 | |
| 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]
GreatCollections has graded the two highest value coins in history; the 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle valued at $19 million, [25] [26] and the "Gold Cas", the 1000 BTC Casascius Physical Bitcoin valued at $48 million. [27]
1943 steel cents are U.S. one-cent coins that were struck in steel due to wartime shortages of copper. The Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco mints each produced these 1943 Lincoln cents. The unique composition of the coin has led to various nicknames, such as wartime cent, steel war penny, zinc cent and steelie. The 1943 steel cent features the same Victor David Brenner design for the Lincoln cent which had been in use since 1909.
A nickel, sometimes mistakenly called a nickle, is a five-cent coin struck by the United States Mint. Composed of cupronickel, the piece has been issued since 1866. Its diameter is 0.835 inches (21.21 mm) and its thickness is 0.077 inches (1.95 mm).
The United States Mint is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury responsible for producing coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bullion. The U.S. Mint is one of two U.S. agencies that produce money in the case of minting coinage; the other is the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, which prints paper currency. The first United States Mint was created in Philadelphia in 1792, and soon joined by other centers, whose coins were identified by their own mint marks. There are currently four active coin-producing mints: Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco, and West Point.
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.
Coin World is an American numismatic magazine, with weekly and monthly issues. It is among the world’s most popular non-academic publications for coin collectors and is covering the entire numismatic field, including coins, paper money, medals and tokens.
The Canadian silver dollar was first issued by the Royal Canadian Mint in 1935 to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of King George V. The coin's reverse design was sculpted by Emanuel Hahn and portrays a voyageur and a person of Indigenous descent paddling a birch-bark canoe. The faint lines in the background represent the Northern Lights. The voyageur design was used on the dollar until 1986. It was then replaced with the 1987 Canadian 1-dollar coin. 1967 marked the end of the silver dollar as a business strike, or a coin issued for circulation. After 1967, the dollar coin was made of nickel, except for non-circulating commemorative issues for the collector market, which continue to contain silver.
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.
Kenneth Edward Bressett is an American numismatist. He has actively promoted the study and hobby of numismatics for over 50 years. His published works on the subject cover a wide range of topics and extend from short articles to standard reference books on such diverse areas as ancient coins, paper money, British coins and United States coins.
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.
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 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.
The 1893-S Morgan dollar is a United States dollar coin struck in 1893 at the San Francisco Mint. It is the lowest mintage business strike Morgan dollar in the series. The 1893-S is considered to be a key date in the Morgan dollar series: examples of the coin in both mint state and in circulated condition are valuable.