The first coin collector is said to have been Augustus. During the Renaissance, it became a fad among some members of the privileged classes, especially kings and queens.[1]
A coin collector is different from a numismatist, which is someone who studies coins. Many collectors are also numismatists, but some are not. Likewise, not all numismatists collect coins themselves.
Collector | Born | Died | Notes | Reference | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
data-sort-value="63" | 63 BC | data-sort-value="14" | 14 AD | According to Suetonius, he gave "coins of every device, including old pieces of the kings and foreign money" as Saturnalia gifts. | [2] | |
data-sort-value="980" | 1056 | Owned a large collection of ancient coins and medals which she kept in custom-made bronze cabinets and happily accepted new additions as presents. | ||||
1230 | 1303 | [3] | ||||
data-sort-value="1270" | 1337 | [4] | ||||
1304 | 1374 | [5] | ||||
1325 | 1393 | Collected Roman imperial coins | ||||
1340 | 1416 | Commissioned copies of the medals in his collection | [6] [7] | |||
1396 | 1458 | Had a collection of ancient coins which had been discovered in Italy; carried them with him in an ivory cabinet | [8] | |||
1407 | 1450 | Collected Greek and Roman coins | [9] | |||
1417 | 1471 | Collected ancient coins, and had about a hundred gold and a thousand silver coins; "was able at a glance to tell where an ancient coin came from" | [10] [11] | |||
1428 | 1498 | |||||
1443 | 1490 | |||||
1449 | 1492 | Purchased coins that had been in Pope Paul II's collection | ||||
1459 | 1519 | [12] | ||||
1467 | 1540 | [13] | ||||
1474 | 1559 | [14] | ||||
1503 | 1564 | Collected Roman coins | [15] | |||
1505 | 1571 | [16] | ||||
1512 | 1548 | |||||
1519 | 1589 | [17] | ||||
1520 | 1589 | [18] | ||||
1528 | 1579 | [19] | ||||
1529 | 1595 | |||||
1549 | 1608 | |||||
1560 | 1634 | Collected Roman coins | [20] | |||
1571 | 1631 | [21] | ||||
1594 | 1612 | Purchased Abraham Gorlaeus' collection | ||||
1601 | 1675 | [22] | ||||
1602 | 1652 | [23] | ||||
1626 | 1689 | Had a collection of more than 15,000 coins; marked her coins with a monogram stamp | [24] | |||
1638 | 1715 | Said to have instructed his ambassadors to look out for ancient coins. | ||||
1645 | 1721 | [25] | ||||
1646 | 1691 | His diaries reveal that he "enjoyed making an inventory of his coins and arranging them in order" | ||||
1646 | 1715 | Purchased ancient coins on his visits to the Middle East | [26] | |||
1653 | 1716 | |||||
1656 | 1733 | Collection auctioned in 1848 with 1500 lots | [27] | |||
1660 | 1753 | |||||
1672 | 1744 | |||||
1653 | 1754 | Collection auctioned in 1755 | [28] | |||
1676 | 1732 | |||||
1683 | 1760 | Purchased Andrew Gifford's collection | [29] | |||
1687 | 1765 | |||||
1689 | 1741 | Collected Greek, Roman and English coins; collection auctioned in 1742 | [30] | |||
1689 | 1759 | |||||
1690 | 1754 | Collection auctioned in 1756 | [31] | |||
1697 | 1771 | [32] | ||||
1698 | 1775 | Collected British, Roman, and English coins | ||||
1700 | 1784 | |||||
1702 | 1778 | [33] | ||||
1707 | 1772 | Collected English coins | ||||
1708 | 1765 | His collecting emphasized modern coins | ||||
1708 | 1790 | [34] | ||||
1713 | 1785 | Collection auctioned in 1785 | [35] | |||
1715 | 1800 | Collected Greek and Roman coins | ||||
1718 | 1778 | [36] | ||||
1718 | 1783 | |||||
1730 | 1782 | Collected Roman imperial coins | [37] | |||
1734 | 1815 | Wrote Introductio in rem numariam muhammedanorum in 1794, the first scholarly manual of Islamic numismatics | [38] | |||
1737 | 1784 | Collection auctioned in 1785, making it the earliest known coin auction sale in the United States | [39] | |||
1738 | 1789 | [40] | ||||
1738 | 1820 | |||||
1739 | 1784 | Collection of more than 6000 coins | [41] | |||
