If you had Bill Gates money, and knowing what you know about coins...

MadMarty

and not being tied to a job. Knowing you could buy any coin you wanted and lets say you wanted to build the finest set of something. Would you...

Need someone like Laura to buy your coins for you?

DennisH

"Need someone like Laura to buy your coins for you?"

Russ

Yes, absolutely. If I had huge money to blow, the first thing I'd do is cozy up to an experienced dealer.

Russ, NCNE

DickyBetz

I would buy the coins myself. Whats the fun in having someone else do it for you???

MadMarty

<< <i>Yes, absolutely. If I had huge money to blow, the first thing I'd do is cozy up to an experienced dealer.

Russ, NCNE >>




Admit it Russ, you want Laura!!!

dizzyfoxx

I don't know what coins I would buy, or who I would cozy up to, but it would sure be to figure it out.

dwssws

<< <i>Yes, absolutely. If I had huge money to blow, the first thing I'd do is cozy up to an experienced dealer >>

elwood

I'd sit in the back of the room and outbid Laura on any coin she bids on

tjkillian

Laura would become fabulously wealthy as she re-assembled the Eliasberg collection, but this time with emphasis on the finest known. I would make friends with everyone and show off my COMPLETE set of U.S. coins at party, after party, after party.

Tom

morgannut2

I'd hire Laura and D. Winter-- Mr. Rare Coin Wholersaler of DanaPoint would be left buying and selling moderns.

MadMarty

Why would you want to hire anyone? You can attend the auctions, you can find the coins you like, why have someone else look for you? Kind of takes the fun out of collecting doesn't it. But if all you care about is the label anyway...

lsica

<< <i>Yes, absolutely. If I had huge money to blow, the first thing I'd do is cozy up to an experienced dealer. >>



tick tick tick. .. Russ is gonna blow up any minute now ;-)

Russ

<< <i>Admit it Russ, you want Laura!!! >>



She makes me hot.

Russ, NCNE

lsica

<< <i>If you had Bill Gates money, and knowing what you know about coins... >>



in 25 years you'd be talking about the lsica collection.. the new Eliasberg ;-)

Bochiman

I would want some fun with my coins, so I would hire both Laura and Mark Feld
(I think they are both 2 of the best in the business, but would be like water and oil too )

Louis

Ever see the Beverly Hillbillies ? I would be known as the River Oaks Redneck.

pursuitofliberty

Certainly I'd enter into a solid relationship with at least one big name dealer ... one who could deliver.

I would also probably try to work with another one or two (or maybe three) buyers/specialists ... and have them scour the regional and local landscapes looking for treasures.

In probably a somewhat similar fashion to TDN, I'd help them so they could help me. Being a numismatist, I think I'd make the time to view many of the important coins prior to the auctions, and I would certainly not be buying anything at arms length. If a coin didn't work for me, we wouldn't buy it (or I'd be able to send it back).

I'd also bring a couple of boxes of different coins to a few of the major shows each year, have a display, try to give back a little and enjoy the people in the hobby.

It would be interesting to be able to build a world class collection ... but for today ... life is good with the way it works.

Russ

<< <i>Why would you want to hire anyone? >>



Because I'd be too busy boinking a bevy of 25 year old blondes.

Russ, NCNE

Millertime

Absolutely not, I would find everything I wanted myself. I would hit up the local coin store I like and a few online dealers I've learned about here to complete a Dansco 7070 Type Album with high grade key dates. It would be awesome to crack a million dollar coin out and place in the album.

Millertime

lsica

<< <i>Because I'd be too busy boinking a bevy of 25 year old blondes. >>



Brunnettes and redheads, too. Variety is the spice of life ;-)

MadMarty

<< <i>

<< <i>Why would you want to hire anyone? >>



Because I'd be too busy boinking a bevy of 25 year old blondes.

Russ, NCNE >>



Laura wouldn't unchain you from the bed!! She is your biggest fan!!!

robertpr

ChangeInHistory

...............and now back to our regularly scheduled topic.

I MIGHT start out with one and become more independant within a year or so.

I think I'd complete a series in the finest possible grade and then move on to the next one. I'd keep the best one of each previous series and then have the highest graded Type set. (Then maybe move on to currency and do the same thing.) Then I might have a quarter of the knowledge of Q. David Bowers. Fun to think about!

granddad

While there would be a huge upside to hiring Laura, the downside would be that I would have to also hire Jenny.


