While there are many success stories with collectors and collections, there are also stories of profits which involve hoarders and accumulators. One of the most famous of these is that of LaVere Redfield, a recluse who lived in Reno, Nevada, and who over a period of years stashed away over 400,000 Morgan and Peace silver dollars, paying face value or close to it for most of them. After his death his collection was sold in 1976 to the A-Mark Coin Company for $7.3 million in a transaction also involving Hugh Sconyers, a numismatic and financial genius who went on to many other accomplishments.
Kenneth E. Bressett, editor of A Guide Book of United States Coins, tells the story of a friend who became interested in coin investment and wanted to buy two 40-coin rolls of Uncirculated 1950-D nickels a few years after they came out. He paid something like $20 each for the rolls, and then tossed them into his office desk drawer. In 1964, when the market for 1950-D nickels peaked, Ken called his friend, who had forgotten about the nickels, and persuaded him to sell for $1,200 per roll!
I know of several people who hoarded scarce and rare coins, ignoring common issues, and who did well. Don Corrado Romano, who for years operated the Worthy Coin Company in Boston, squirreled away as many 1795 half dollars and Proof 1878 trade dollars as he could find, and enjoyed watching the market price rise year by year. A Florida client thought that 1877 Proof Shield nickels were undervalued and formed a small corner on the market, eventually acquiring nearly 200 pieces, which he sold at an attractive profit.
Michael Kolman, Jr., who operated the Federal Coin Exchange in Cleveland, decided that worn twenty-cent pieces of 1875 and 1876 were worth more than the market realized, and bought hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pieces, and upon their sale turned a nice profit. P.B. Trotter, Jr., a Memphis banker, hoarded hundreds of 1839-O half dollars.
At the time of their issue, Baltimore collector T. Harrison Garrett put away well over 2,000 gold dollars dated 1879, 1880, and 1881. One of our clients amassed all of the 1828 12-stars half cents he could find. Nat Schoen thought that Proof 1894 Barber dimes were undervalued and over a period of time bought nearly 100 of them, selling them later for a handsome increase. The list could be expanded considerably.
PCGS Coin Guide Table Of Contents
