Who are the 8 most notable celebrity coin collectors? 1 1

[Henri Charriere]

In an aside on another thread recently, I bemoaned the fact that recognizable name-personalities were not, to my knowledge, being used to promote the hobby.  Another member volunteered three names, and the matter I briefly mentioned was quietly dropped.  Today, in researching an unrelated matter -- the 1908 gold half-eagle pattern that disappeared, I came across the following list of eight names compiled by Century Stamps and Coins (centurystamps.com):

Wayne Gretzky,  Jack Black,  Nicole Kidman,  Dennis Rodman (to whom the "Rocket Man" gifted a set of gold coins from North Korea)  Martin Sheen,  James Earl Jones, Nolan Gould and Kellan Lutz.

I do not know what I found to be more surprising: the names that were on the list, or the names that were not. Interesting bit of trivia.

 

[Zebo]

Some more notable than others on the list. None for their coin collecting as far as I know.

[RWB]

Notable for their collections and knowledge would count. "Big name" in some other field -- zippo.

[Henri Charriere]

On 3/11/2024 at 12:09 PM, RWB said:

Notable for their collections and knowledge would count. "Big name" in some other field -- zippo.

Mystery solved!  I was wondering why on their website they hyphenated "notable-celebrity" (which I decided not to do in the Topic heading above. Now I know. That little (-) changes everything. Thanks, Roger!

[cobymordet]

Here is one Celebrity that was also an accomplished collector -

Actor Buddy Ebsen struck it rich on "The Beverly Hillbillies" as Jed Clampett, a country bumpkin who moves his hayseed family to La La Land after oil is discovered on their rustic property, turning them into millionaires overnight. Ebsen, who was far from a hick off-screen, reaped a real-life windfall from rare coins. Over the years, he assembled an exceptional collection of U.S. coins, which brought more than $7.6 million when it was sold at a glittering West Coast auction in 1987.

In one ironic "Beverly Hillbillies" episode, Jed Clampett scoffs when told that a coin collector paid $12,000 for a dime - the ultra-rare 1894-S Barber dime. "He got slickered," Jed tells Mr. Drysdale, his greedy banker-neighbor, who is trying to get him interested in the hobby. "A dime is only worth ten cents," he declares, adding: "If he put that dime in one of those candy machines, would he get out $12,000 worth of candy?"

Ebsen had no doubt about the value of the coin at the time the episode aired in 1964. He was not only an avid collector but also a serious student of the hobby and active participant in organized numismatics. In fact, he co-founded the Beverly Hills Coin Club. His personal collection included a complete gold type set, a set of the Panama-Pacific commemorative coins in their original copper frame and a gem proof 1879 coiled hair stella (a pattern $4 gold piece).

Edited March 11 by cobymordet
just cuz

[cobymordet]

The above and below clips are from an interesting article from (universalcoin.com)

here is some more hobby snobby inclined campers educated in the jedi ways of numismatical nuttyness:

 

Like Buddy Ebsen, Schenkel was far more than a casual collector. Indeed, he found fulfillment in numismatic objects that some might consider esoteric, such as Indian Peace medals, Hard Times tokens and U.S. Assay Commission medals. He also collected commemorative coins and other more mainstream material, including a stunning set of early U.S. quarters. When he consigned his collection for sale at a 1990 auction, it helped fill a 436-page catalog with 3,404 lots.

Jerome Kern, one of the most famous composers of American popular music, ranked among the greatest collectors of U.S. coins, as well, during the first half of the 20th century. Kern, who wrote the music for such all-time standard songs as "Ol' Man River" and "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," also had an eye for "hit" coins. His collection included a Show Boat full of rarities, including an Ultra-High-Relief 1907 Saint-Gaudens double eagle, a gem proof 1842 small-date Liberty Seated quarter and a complete four-coin set of 1879 and 1880 stellas.

Five years after Kern's death, legendary Texas coin dealer B. Max Mehl sold the collection at a glittering auction in 1950. It was billed as the "Golden Jubilee Sale," but Kern's coins were clearly the stars of this landmark event. Mehl made this clear when he noted that its centerpiece was "the Magnificent Collection of United States Gold and Silver Coins of the Late Eminent Composer Jerome David Kern."

Film director-actress Penny Marshall, who starred in TV's "Laverne & Shirley" show, became a coin collector - and a prominent one, at that - almost as much by birth as by environment. In fact, she was named for a coin. Marshall told an interviewer back in 2002 that she was named "Penny" to mollify her brothers, who were saving their pennies for a pony, "but got a baby sister instead."

Other coin collectors from the entertainment world have included such leading lights as Italian tenor Enrico Caruso, "Stardust" songwriter Hoagy Carmichael, Academy Award-winning actress Nicole Kidman, Emmy-winning actor John Larroquette and actor James Earl Jones, who provided the distinctive deep baritone voice of Darth Vader in the "Star Wars" movies.

Among the famous athletes known to collect coins are ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, baseball slugger Andre Dawson and flamboyant basketball rebounder Dennis Rodman. The late Dr. Jerry Buss, former owner of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team, collected coins for 40 years and during that time he acquired such rarities as a 1913 Liberty Head nickel, an 1894-S Barber dime and a Class III 1804 silver dollar. He authorized the purchase of these three coins at a single stroke, in fact, simply by signing a hot dog napkin. Buss sold his coins at a major auction in 1985 after deciding he didn't have sufficient time for them.