1743 | 1826 | Acquired contemporary European issues through his travels abroad | [42] | |||
1744 | 1818 | [43] [44] | ||||
1750 | 1802 | [45] | ||||
1756 | 1834 | |||||
1767 | 1848 | Collection auctioned by the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1971 | [46] | |||
1768 | 1840 | Collected English and German coins | [47] | |||
1776 | 1839 | Wrote Illustrations of the Anglo-French Coinage in 1830 | [48] [49] | |||
1777 | 1860 | |||||
1780 | 1847 | |||||
1785 | 1850 | [50] | ||||
1786 | 1848 | [51] | ||||
1788 | 1874 | [52] | ||||
1793 | 1835 | Collection is in the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden | [53] | |||
1793 | 1880 | [54] | ||||
1795 | 1865 | |||||
1797 | 1875 | [55] | ||||
1801 | 1888 | Collection is in the Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft | ||||
1802 | 1867 | Director of the coin cabinet of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden | ||||
1807 | 1880 | Collected Jewish coins obtained during his travels in Palestine; wrote Recherches sur la numismatique judaïque (1854), illustrated with coins from his collection | [56] | |||
1813 | 1866 | Collection purchased by the University of Tübingen | [57] | |||
1821 | 1884 | |||||
1823 | 1918 | Collected Greek coins | [58] | |||
1827 | 1892 | Collected Russian coins | [59] | |||
1829 | 1891 | Bequeathed his collection to the city of Omaha, where it resides in the Durham Museum | [60] | |||
1829 | 1896 | Bequeathed his collection to the Teylers Museum | [61] | |||
1830 | 1911 | [62] | ||||
1837 | 1898 | |||||
1838 | 1895 | Reportedly had one of the finest private collections of coins and medals in North America, worth an estimated $30000 at his death | [63] | |||
1844 | 1900 | Collection included more than 27,000 pieces | [64] | |||
1844 | 1921 | Collection auctioned in 1928 | [65] | |||
1844 | 1929 | Collected Crusader coins | [66] | |||
1845 | 1924 | Collection auctioned in 2006 for $3.9 million | [67] | |||
1845 | 1926 | The "Dean" of Canadian numismatics and VP of American Numismatic Association. Collection acquired by Chateau de Ramezay in Montreal and later most of it by Bank of Canada Museum | [68] | |||
1846 | 1918 | Collection auctioned in 1921 | [69] | |||
1849 | 1936 | Formed several outstanding collections of Canadian coins, tokens, medals, books and historical documents prior to 1900 | [70] | |||
1850 | 1917 | Collection auctioned in 1891 with 1539 lots | [71] | |||
1852 | 1908 | |||||
1852 | 1923 | Most valuable collection of world coins and medals insured for $72,550,000 | [72] | |||
1855 | 1908 | |||||
1858 | 1916 | Collection auctioned in 1913 | [73] | |||
1858 | 1949 | [74] | ||||
1860 | 1942 | Inherited and expanded his father's coin collection; wrote the two-volume Dubrovačka numizmatika | [75] | |||
1861 | 1950 | Collection of Greek coins purchased by the Rhode Island School of Design Museum in 1940 | [76] | |||
1863 | 1919 | |||||
1863 | 1931 | Collection auctioned in 1931 | [77] | |||
1863 | 1962 | [78] | ||||
1867 | 1940 | Majority of his collection stolen in 1919 | [79] | |||
1868 | 1934 | Collected pattern coins | [80] [81] | |||
1868 | 1936 | Owned a Brasher Doubloon; at the time of his death, his collection was worth an estimated $5 million | [82] | |||
1868 | 1940 | Editor of The Numismatist | [83] | |||
1869 | 1947 | Collection of over 100,000 coins is in the National Museum of Rome; also wrote a 20-volume Corpus Nummorum Italicorum, which catalogued each specimen in his collection. | [84] | |||
1869 | 1924 | VP of American Numismatic Association, donated The Numismatist to A.N.A. and had one of the two finest collections of Canadian coins | [85] | |||
1871 | 1949 | President of the American Numismatic Association from 1908 to 1910. | [86] | |||
1873 | 1921 | Collection auctioned in 1923 | [87] | |||
