 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2010 in Irvine, California, U.S. |
| Founder |
|
| Headquarters | 17891 Cartwright Road, Irvine, California, U.S. |
| Products | Certified coins and paper money |
| Services | Auctioneer |
| Website | greatcollections |
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. [1]
The auction house was co-founded Ian Russell, who serves as its president, and Raeleen Endo. They developed the company's website and operational infrastructure over a period of six months. [2] [3] Prior to founding the company, Russell had been president of Teletrade, Inc. [4] and chief operating officer of Bowers and Merena Auctions; two of the largest coin auction houses in North America. Endo had previously worked at Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS), and Collectors Universe. [5]
The GreatCollections.com website launched in late 2010, facilitating the sale and purchase of coins and paper money in online auctions. [6] It has since become well known for auctioning rare examples of American currency, [7] [8] such as the Cigarra Collection, [9] and a collection of Indian Head nickels that sold for over $500,000. [10]
GreatCollections auctioned a group of U.S. coins called the Turino Collection in March 2012. The collection included a 1907 Saint-Gaudens Gold Double Eagle that sold for $110,000, and a 1915-S Panama-Pacific Exposition $50 piece that sold for $79,750. [11]
In July 2012, the company sold the only confirmed example of a Sacagawea dollar with edge lettering. [12] In 2014, the company began selling "Capuano Everyman" sets of Morgan Dollars. [13]
In 2015, talk show host Larry King interviewed Ian Russell about GreatCollections and coin collecting. [14] GreatCollections expanded into a larger facility in Irvine, nearer to PCGS headquarters, in August 2015. [15]
In November 2021, GreatCollections acquired the finest graded 1913 Liberty Head Nickel. [16] The nickel is one of the most well known rarities in American numismatics, with only five examples known. The example acquired by the company was previously a centerpiece of the Eliasberg Collection. It last traded at auction for $4.56 million in 2018. [17]
In January 2022, GreatCollections acquired the first U.S. Silver Dollar for $12 Million. [18] [19] The company became the official auctioneer of the American Numismatic Association in March 2022. [20] Later that year, the auction house loaned four coins to the Central States Numismatic Society for a special exhibition in Schaumburg, Illinois. [21] In August, GreatCollections auctioned ten 100-year-old pennies for $1.1 million. The pennies were specially struck proof coins made for collectors by the United States' Philadelphia Mint, in the early years of the Lincoln cents. [22] [23]
GreatCollections relocated within Irvine once more in August 2023, now in a dedicated building eight times the size of its previous location. [24]
In October 2024, GreatCollections auctioned an extremely rare 1975 No "S" Dime for just over $500,000. [25] [26] . The coin was struck by the U.S. Mint in San Francisco, and is one of just two known proof coins to exist without its distinctive "S" mint mark.
GreatCollections has graded the two highest value coins in history; the 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle valued at $19 million, [27] [28] and the "Gold Cas", the 1000 BTC Casascius Physical Bitcoin valued at $48 million. [29]
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. Because 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.
The Canadian fifty-cent coin is a Canadian coin worth 50 cents. The coin's reverse depicts the coat of arms of Canada. At the opening ceremonies for the Ottawa branch of the Royal Mint, held on January 2, 1908, Governor General Earl Grey struck the Dominion of Canada's first domestically produced coin. It was a silver fifty-cent coin bearing the effigy of King Edward VII.
The Kennedy half dollar, first minted in 1964, is a fifty-cent coin issued by the United States Mint. Intended as a memorial to the assassinated 35th president of the United States John F. Kennedy, it was authorized by Congress just over a month after his death. Use of existing works by Mint sculptors Gilroy Roberts and Frank Gasparro allowed dies to be prepared quickly, and striking of the new coins began in January 1964.
The West Point Mint is a U.S. Mint production and depository facility erected in 1937 near the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, United States. As of 2019 the mint holds 22% of the United States' gold reserves, or approximately 54,000,000 troy ounces (1,700,000 kg). The mint at West Point is second only to the gold reserves held in secure storage at Fort Knox. Originally, the West Point Mint was called the West Point Bullion Depository. At one point it had the highest concentration of silver of any U.S. mint facility, and for 12 years produced circulating Lincoln cents. It has since minted mostly commemorative coins and stored gold.
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 Barber coinage consists of a dime, quarter, and half dollar designed by United States Bureau of the Mint Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber. They were minted between 1892 and 1916, though no half dollars were struck in the final year of the series.
The 1792 half disme is an American silver coin with a face value of five cents which was minted in 1792. Although it is subject to debate as to whether this was intended to be circulating coinage or instead an experimental issue, President George Washington referred to it as "a small beginning" and many of the coins eventually were released into circulation. It is widely considered the first United States coinage struck under authority of the Coinage Act of 1792.
Quentin David Bowers is an American numismatist, author, and columnist. Beginning in 1952, Bowers’s contributions to numismatics have continued uninterrupted and unabated to the present day. He has been involved in the selling of rare coins since 1953 when he was a teenager.
Louis Edward Eliasberg Sr. was an American financier and numismatist. A native of Selma, Alabama, he is best known in the numismatic community for putting together the only complete collection of United States coins ever assembled, consisting of regular issue coins of every date, metal, denomination, and mint mark known to collectors at the time, with attention to coins in the best possible condition. He began the collection during the 1920s and finished the set by purchasing the last gold coin he needed in 1949 and the last silver coin he needed in 1950.
Walter J. Husak was an American businessman who was the owner of the HK Aerospace manufacturing company in Burbank, California. Aside from ventures in the aerospace industry, Husak was also an avid collector of rare coins. On February 15, 2008, Heritage Auctions sold his collection of 301 rare cents in Long Beach, California. Two of the cents went for $632,500 a piece. The entire collection sold for approximately $10.7 million.
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.
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.
Michael "Miles" Standish was an American businessman, author, rare coin expert, sports memorabilia expert and philanthropist. He was a co-founder of Collectors Universe and served as vice president of the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC).
The Apollo 11 50th Anniversary commemorative coins were issued by the United States Mint in 2019 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first crewed landing on the Moon by Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Consisting of a gold half eagle, two different sizes of silver dollars, and a copper-nickel clad half dollar, each of the four was issued in proof condition, with all but the larger silver dollar also issued in uncirculated. The gold coins were struck at the West Point Mint, the silver at the Philadelphia Mint and the base metal half dollars at the mints in Denver and San Francisco.
The United States Mint Proof Set, commonly known as the Proof Set in the United States, is a set of proof coins sold by the United States Mint. The proof set is popular with coin collectors as it is an affordable way to collect examples of United States coinage in proof condition.
Benjamin Maximillian Mehl, usually known as B. Max Mehl, was an American dealer in coins, selling them for over half a century. The most prominent dealer in the United States, through much of the first half of the 20th century, he is credited with helping to expand the appeal of coin collecting from a hobby for the wealthy to one enjoyed by many.
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