Famous American coin collectors

relayer

From the 3/31 issue of CoinWorld

Aaron Burr
Thomas Jefferson
Commodore Matthew Perry
Andrew Jackson
Josiah Lilly Jr (son of Eli Lilly)
Franklin Roosevelt
Julius Erving
Buddy Ebsen
Dr. Jerry Buss
Angie Dickenson
Penny Marshall
James Earl Jones

homerunhall

Jerome Kern
J.P. Morgan
Gary Burghoff, "RADAR" from M.A.S.H.
Bunker Hunt
Adolphe Menjou

Rampage

Very interesting post. I often wondered about this topic.

Richard.

Gemini

Francis Cardinal Spellman-

CapAnson

Dennis Rodman

EVillageProwler

Who was the guy who owned, among many other rarities, the 25c, 50c and S$1 1866 w/motto proofs? He had to give up his collection to thiefs who broke into his home and held his family at knife point.

His name currently escapes me...

EVP

dragon

How about the famous violinist Jascha Heifetz, I remember that Superior Sale back in the 80's.

tradedollarnut

EVP - wasn't that the Reynolds family?

Zerbe

Dupont Family were robbed at gunpoint at their Florida mansion.
I believe John Dupont, who also I believe, is supposed to have lost one of the 1913 nickels, because of a car accident, (separate incident).

tradedollarnut

That's right! Some of those coins were recently recovered by Superior.

nwcs

Don't forget to add me to the list.

Striker

I was at the coin show in Salt Lake City where Dwight Manley bought the 1913 nickel. That was also the first time I was able to see the "Ship of Gold" exhibit.

MadMonk

ME!

coinkat

Hoagy Carmichael was quite the silver dollar specialist

Sunnywood

EVP,

It was Willis I. DuPont whose Palm Beach mansion was robbed by armed thieves. They were after his stunning world gold collection ... but they got those No Motto "transitional patterns" along with the rest ... they apparently thought them worthless, as two of the coins turned up recently in junkboxes. His brother, Anderson DuPont, was also a famous collector, known mainly for his large cents which were auctioned in 1954, if I remember correctly.

Anyway those 1866 No Motto coins are overhyped, partly on account of their disappearance in the DuPont robbery, and partly because the owner of the other 1866 No Motto dollar (who co-owns a famous coin company today) relentlessly hyped it to Redbook, PCGS et al, to increase its value in an attempt to turn it into a million dollar rarity, when in fact it was a typical backdated fantasy coin. There were two 1866 No Motto 25c/50c/S$1 sets made, but seven of the equally cool 1865 With Motto. My 1865 With Motto S$1, PCGS PR64 ex Eliasberg, recently realized $27,600 in a Bowers auction. I can't see the 1866 No Motto at $1 million !!!

I'm glad someone mentioned the fabulous world-famous violinist Jascha Heifetz ... he was a fanatical collector, and the catalog of his collection proves it. As far as the Reynolds family, I believe one of the scions, Noah Reynolds, is currently "in charge" of the family collection, and it contains many old-time coins that would no doubt thrill the collecting community. I don't think there is any plan to auction the collection off though. Theirs is one of the last in the tradition of Lilly, DuPont, Morgan ...

F.C.C. Boyd was famous in his day, and I believe it was his collection that was offered by Abe Kosoff as "The World's Greatest Collection" (unless I have my auction history screwed up). F.D.R. was much more a stamp collector than a coin collector.

Sunnywood

airplanenut

I'll be famous, so put me down... just give me the time i deserve... oh, say, 30 years