Viewed one of the great collections today!

jpkinla · December 28, 2010 1:24PM

Had lunch with my friend Dr. Steven Duckor and had the rare opportunity of seeing his $20 Saint Gauden set. Some truly amazing coins (including a few previously in my collection which I sold in 2007). My favorites had to be the Goddard 1921 in MS66....absolutely stunning! I also loved the 1924-s and 1926-d which both were acquired in the Morse sale in November 2005 (Steve sat directly behind me at the auction). Each coin had exceptional color and looked like they all matched. I had a bit of nostalgia seeing some of my old pieces including the only 1920 Saint in MS65 (pop 1 the Eliasberg coin). I remember buying that at the Morse sale and always felt it should be in the Duckor collection.

Some of the coins have been off the market for 25-30 years and it was truly an honor to view the set and have lunch with such a nice guy....

Happy New Year to all my forum friends!!!!!

ChrisRx · December 28, 2010 1:30PM

Steven Duckor... Didn't he and Saintguru use to go out?

eaglesea · December 28, 2010 9:29PM

Wow! That is cool.

Does he collect Proof Saints and Indian Eagles as well?

Eaglesea

ricko · December 28, 2010 11:37PM

That sounds like a great experience.... I really enjoy viewing gold coins, and your description makes it seem a truly notable collection. Cheers, RickO

BloodMan · December 29, 2010 12:58AM

What an amazing group of Saints!

DrPete · December 29, 2010 2:06AM

I had the great opportunity once to view Steve's coins at his SDB when he still had his Barber Half set. It was about 8-9 years ago as I recall. The primary focus was for Dale Friend and I to be able to see his Barbers. Those were really excellent coins throughout. Then he pulled out some more blue boxes and we were treated to his $20 St. Gaudens set, and his $10 Indian set. What a great bunch of coins. His great collections have become nearly legendary, and hats off to him and his mentor, David Akers. Steve is a connosieur and a gentleman.

Almost all truly great sets have an exceptional and experienced dealer that has helped along the way.

eggbone · December 29, 2010 3:04AM

Thanks for the report.
Rarities like this set are a pleasure to view.

mrearlygold · December 29, 2010 3:21AM

Happy New Year

johnny9434 · December 29, 2010 4:06AM

a sight for sore eyes im sure. happy new year all and all the best

TwoSides2aCoin · December 29, 2010 5:10AM

Great blessings have been bestowed upon us all. It's nice when others recognize them for what they are. They're in the friendships made along the path of life as much as the objects that captivate our attention.

saintguru · December 29, 2010 11:16AM

I've seen this set twice. It is one of the most remarkable sets of ANY type I have ever seen and I've seen some of the best!

Every coin has some special nuance, toning, quality, lustre that makes it extremely special. Not a single one is "typical". Steve Duckor is unquestionably one of the handful of "greatest collectors" of our time...not for the scale of his collections, but for the amazing quality and excellence.

speety · December 29, 2010 11:21AM

Duckor is definately one of the great collectors of our time! Happy New Year to you as well!

Lakesammman · December 29, 2010 12:22PM

Sounds like a great time.

dpoole · December 29, 2010 12:30PM

I had the privilege of seeing Saintguru's set at one time. It's hard to imagine anything surpassing that. And what a thrill.

Elcontador · December 29, 2010 12:54PM

I don't know anything about his Saints. However, his Registry Set of Barber Halves was truly amazing, and will never be duplicated.

MacCrimmon · December 29, 2010 1:10PM

<< I've seen this set twice. It is one of the most remarkable sets of ANY type I have ever seen and I've seen some of the best!

Every coin has some special nuance, toning, quality, lustre that makes it extremely special. Not a single one is "typical". Steve Duckor is unquestionably one of the handful of "greatest collectors" of our time...not for the scale of his collections, but for the amazing quality and excellence. >>

So you're saying the good doctor's entire Saint set is SYRUP!!!!!

Indeed, I'd love to see a set such as Duckor's sometime; it's a marvel to see coins which are as nearly as virgin as they came from the dies . . . . I've always referred to them as Glove Strikes™ - like they were caught with a chamois glove as soon as they were ejected.

eaglesea · December 29, 2010 1:31PM

Just checked the PCGS Set Registry. It appears Dr Duckor is collecting Gold Dollars aswell.