Have a Great Day!
Louis

rmoss

I have read somewhere in the last week or so that Bill Gates could spend a million dollars a day until something like the year 2025 . Now that would be enough money to buy until you were sick of buying coins. At what point would they become possessions instead of a hobby. The way it now is I appreciate every coin I get because I have to work to obtain it.

Coindexter

I would scout for myself, but I would also establish a strong working relationship with an experienced dealer.

dlimb2

Bill Gates can buy all the top pops in classic and modern in every category and every type of coin in all metal types and it would all just be chump change....question is... What does a Guy like Bill Gates do for fun!

Well now did Bill Gates know anything about computers when he began to build his empire! No!!!! He did not....but he had an Idea, patented the idea and had others do the work that created his empire.

Now just supose...he wanted to creat the finest known collection of coins all the way from the first American minted coins right on down to todays moderns...I would say he would again need someone to complete his mission....Investment...nawww...it is just Chump change to him....but one that would take a great deal of time.

Man

Remember the money bin that Scrooge McDuck had, I'd get me one of those.

Bochiman

<< <i>Bill Gates can buy all the top pops in classic and modern in every category and every type of coin in all metal types and it would all just be chump change....question is... What does a Guy like Bill Gates do for fun! >>



Bridge - for fun. He and Warren Buffett, both.

As for the coins, he has the money but some people don't need money and will hold onto their coins, so unless Bill outlasts them, there are coins he couldn't get.

gamr0n

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>Why would you want to hire anyone? >>



Because I'd be too busy boinking a bevy of 25 year old blondes.

Russ, NCNE >>



Laura wouldn't unchain you from the bed!! She is your biggest fan!!! >>



So that is what Russ wants to hire Laura for...

TheRaven

I would complete a complete US set of coins period.....

I think I would farm out some of the sets to some people, like the Washington Quarters, Kennedy Halves and those types of sets, but do the ones I really like (Barbers) myself.....

JadeRareCoin

I would start a coin doctor posse.

McDonis

<< <i>I would complete a complete US set of coins period.....

I think I would farm out some of the sets to some people, like the Washington Quarters, Kennedy Halves and those types of sets, but do the ones I really like (Barbers) myself..... >>




I would add to what he said by getting EVERY pcgs graded possible on each coin in all US series. From g4 all the way to ms70

Whitby

Basically Every Federal Copper and A Few Continental Dollars which of course would be framed by a Brasher Doubloon and need I forget a wondrous ring of a complete run of Maudens double eagles.

The private collection would be a complete run of all commems and oh yes, those pesky 50 dollar Gold pattern pieces......

Otherwise, I am almost there.......

MadMarty

I can see working with dealers to find you coins, and buying them from the dealers if YOU like them. But to pay a dealer to BUILD you a set. Just seems to defeat the whole purpose of COLLECTING to me. Even with the modern crap I dabble in, the thrill is in the hunt!

Mercfan

The first thing that I'd do is to make a very generous offer to Oreville for every numismatic item that he owns.

Barndog

I would buy a VF 1833 LM-5/V-10 and a Good to VF 1830 LM-5/V-13 bust half dime...then work on upgrades.

JadeRareCoin

<< <i>I can see working with dealers to find you coins, and buying them from the dealers if YOU like them. But to pay a dealer to BUILD you a set. Just seems to defeat the whole purpose of COLLECTING to me. Even with the modern crap I dabble in, the thrill is in the hunt! >>



Yes! Exactly!

messydesk

The temptation would be great to do something similar to John Cleese's character in The Rat Race. Have a bunch of qualified, hungry dealers trip over each other trying to find the best stuff for you, knowing that only one would score big, and have a bunch of other people with your kind of cash place bets on them. What fun is being as rich as Croesus if you can't have a little fun and someone else's expense, I say?

flashbang

With Bill Gates money, just buy it all and be done with it. If you then wanted to pick certain pieces to keep it would be up to you, but with $40+ billion dollars would you really care?

Julian

NO

MikeKing

First thing I would do is buy Heritage auctions and fire all the axxholes I didn't like.
Then, I would contact Q. David Bowers and spend some time with him to figure the whole thing out.

BigE2

I would definetly want to be on a few major dealers rolodex. Not to buy my coins for me but so I can be called if something interesting comes thier way. I'd rather buy coins before they go to auction. If you became known to a few biggies, you should have a better chance of getting great coins rather than being known by everyone. You'd be offered all kinds of time-wasting crap if everyone knows you.
It's not so much I'd use a dealer to tell me whether a coin is good or not, but just to be able to have access to the potential inventory.

