Type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Precious metals |
Founded | 1975 |
Founders | James "Jim" U. Blanchard III |
Headquarters | New Orleans, Louisiana, |
Key people | Donald W. Doyle, Jr., Chairman, David Beahm, President & CEO |
Products | Gold coins and bars Silver coins and bars |
Website | www |
Blanchard and Company, Inc. is an investment firm specializing in rare coins and precious metals, including gold bars, silver coins and bars, platinum, and palladium. [1]
Blanchard was founded in 1975 by James "Jim" U. Blanchard III, one year after President Gerald Ford legalized ownership of gold by private citizens. Americans had not been able to privately own gold since 1933, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6102.
President Ford, who did not realize private ownership of gold was a felony, was motivated to legalize gold after seeing a television commercial of Blanchard in his wheelchair, holding a bar of gold and asking, “Why can I not own this?”. [2] Blanchard had also hired an airplane to fly over President Nixon's second inauguration with a banner reading “Legalize Gold.” [3]
After legalization, Jim Blanchard was a prominent figure in America's gold industry, [4] [5] founding an influential [6] newsletter called Gold News, publishing a memoir called Confessions of a Gold Bug, and founding one of the investment industry's longest-running conferences, [7] which has included speakers such as Margaret Thatcher, Milton Friedman, F.A. Hayek, Ayn Rand, and Ed Crane. [8] Blanchard also served on the Cato Institute’s Board of Directors. [8]
In 1987, Allegiance Capital Partners and GE Capital Corp. purchased Blanchard and Company, Inc. [9] At the time, Blanchard and Company, Inc.’s annual sales totaled $115 million. [9] Donald W. Doyle, Jr. purchased Blanchard and Company, Inc. on October 5, 1991.
In 1999, Blanchard partnered with John Albanese, founder of Certified Acceptance Corporation and the Numismatic Consumer Alliance, Inc., which exposes fraud and aids victims of numismatic fraud. [10] Albanese selects Blanchard and Company, Inc.’s inventory.
The 1933 double eagle is a United States 20-dollar gold coin. Although 445,500 specimens of this Saint-Gaudens double eagle were minted in 1933 in the midst of the Great Depression, none were ever officially circulated, and all but two were ordered to be melted down. However, 20 more are known to have been rescued from melting by being stolen and found their way into the hands of collectors before later being recovered. Nine of the recovered coins were destroyed, making this one of the world's rarest coins, with only 13 known specimens remaining—only one of which is privately owned, which is known as the Weitzman Specimen. Due to the fact that the coin was never released to the public, it is illegal to privately own any of the 1933 double eagles, with the exception of the Weitzman Specimen. The United States Secret Service is said to investigate reports of the existence of other specimens that come to light.
A double eagle is a gold coin of the United States with a denomination of $20. The coins are 34 mm × 2 mm and are made from a 90% gold and 10% copper alloy and have a total weight of 1.0750 troy ounces.
The Saint-Gaudens double eagle is a twenty-dollar gold coin, or double eagle, produced by the United States Mint from 1907 to 1933. The coin is named after its designer, the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, who designed the obverse and reverse. It is considered by many to be the most beautiful of U.S. coins.
The 1913 Liberty Head nickel is an American five-cent piece which was produced in extremely limited quantities unauthorized by the United States Mint, making it one of the best-known and most coveted rarities in American numismatics. In 1972, one specimen of the five cent coin became the first coin to sell for over US$100,000; in 1996, another specimen became the first to sell for over US$1 million. A specimen was sold for US$3 million in a 2004 private sale, then resold for US$3.7 million at a public auction in 2010.
The Brasher Doubloon is a rare American doubloon of eight escudos worth sixteen dollars, privately minted in and after 1787.
Heritage Auctions is an American multi-national auction house based in Dallas, Texas. Founded in 1976, Heritage is an auctioneer of numismatic collections, comics, fine art, books, luxury accessories, real estate, and memorabilia from film, music, history, and sports.
Certified Acceptance Corporation (CAC) is a Far Hills, New Jersey third-party coin certification company started in 2007 by coin dealer John Albanese. The firm evaluates certain numismatically valuable U.S. coins already certified by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) or Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS).
Goldline, LLC was a retail seller of gold and silver coins, and other precious metals for investors and collectors. Goldline traced its formation to a Deak & Co. subsidiary created in 1960, a firm that in the late 1970s was the largest storefront gold retailer and later went into bankruptcy in the 1980s. The company was later bought and sold several times in the ensuing years. The company sold its assets to A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. in August 2017.
The Lincoln cent is a one-cent coin that has been struck by the United States Mint since 1909. The obverse or heads side was designed by Victor David Brenner, as was the original reverse, depicting two stalks of wheat. The coin has seen several reverse, or tails, designs and now bears one by Lyndall Bass depicting a Union shield. All coins struck by the United States government with a value of 1⁄100 of a dollar are called cents because the United States has always minted coins using decimals. The penny nickname is a carryover from the coins struck in England, which went to decimals for coins in 1971.
Rare Coin Wholesalers is a rare-coin company that specializes in United States rare coins. Located in Irvine, California, Rare Coin Wholesalers buys, sells, appraises and trades rare coins and precious metals. Originally established as a S.L. Contursi company in 1990, the owners have bought and sold over two billion dollars' worth of rare coins.
The National Numismatic Collection is the national coin cabinet of the United States. The collection is part of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.
The Indian Head eagle is a $10 gold piece or eagle that was struck by the United States Mint continuously from 1907 until 1916, and then irregularly until 1933. The obverse and reverse were designed by sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, originally commissioned for use on other denominations. He was suffering from cancer and did not survive to see the coins released.
Paul Bryan Hollis is a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for the revised 104th District in St. Tammany Parish in southeastern Louisiana.
Steven L. Contursi is an American businessman and numismatist. He is the founder and president of Rare Coin Wholesalers. In the past 38 years, Steve Contursi has bought and sold over $1 billion worth of rare United States coins.
The Liberty Head double eagle or Coronet double eagle is an American twenty-dollar gold piece struck as a pattern coin in 1849, and for commerce from 1850 to 1907. It was designed by Mint of the United States Chief Engraver James B. Longacre.
James U. Blanchard III was a prominent American dealer in rare coins and precious metals, active in the movement to legalize private gold holdings in the United States. He was the founder of Blanchard and Company, a precious metals investment firm.
Steven C. Markoff is an American entrepreneur, film producer, author, and educator. He is the founder of the A-Mark Financial Corporation, a financial services firm based in Santa Monica, California that originally traded in rare coins and precious metals. He later created a series of websites with the goal of providing nonpartisan information about a wide range of social and political topics. In the mid-2000s, Markoff served as an executive producer on several films including Alpha Dog, Next Day Air and Stander. In 2020, he published the non-fiction book, The Case Against George W. Bush, through Rare Bird Books.
Scott A. Travers is an American numismatist and author. Travers is considered to be a prominent consumer advocate for coin collectors, informing the public about common and potential scams.
GreatCollections is an American numismatic online auction house founded in 2010, and based in Irvine, California. The company is an auctioneer of certified rare coins and paper money.
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