We have lotteries here/ biggest prize 60M Canadian Dollars. I would be like Donna and have fun of sixbid site picking out the Aurei that I need in FDC/ could afford 600-1000. Definately go after Postumus/ Laelinus/ Tetricus I would keep 5M to secure 5-8 of those awesome AV 20 Dukaten. My fav. coin is this 20 Dukaten fom Sachsen/ Albertine Line 1610/ then this AV 20 Dukaten from Regensburg/ 20 Dukaten Basel 1741
So far as revived threads go, I don't mind this one so much. I missed it the first time around, this type of thing is fun to think about, and I enjoyed reading through all of the posts! I really enjoy building collections, but I think my approach would be different if I had unlimited funds at my disposal. When you start getting into the upper echelon of collectables, the problem is that you end up with one or two items that make the entire rest of the collection look like silly fluff. What laypeople would be interested in observing loads of $100 things when they've already seen the best of the best that is worth millions? So, if I were a billionaire, my collection would be the most valuable individual example of each type of collectable that I could get my hands on. For instance, it would go something like this: Ancient Coin: Eid Mar Aureus Modern Coin: 1794 US Silver Dollar Baseball Card: 1911 Honus Wagner Bottle of Wine: 1945 Romanee-Conti Barbie Doll, Gun, Video Game Cartridge, Book, Stamp, etc, etc, etc.
a complete set of off metal proof (set) cent through dollar, though dime would be very hard, lol then an 1804 dollar 1913 nickel and lots of gold sets
there are only 47 of them left of the original 51 made..me, i would get one of those as well, plus a vector twin turbo coupe v-8, at the time (late 80's) was the fastest production car ever made (they made 55 of em so they are considered a real production model, although some were sold as kits as well...back then ... 110,000 for the kit, or 179,000 built by factory
before i spent my billion on me self, i would set aside 100 million to house and feed homeless vets, then open a no-kill cat sheller in every state pay off my sister's mortgage open a few businesses to keep busy.. back maybe 50 or so entrepreneurs (those that have novel ideas, but no $$$) then a nice secluded compound on about 1000 acres.... then collecting, travelling all the usa to find deals on coins and other cool things....
A complete set of Oregon Trail Half Dollars in highest grades and best strikes possible for each year and mint.
I certainly appreciate the sentiment, and I've put a lot of thought and a bit of research into doing this type of thing if I had the means. The conclusion that I've landed on is that opening a bunch of no-kill shelters is not the way to alleviate the maximum amount of animal suffering in the long run. The better thing to do would be to open a bunch of clinics that humanely euthanize strays and provide spay and neutering services for free. Actually, the best thing to do would be to pass laws preventing low-class and/or irresponsible people from owning pets in the first place. But that'll never happen
If I were a billionaire, I would wait until the King of Siam Proof set came up for sale and pounce on it. The King of Siam Proof set was made for diplomatic purposes. It consists of an 1834 Proof set plus novellas of the 1804 Dollar and a remake of the 1804 gold eagle. A subsequent owner added a gold Andrew Jackson mint metal to the set to fill a blank hole. In the real world, I would like United States Assay Office $50 gold coin, or “slug,” that pleases me. Most of them are beat up and over graded. I’ve seen a couple that I could have afforded over the last decade.
Wouldn't need a billion for my coin but it isn't cheap. My home state was Tennessee and the the US mint struck a half dollar dated 1796 with 16 stars when Tennessee became the 16th state.
1922 no D strong reverse in as high an MS rating I could buy. Preferably red but at least RB. Or an 1893-s Morgan ms65 range
The thing is, even a Trillion Dollars can be easily spent on coins over 10 years. The biggest obstacle is that some coins are not for sale. A complete German States collection would cost more to complete. Over 20 percent of coinage was from mints in Germany/ Imperial/ Diocese/ City coinages. There are many coins that cost less then a thousand euros/ and are beautifull. I find nothing special about the over priced 1933 US Double Eagle/ would rather spend the 13M on a Mughal Empire 1605 AV 1000 Mohurs/ Jahangir only had two made. Each coin weighs a whopping 35 pounds. Mughals Emperors also struck massive 500/200/100 Mohurs pieces. John
If I were a billionaire I would raise my upper limit but mostly I’d collect coins pretty similar to the way I do now, just in greater quantities. I’d also expand into sculpture and paintings. With most of my coin money I would hire numismatists to complete die studies on every major coin type where this was feasible and provide them for free online and in book form at cost. I’d open an online museum for my collection. I’d also buy the rights to as many of the major numismatic references as I could and provide them for free online.
Type set of USA large size $1000 notes. But I would probably start with the first 2 posts on this thread: $20 Saint, 1909-S VDB, 1955-DD. Once I had the budget those would be straightforward and fun.