Cratylus · December 30, 2010 3:31AM

<< Steve Duckor is unquestionably one of the handful of "greatest collectors" of our time...not for the scale of his collections, but for the amazing quality and excellence. >>

I've heard numerous people rave about what a gentleman Dr. Duckor is, but unfortunately I have not had the pleasure of meeting him. And that being the case, I don't want this to be construed as disparaging to him because that is not my intention. I also don't want to take anything away from what I am sure is a truly amazing set to behold. However, I may be one of the few collectors who isn't wowwed by the means a collector has at his disposal. I've also never fully understood why only ultra-wealthy collectors have been dubbed the "greatest" collectors of our time (or any time for that matter). From my perspective, I'll take the accomplishments of people with limited means any day of the week. Some of the sets of Tyler Child, Mike Hayes, Craig Petersen, and Scott Mikkelson are a LOT more impressive to me than something that is, for the most part, merely a function of exhorbitant amounts of working capital.

Again, no disrespect meant to Dr. Duckor. People collect what they can afford.

lcoopie · December 30, 2010 3:47AM

perhaps Sainty can invite him over here?

saintguru · December 30, 2010 5:45AM

Cratylus...You have the wrong guy if you think this set was built by a rich man. Steve started this colllection in 1978, just out of Med school, making very little money. He spent just about everything he made on series' ($5, $10, $20 gold) that was in envelopes and not in much demand. He met David Akers in 1980 and began using him as his lifetime mentor starting with the Eliasberg sale where he bought four coins with everything he had. They sat at the coffeshop in the hotel where the sale was that morning and went through the catalogue...humble origins for sure. Like many of us, he bought on credit when he had to, with payment schedules (that he COULD meet.). He bought coins from every major collection that followed, one at a time, often beyond his current means. HE COLLECTED! He paid 8K for coins that now are worth $200K and more....that's a great collector. He spent his entire savings on the $10 1920-S MS68, he paid $80K in 1978! That took balls. That coin sold about 3 years ago for $1.8 million! He loved the coinwhen he bought it, but I assure you he was apprehensive in his own way, but he believed he was onto something big. It was huge. It's a smart man's game.

Every coin in his set is SYRUP. Steve mentored me in my early days, telling me to pitch my MS63/64's and buy only gems. He said I'd be better off with 12 great coins than 40 OK coins. I did it my way, keeping many as dates but began to only buy gem, key coins after that, eventually selling the lower grades to buy great coins. He was 40% of my success.

I was still 60%....that's why you'll see Brahin coins in HIS set!

Steve reads these threads every day. He choses not to post but I've have expressed his input from time to time, to the benefit of the board. He has NO idea I'm posting this, but I felt it necessary to let you know what kind of collector he is and was. Yes, now he has money and he's used that to put the regal finishing touches on his set. But he scratched and clawed for every coin in his journey. He sold to buy and had the acumen to do it as well as anyone. He sold his 1927-D at a time whan a very special collection of coins was coming to sale and bought well over 20 coins of a very, very special nature...and parlayed the original investment again to his favor.

We could all learn from his style. It's the purest form of modern collecting started in the old fashioned style. I hold his collecting talent as nothing less than brilliant, from one of the most humble men I've met.

jhdfla · December 30, 2010 9:24AM

<< Cratylus...You have the wrong guy if you think this set was built by a rich man. Steve started this colllection in 1978, just out of Med school, making very little money. He spent just about everything he made on series' ($5, $10, $20 gold) that was in envelopes and not in much demand. He met David Akers in 1980 and began using him as his lifetime mentor starting with the Eliasberg sale where he bought four coins with everything he had. They sat at the coffeshop in the hotel where the sale was that morning and went through the catalogue...humble origins for sure. Like many of us, he bought on credit when he had to, with payment schedules (that he COULD meet.). He bought coins from every major collection that followed, one at a time, often beyond his current means. HE COLLECTED! He paid 8K for coins that now are worth $200K and more....that's a great collector. He spent his entire savings on the $10 1920-S MS68, he paid $80K in 1978! That took balls. That coin sold about 3 years ago for $1.8 million! He loved the coinwhen he bought it, but I assure you he was apprehensive in his own way, but he believed he was onto something big. It was huge. It's a smart man's game.

