Famous Collections Around the World

Coin collecting isn’t just a hobby for some people. Serious coin collectors like to think of coin collecting as a profession. This is actually true especially if the collector has gathered rare coins into his collection. Coin values continue to rise the rarer they get, and these values may soar to a  =big sum of money in the future.

There are many coin collectors around the world, but there are some whose collections have become the most famous .  Among these famous coin collections is the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution.  It is located in Washington DC in the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of American History.  It is one of the largest numismatic collections in the world and considered the largest in the whole of North America. It holds 1.6 million objects, and there are about 450,000 coins, medals and decorations.  It holds coins that were known to be found 2,700 years ago. Among its rarest coins are The Brasher half doubloon, the 1849 double eagle which is the first of the $20 gold coins,  and two  1877 fifty dollar patterns.

The Eliasberg Collection is also one of the most famous collections known. It is the first complete collection of circulating United States coins, categorized by date and mint mark. His collection includes an 1804 silver dollar, an 1870-S three dollar gold coin, the unique 1873-CC no-arrows Liberty Seated dime, a 1913 Liberty Head nickel and the very rare 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle gold coin. The only coin missing from his collection was the 1849 Double Eagle, which is considered a pattern coin by numismatists because it was made before the official production of coins. This coin is found in the Smithsonian Museum.

Also among the most famous is The American Numismatic Collection.  The main exhibit is the Harry W. Bass Collection. It is a collection that started after Bass decided to aim for a complete collection of United States-issue gold coins minted from 1795 to 1933. The collection also included the only complete collection of three dollar gold pieces including the 1870-S, and a complete collection of all U.S. Gold coin types from 1834 to 1933.

One of the most famous and timeless collections that have been auctioned for the last century is the King Farouk Coin Collection. This collection is owned by King Farouk I of Egypt who has ruled from 1936 to 1952.  Farouk was known for his insatiable appetite for coins and travelers from all over the world traded rare coins with him; some even traded him precious collections during the Great Depression because of financial instability.  The collection included the only complete set of Saint Gaudens twenty dollar double eagle gold coins. Also, some of the rare coins in this collection was auctioned and made their way to other collections such as the Harry W. Bass Collection, the Norweb Collection and John J. Pittman Collection.

Coin collecting is a good form of investment, aside from the fact that it is also a fun hobby. People will continually seek the rare coins and will pay a lot to get them. Starting your own collection is fairly easy and requires good knowledge. Colonial Acres Coins is open for sharing the knowledge to their young and new collectors-- and also has the vast array of coins that will help you start your own coin collection. Who knows? Maybe someday you will be one of the famous coin collectors the world has ever known.  

Colonial Acres Coins is one of the leading numismatic firms in Canada, with more than a decade of helping coin collectors find their rare treasures.

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