Online
Never met him, though saw his name in auctions since the 1980's and he came up in discussions here on the board especially when saintguru was active or when some of his coins or collections were appearing in an auction.
Did Dr. Steve Duckor ever make an appearance on any coin message boards?
As far as the 1898-O 25c, I did a search on Heritage for Duckor and 1898-O. Shows after it was sold as a Doily MS-65 in May 2008 at 32k, it was consigned as part of his collection in July 2009 reslabbed as a 66 with CAC and dropped to about 19k. Noticed a photo of it appears in the excellent 2011 Coinweek article linked above by Nic.
"To Be Esteemed Be Useful" - 1792 Birch Cent --- "I personally think we developed language because of our deep need to complain." - Lily Tomlin
I was cataloging for Heritage when Dr. Duckor's Barber halves came up for auction. Although Mark Borckardt wrote the copy for those coins, I went behind him and edited/proofread it (as I did for most of the major collections 2005–2016) and was able to look at all the coins which were in the vault right outside the office that Borckardt and I shared. I was able to lay all the coins out from 1892-P to 1915-S on my side table and admire them at length. The quality was absolutely off the charts. It still makes the hair on my arms stand up to think about it. One of those moments as a numismatist you just never forget. RIP Dr. Duckor, and thanks for your admirable contributions to numismatics. Kind regards, George
Oh, how I would have loved to be there! I can only imagine.....
Incredibly Sad News. I never met Dr. Duckor, but DW wrote a great Tribute about him. He was a pioneer of collecting and will certainly be missed by all of us.
Very sad news. It seems that no one ever said an unkind word about him, which says a lot. And of course as we all know he was an esteemed numismatist. My condolences to his family and many friends.
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
He was prolific in so many series.
As a Walker collector, I had the pleasure of picking up a few of his coins. When I sold my Levoi set in 2016, it turned out that he bought some of my coins as he was assembling a new set of Walkers. It included this 19-S that has had at least the following owners: GBW-Schultz-Levoi-Duckor-Hansen:
"Look up, old boy, and see what you get." -William Bonney.
A very nice tribute by Doug Winter. Incredible that Duckor may have even saved Mr. Winter’s life!
Would be cool if this prompts @saintguru to show up.
He had a great eye and was a numismatic legend. Condolences to his family and may he rest in peace.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
May he rest in peace.
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