Who has the best known collection?

Is there someone who is the "King" of coin collecting? The person known to have the ultimate collection. Kind of like Bill Gates ruled the #1 wealthiest spot on Forbes for so many years. Or like Jimmie Johnson in Nascar. Roger Federer in his prime. Who is that #1 person in coin collecting now? Also, who had the greatest known collection of all time?

 

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Best, then or now, is totally subjective ground. The answer will change from person to person, and place to place. With so many eras of coinage to focus on, there are any number of kings in their respective fields of interest. If wealth and scale alone are the factors, then given the nickname 'the hobby of kings' it's probably safe to nod in the direction of the collectors and deep pockets within the House of Saud.

 

As an individual King Farouk of Egypt amassed one of the most famous coin collections in history until he was overthrown.
Smithsonian US 1.6 million pieces and Hermitage Russia 1,2 million pieces but they are not people.
I`ve got quite a few

 

Eliasberg was is the only known individual to have owned one of every US Mint coin ever minted. He died several decades ago and his heirs sold off his collection. You can find his pedigree coins around some. I own 3. When it comes to the nicest, like Krispy said, it's all subjective. Registry sets will let you know the nicest sets in a given type since it is scored by a point system. The Newman collection that has been selling off has generated some ultra nice and high grade coins.

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We are all Kings: The National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution is one of the best if not the best collections.

http://americanhistory.si.edu/numismatics/

TC

 

Virgil Brand, a quirky American industrialist, had a phenomenal collection assembled in the two decades before World War I.

Q. David Bowers wrote a terrific, well-illustrated book about Brand and his collection; I'll put a copy up for sale today.

 

For my interests the eliasberg collection is the king it will never again be equaled many of the other early great collections too Farouk brand ehr green Garrett etc I'd say today living the Eric p Newman collection is right up there he's sold a lot but I understand there's a lot more and what he sold was great!!

 

So far, from what I have seen.....Hugh Stiel !!

 

Are there any books on some of these other major collectors? I would be interested in reading more about the Newman and Eliasberg collections.

Probably the best thing would be auction catalogs from their sales, but this occurred all before my collecting got to the level it has today

 

Now if people would just start donating coins to me.

 

The Smithsonian is very strong in US coins that were delivered directly to them from the Mint, but weak in almost all other aspects. For world and particularly ancient coins, the ANS is the place to be. http://numismatics.org/search/

 

Don`t you guys forget that it was due to the generosity of a fellow Englishman, that you have the Smithsonian Museum.
What a nice gift.

James Smithson & the Founding of the Smithsonian
The Smithsonian Institution was established with funds from James Smithson (1765-1829), a British scientist who left his estate to the United States to found “at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge.”
Smithson, the illegitimate child of a wealthy Englishman, had traveled much during his life, but had never once set foot on American soil. Why, then, would he decide to give the entirety of his sizable estate—which totaled half a million dollars, or 1/66 of the United States’ entire federal budget at the time—to a country that was foreign to him?
Some speculate it was because he was denied his father’s legacy. Others argue that he was inspired by the United States’ experiment with democracy. Some attribute his philanthropy to ideals inspired by such organizations as the Royal Institution, which was dedicated to using scientific knowledge to improve human conditions. Smithson never wrote about or discussed his bequest with friends or colleagues, so we are left to speculate on the ideals and motivations of a gift that has had such significant impact on the arts, humanities, and sciences in the United States

 

Is Jerry Buss (I think that is correct) still alive? If I recall correctly, he owned a basketball team at one time and was a big time collector

 

Two other collections not mentioned would be the Garrett and the Pitman collections (Bowers did a book on the Garrett collection as well.). then there would be the Julius Guttag collection of Latin America, and the Grand Duke Michailovich collection of Russian coins, the Bass collection of US Gold coins that was complete or nearly so for all known die varieties of US gold,. In museum collections the Smithsonian and the Hermitage collections have been mentioned but there are also the British Royal Museum Collection, and the INS collection.

 

He passed away in February of last year (2013). He owned the Los Angeles Lakers. I did not know he was a coin collector, but I'm sure many of these ultra wealthy people are somehow invested in coins. It would be cool if he was passionate about it though.

 

After I posted, I wondered how the heck that name [Jerry Buss] came to me, so I googled it.

Here's a link to a coinworld article about him. He apparently owned some of the rarest coins available.

http://www.coinworld.com/articles/coins-just-one-of-many-interests-for-buss

 

I realize that, what I was saying was that I missed my opportunity to get the publications when they were free or cheap and being passed out by the auction houses.

I've never checked on prices but I assume you would be paying a premium for the older well known collection catalogs.

 

I always personally considered the Huntington Collection the finest collection of coins ever assembled. I don't believe he had any US coins to speak of, though he was American, but as far as extraordinary world coinage with many unique pieces, I can't think of a more comprehensive collection at any other time in history. Sadly, most of it has been sold off, if not outright looted by the organizations that were left to safeguard it.