JadeRareCoin

Bill Gates is quite the philanthropist. In keeping with his generous nature, I would establish a new charitable foundation.

I would call it FCGS: Free Coin Grading Service.

If submitters fall under a pre-set income threshold, FCGS would slab that person's coins free of charge. Even the shipping would be free. It would revolutionize the coin grading industry. I would hire MadMarty as the chief grader of Cook Island Weenie Coins. His label printer would only have 2 letters and 2 numbers available; A, U, 5 and 8.

GOLDGUY

OK. I'll take the bait (although it is killing me to defend Legend)!

Let's go ahead and continue using Mr. Gates as your example. When he acquired da Vinci's Codex Leicester, do you think he did so without an expert advisor? Let's get even simpler. When he purchased that huge property on Lake Washington and built his residential compound, do you think he did so without a broker or an architect? Anyone want to bet that he, Allen and Balmer didn't incorporate Microsoft by themselves?

I'll readily concede that my experience dealing with the very rich is limited. However, I do have a couple observations I'll share. First, NO ONE spends over $100K on something unless they understand and truly believe in its value -- regardless of how rich they are. Second, the vast majority of rich people are successful because of two things: They're smart and have an expertise in a certain area. But more important, they're smart enough to ask for the assistance of an expert when they're entering an area they don't know 100%.

MadMarty

<< <i>Let's go ahead and continue using Mr. Gates as your example. >>



We are not using Bill Gates as an example, just you with his money! You know the kind of money that you could afford to light your cigars with old $1000 bills and not bat an eye! That kind of money!!

Russ

<< <i>I can see working with dealers to find you coins, and buying them from the dealers if YOU like them. But to pay a dealer to BUILD you a set. Just seems to defeat the whole purpose of COLLECTING to me. Even with the modern crap I dabble in, the thrill is in the hunt! >>



Oh, I'd still be doing plenty of hunting. In fact, a hell of a lot more hunting than I do now. But, there are a lot of coins I'd like to own about which I don't know enough to be comfortable buying on my own. I would want the assistance of a couple top drawer dealers to make sure I don't get screwed. The quickest way in the world to get bent over is to run around spending money out of ignorance.

Russ, NCNE

Coxe

No. Provided I had all the time in the world that one would expect to come with the money, I'd use my own experience and judgement in selecting and buying coins. However, I would certainly engage Legend Laura and others for their connections. Not every great coin comes to market via a major public auction. Fabulous wealth short of Bill Gates' level might also benefit from sanity checks with insiders of the top dealer calibre too. (I probably would have benefitted from such while I was accumulating rare seated minors .... they were damned to going practically nowhere and were even less of a conversation starter. Only got a handful of that material left.)

tradedollarnut

<< <i>With Bill Gates money, just buy it all and be done with it. If you then wanted to pick certain pieces to keep it would be up to you, but with $40+ billion dollars would you really care? >>



Even Bill Gates couldn't buy every coin he wanted. Not because of money but because of opportunity.

Without the right dealer, would you know where to go to get the unique 1870-S half dime? Would you know who to contact in order to attempt to buy the only 1822 $5 in private hands? How about the only 1866 no motto seated dollar available?

To build a great collection requires contacts and abilities beyond raising your paddle at auction or hitting 'Buy It Now' on ebay.

GOLDGUY

". . . the kind of money that you could afford to light your cigars with old $1000 bills and not bat an eye! That kind of money!!"

I think you missed one of my main points: Based upon my dealings with some extremely wealthy individuals, they don't light cigars with $1000 bills. That's just some vulgar Hollywood stereotype. The rich use Caran d' Ache lighters -- which they probably acquired with the help of an expert dealer.

MacCrimmon

<< <i>

<< <i>With Bill Gates money, just buy it all and be done with it. If you then wanted to pick certain pieces to keep it would be up to you, but with $40+ billion dollars would you really care? >>



Even Bill Gates couldn't buy every coin he wanted. Not because of money but because of opportunity.

Without the right dealer, would you know where to go to get the unique 1870-S half dime? Would you know who to contact in order to attempt to buy the only 1822 $5 in private hands? How about the only 1866 no motto seated dollar available?

To build a great collection requires contacts and abilities beyond raising your paddle at auction or hitting 'Buy It Now' on ebay. >>




With several billion, etc., I'd buy the SF Granite Lady, and hire a team of experts to deconstruct/search the place for "The Cornerstone" where the 1870-S denomination set of coins existed......

Even if it didn't exist anymore, I'd restore the place completely and turn it into a Mega-Numismatic museum.