In the days when rare coins were the province of kings, one of the hobby's most illustrious practitioners was France's "Sun King," Louis XIV. Louis paid regular daily visits to the French Royal Coin Collection, and once remarked that he could "always find something new to learn."

Perhaps the most learned of all royal collectors, from a numismatic standpoint, was Italy's King Victor Emmanuel III. More than just a collector, Victor Emmanuel was a true scholar who considered coins his life's greatest passion. Upon his abdication in 1946, he donated his vast collection - consisting of more than 100,000 coins from ancient times to modern - to the people of Italy. He also gave a priceless gift to coin collectors everywhere: a 20-volume catalog of Italian coinage through the centuries, which took him 12 years to write.

Unlike Victor Emmanuel, Egypt's King Farouk had relatively little interest in coins' historical significance. He took great interest, though, in their rarity and value and diverted huge sums of money from his nation's treasury to his personal collection. Eventually, Egyptian military leaders, weary of Farouk's extravagant expenditures and dissolute lifestyle, forced him to abdicate in 1952. Two years later, they arranged for a now-famous auction to dispose of his bloated coin collection - or, more accurately, his disorganized but enormous accumulation.

The Farouk Collection contained a number of great rarities, including a 1913 Liberty Head nickel and a 1933 Saint-Gaudens double eagle, which the king had acquired in 1944 with the help of a U.S. export license authorized by the U.S. State Department in deference to his status as a World War II ally. The double eagle was sold at an auction in 2002 for $7.59 million - a figure that stood for more than a decade as the highest price ever paid for a U.S. coin. It's the only example recognized as legal by the U.S. government - thanks to that 1944 export license.

John Quincy Adams was the only U.S. president known to have been a serious collector of rare coins - though others undoubtedly dabbled in the hobby and some, including Thomas Jefferson and Franklin D. Roosevelt, are said to have had a more than passing interest in the subject. Foreign leaders of recent years who have been identified as coin enthusiasts include Israeli prime minister and foreign minister Moshe Dayan and former British prime minister Tony Blair.

The Hobby of Kings has long since moved from monarchs' throne rooms to common folks' living rooms, parlors and dens. Still, amid the mass appeal of modern-day collecting, it's reassuring to know that rare coins retain the same kind of allure for today's celebrities as they held for yesteryear's nobility. And it's nice to know that people of moderate means share this common bond with the rich and famous.

[VKurtB]

Two contemporary collectors of some renown: Dallas Mavericks owner and “Shark” Mark Cuban, who has built an important collection through Laura Sperber’s firm, and “Gronk”owski, formerly an NFL player with New England, who has an impressive collection of proof Morgan dollars. 

[cobymordet]

On 3/11/2024 at 12:45 PM, VKurtB said:

“Gronk”owski, formerly an NFL player with New England, who has an impressive collection of proof Morgan dollars. 

lol, woulda never considered Gronk for that

[Henri Charriere]

On 3/11/2024 at 4:27 PM, cobymordet said:

lol, woulda never considered Gronk for that

[Aside... in NYC, automobile drivers honk their horns. Fire trucks GRONK!]

[Henri Charriere]

A suggestion to the OP:  I believe "Who were the 8 most..." is a helluva lot more interesting than "Who are..."  IMHO.  🐓 

[GoldFinger1969]

On 3/10/2024 at 10:52 PM, Henri Charriere said:

Wayne Gretzky,  Jack Black,  Nicole Kidman,  Dennis Rodman (to whom the "Rocket Man" gifted a set of gold coins from North Korea)  Martin Sheen,  James Earl Jones, Nolan Gould and Kellan Lutz.

Gretzky may just be a collector via his part-ownership with 2 other gents of a T-206 Honus Wagner card.  JEJ strikes me as scholarly and not surprised if he is into coins.  A few of our astronomy club members visited him like 20 years ago and he was into space and stuff.

The others...who knows ?

If Taylor Swift wore a Saint-Gaudens or other classic gold/silver coin as a pendant or something....you'd have hundreds of thousands of people buying in no time.  It would be BIGGER than the Wall Street stampede of 1989. 

[Henri Charriere]

On 3/13/2024 at 3:50 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

Gretzky may just be a collector via his part-ownership with 2 other gents of a T-206 Honus Wagner card.....

If Taylor Swift wore a Saint-Gaudens or other classic gold/silver coin as a pendant or something....you'd have hundreds of thousands of people buying in no time.  It would be BIGGER than the Wall Street stampede of 1989. 

If Gretz were only a collector of what you believe him to be, i.e., a part-owner of a baseball card, he would not have made Century's "8 most notable-celebrity coin collectors."

If Taylor Swift got involved, her "Swifties" would likely benefit existing collectors of S-G DEs over new collectors, as rising prices for an already comparatively expensive coin, would leave everyone else in the dust behind. Any short-term gains would be just that as her star quickly rises -- and inevitably falls. My opinion.

[Jason Abshier]

On 3/11/2024 at 4:27 PM, cobymordet said:

lol, woulda never considered Gronk for that

A lot people didn’t know he was collector until a few insufficiently_thoughtful_persons broke in his house stole his coin collection they tried sell his proof Morgan dollars to local coin dealer the dealer knew about it called the police they got arrested… wasn’t long before words got out in news about it 

[GoldFinger1969]

Bill Gross, the former "Bond King" who founded PIMCO, had a complete set of U.S. stamps as far as I know including the "impossible" ones like the Inverted Jenny's.  So he'd be  famous collector, IMO, at least if you watched "Wall Street Week" in the 1980's and 1990's. 

Edited March 14 by GoldFinger1969