Every coin in his set is SYRUP. Steve mentored me in my early days, telling me to pitch my MS63/64's and buy only gems. He said I'd be better off with 12 great coins than 40 OK coins. I did it my way, keeping many as dates but began to only buy gem, key coins after that, eventually selling the lower grades to buy great coins. He was 40% of my success.

I was still 60%....that's why you'll see Brahin coins in HIS set!

Steve reads these threads every day. He choses not to post but I've have expressed his input from time to time, to the benefit of the board. He has NO idea I'm posting this, but I felt it necessary to let you know what kind of collector he is and was. Yes, now he has money and he's used that to put the regal finishing touches on his set. But he scratched and clawed for every coin in his journey. He sold to buy and had the acumen to do it as well as anyone. He sold his 1927-D at a time whan a very special collection of coins was coming to sale and bought well over 20 coins of a very, very special nature...and parlayed the original investment again to his favor.

We could all learn from his style. It's the purest form of modern collecting started in the old fashioned style. I hold his collecting talent as nothing less than brilliant, from one of the most humble men I've met.

>>

I love stories like this about someone so passionate about collecting. It's really hard, regardless of your means, to hold out for an exceptional coin while building a set, there's always the temptation to settle for a coin that's not quite all there.

jpkinla · January 2, 2011 11:19PM

Eaglesea,

I did not see any proofs. The current set contains business strikes without proofs. Some very cool coins!

jpkinla · January 2, 2011 11:29PM

I also followed his advice and chucked my holding of 63/64's in pursuit of great coins. Saintguru and I butted heads chasing non-gem coins at one time. I believe we both learned that quality is the name of the game and yet we are custodians of these coins for only a period of time as we can't take them with us (although I am certain some of us would like to do so). I had a lot of Syrup at one time and passed some on to Saintguru and even Dr. Duckor. It's a pleasure to know that several coins were in my set and now have home in the Duckor set!

Right now I am staying off of all sweets (Syrup). But someday I may get that sweet tooth active again!

Happy New Year to all!

saintguru · January 3, 2011 12:51AM

Ahemmm!

You followed MY urging. Think. You didn't know Steve yet.

jpkinla · January 3, 2011 11:34AM

Yes, you are probably right on that.......You definitely went that route first!

saintguru · January 3, 2011 11:27PM

jhdfla · January 3, 2011 11:35PM

Viewed the Jim O'Neal five's yesterday. Talk about a great set! Coin after coin of just outstanding quality, and then there's the '09-O

Edited to add, not trying to hijack a thread... just wanted to mention another great set.

saintguru · January 18, 2011 3:55AM

It is a great set, but it's a mere shadow of the Duckor Saints.

It's like seeing a collection of Dodge Chragers vs. a collection of Dusenburgs.

DaveE · January 18, 2011 4:59AM

Isn't there an "old time" Saint collection in NE that is by far the finest? Some one told me that stuff was mostly raw (except for the 27D in MS67). I would assume those coins weren't all upgraded a few times like most other Saints. I hope they were not messed with either.

Heck ya, thats who you make an $8,000.00 coin into $200,000.00-you get it upgraded-twice!

I'm sure this is a nice Saint set, but they all CAC?

eaglesea · January 18, 2011 1:06PM

<< Viewed the Jim O'Neal five's yesterday. Talk about a great set! Coin after coin of just outstanding quality, and then there's the '09-O

Edited to add, not trying to hijack a thread... just wanted to mention another great set. >>

Yes..wow.. that 1909-O went for 600k+! Do you think it went "cheaper" than expected? Perhaps the lack of a CAC sticker was an issue?

saintguru · January 20, 2011 3:16AM

<< Isn't there an "old time" Saint collection in NE that is by far the finest? Some one told me that stuff was mostly raw (except for the 27D in MS67). I would assume those coins weren't all upgraded a few times like most other Saints. I hope they were not messed with either.

Heck ya, thats who you make an $8,000.00 coin into $200,000.00-you get it upgraded-twice!

I'm sure this is a nice Saint set, but they all CAC? >>

Yes there is. Many of the coins are not graded, some are. No doubt it's the single best set. He also has the Judd 1776 pattern as well as a "few" original UHR's! I actually owned a few of his coins when he upgraded them. They were spectacular.

Viewed one of the great collections today!

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