1880 | 1936 | Collection of Chinese coins auctioned in 2011 | [88] | |||
Eduard Kann | 1880 | 1962 | Austrian banker who went to work in China in 1901. Author of the first systematic catalog of Chinese coinage 'Illustrated catalog of Chinese coins (gold, silver, nickel and aluminium)' . Collection auctioned in 1970s and in 2000. | [89] [90] | ||
1880 | 1967 | [91] | ||||
1882 | 1953 | [92] | ||||
1884 | 1975 | [93] | ||||
1885 | 1945 | Collection auctioned in 1950 | [94] | |||
1889 | 1967 | |||||
1890 | 1963 | Collection auctioned in 1957 | [95] | |||
1893 | 1966 | [96] | ||||
1896 | 1976 | Put together the only complete collection of United States coins ever assembled | [97] | |||
1898 | 2005 | [98] | ||||
1899 | 1986 | Collected United States pattern coins | [99] | |||
1901 | 1981 | First Canadian to be President of American Numismatic Association, Honorary President of C.N.A. and had the finest collection of Canadian tokens, coins and currency, purchased by Bank of Canada Museum in 1963 and medals at the Glenbow Museum | [100] | |||
1904 | 1988 | Wrote A Guide Book of United States Coins | [101] | |||
1905 | 1996 | Kept a collection of ancient Greek coins with him while serving on board the USS Hornet in 1942 | [102] | |||
1906 | 1976 | |||||
1908 | 2003 | Owned a $4 Stella; co-founded the Beverly Hills Coin Club | [103] | |||
1910 | 2006 | [104] | ||||
1911 | 2009 | [105] | ||||
1911 | 2017 | Collection sold over five auctions in 2013–2014 for almost $55 million | [106] | |||
1913 | 1996 | President of A.N.A. 1971-73 and C.N.A., massive collection of high-quality US and World gold and silver coins sold by David Akers in auctions from 1997 to 1999 | [107] | |||
1920 | 1965 | Collection included a 1933 double eagle, and was sold by auction for a fraction of its real value in 1954 after Farouk's overthrow | [108] [109] | |||
1920 | 2001 | |||||
1922 | 2011 | [110] [111] | ||||
1923 | 2005 | Collection auctioned in 1990 with 3404 lots | [112] | |||
1923 | 2016 | Started collecting when his aunts gave him some Whitman coin boards.[113] | ||||
1926 | 2012 | Coined the term "exonumia" | [114] | |||
1926 | 2014 | Collected Greek and Roman coins; collection auctioned off in 1990 and 1991 as a result of his bankruptcy | [115] [116] | |||
1928 | 2005 | Edited The Guide Book and Catalogue of the British Commonwealth Coins; established the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association's Jerome H. Remick III Literary Award in 1995 | [117] [118] | |||
1927 | 1998 | Collection resides in the American Numismatic Association Money Museum | [119] | |||
1928 | data-sort-value="2028" | Collects Chinese and Japanese coins as well as ancient Greek silver coins | [120] | |||
1929 | 2013 | [121] | ||||
1929 | 2024 | Collected Byzantine coins; collection auctioned off in 1990 and 1991 as a result of his bankruptcy | ||||
1932 | 2003 | Collected Greek and Roman coins | [122] | |||
1933 | 1996 | [123] | ||||
1933 | 2013 | [124] | ||||
1938 | data-sort-value="2038" | Began collecting at age 13 and became a coin dealer at age 14 | [125] [126] | |||
1942 | 2022 | Collection of 301 large cents auctioned in 2008 for $10.7 million | [127] | |||
1951 | data-sort-value="2051" | Owned an extensive collection of commemorative half dollars and a complete collection of Morgan dollars | [128] [129] | |||
1954 | data-sort-value="2054" | Collection auctioned in 1998 for over $6 million | [130] | |||
1961 | data-sort-value="2061" | As an antique collector and numismatist, Nambiar has one of the largest collections of ancient coins and rare currencies in India. It is an asset that the Reserve Bank of India recognizes and borrows from for its annual “Coins and Currencies” exhibition | [131] [132] | |||
1972 | data-sort-value="2072" | Began collecting at the age of six | [133] |