List of coin collectors


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.
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.
CollectorDatesNotesReference
Caesar Augustus63 BC – 14 ADAccording to Suetonius, he gave "coins of every device, including old pieces of the kings and foreign money" as Saturnalia gifts.
Pope Boniface VIII1230 – 1303
Giovanni Mansionariodied 1337Collected Roman imperial coins
Francesco Petrarch1304 – 1374Presented some of his Roman coins to Emperor Charles IV
Francesco I da Carrara1325 – 1393Collected Roman imperial coins
Jean, duc de Berry1340 – 1416Commissioned copies of the medals in his collection
Alfonso V of Aragon1396 – 1458Had a collection of ancient coins which had been discovered in Italy; carried them with him in an ivory cabinet
Leonello d'Este1407 – 1450Collected Greek and Roman coins
Pope Paul II1417 – 1571Collected 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"
Julius Pomponius Laetus1428 – 1498
Matthias Corvinus1443 – 1490
Lorenzo de' Medici1449 – 1492Purchased coins that had been in Pope Paul II's collection
Maximilian I1459 – 1519
Guillaume Budé1467 – 1540Wrote De Asse et Partibus Eius on Roman coins and measures
Cuthbert Tunstall1474 – 1559
Ferdinand I1503 – 1564Collected Roman coins
Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg1505 – 1571Established the Berlin Coin Cabinet
Catherine Parr1512 – 1548
Andrew Perne1519 – 1589Bequeathed his collection to the Fitzwilliam Museum
Alessandro Farnese1520 – 1589Owner of the Farnese collection
Albert V, Duke of Bavaria1528 – 1579Collection is in the Bavarian State Coin Collection
Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria1529 – 1595The cabinets in which he stored his coins are today kept in the Vienna Coin Cabinet and at Ambras Castle
Abraham Gorlaeus1549 – 1608His collection of 30,000 coins and medals was purchased by Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales
Wenceslas Cobergher1560 – 1634Collected Roman coins
Robert Cotton1571 – 1631Collection is in the British Museum
Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales1594 – 1612Purchased Abraham Gorlaeus' collection
Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha1601 – 1675
John Greaves1602 – 1652Left his coins, "which he had collected in Italy and the East," to Sir John Marsham
Christina, Queen of Sweden1626 – 1689Had a collection of more than 15,000 coins; marked her coins with a monogram stamp
Louis XIV of France1638 – 1715Said to have instructed his ambassadors to look out for ancient coins.
Jacob de Wilde1645 – 1721
Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg1646 – 1691His diaries reveal that he "enjoyed making an inventory of his coins and arranging them in order"
Antoine Galland1646 – 1715Purchased ancient coins on his visits to the Middle East
Anton Günther II, Count of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen-Arnstadt1653 – 1716Sold his collection to raise the money needed to become an Imperial Prince
Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke1656 – 1733Collection auctioned in 1848 with 1500 lots
Hans Sloane1660 – 1753Collection is in the British Museum
Roger Gale1672 – 1744Bequeathed his collection to the Fitzwilliam Museum
Richard Mead1653 – 1754Collection auctioned in 1755
Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg1676 – 1732Purchased collection of Anton Günther II, Count of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen-Arnstadt
George II of Great Britain1683 – 1760Purchased Andrew Gifford's collection
William Stukeley1687 – 1765
Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer1689 – 1741Collected Greek, Roman and English coins; collection auctioned in 1742
Joseph Ames1689 – 1759
Martin Folkes1690 – 1754Collection auctioned in 1756
Thomas Martin of Palgrave1697 – 1771
William Richardson1698 – 1775Collected British, Roman, and English coins
Andrew Gifford1700 – 1784Collection purchased by George II
Pieter Teyler van der Hulst1702 – 1778Collection formed the basis of the Coin and Medal Room of the Teylers Museum
George North1707 – 1772Collected English coins
Francis I1708 – 1765His collecting emphasized modern coins
Louis Günther II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt1708 – 1790
Andrew Ducarel1713 – 1785Collection auctioned in 1785
Charlotte Sophie of Aldenburg1715 – 1800Collected Greek and Roman coins
Andrew Eliot1718 – 1778Collected New England silver coins
William Hunter1718 – 1783Established the Hunter Coin Cabinet in the University of Glasgow
Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham1730 – 1782Collected Roman imperial coins
Oluf Gerhard Tychsen1734 – 1815Wrote Introductio in rem numariam muhammedanorum in 1794, the first scholarly manual of Islamic numismatics
Pierre Eugene du Simitiere1737 – 1784Collection auctioned in 1785, making it the earliest known coin auction sale in the United States
Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria1738 – 1789Inherited her love of numismatics from her father, Emperor Francis I
George III of the United Kingdom1738 – 1820Contributed to the collection in the Hunter Coin Cabinet
Johan Frans Podolyn1739 – 1784Collection of more than 6000 coins
Thomas Jefferson1743 – 1826Acquired contemporary European issues through his travels abroad
Sarah Sophia Banks1744 – 1818Collection shared between the British Museum and the Royal Mint Museum
Kutsuki Masatsuna1750 – 1802Collection now in the British Museum and the Ashmolean Museum
Jacob Georg Christian Adler1756 – 1834Collection is in the University of Rostock
John Quincy Adams1767 – 1848Collection auctioned by the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1971
Princess Augusta Sophia of the United Kingdom1768 – 1840Collected English and German coins
George Robert Ainslie1776 – 1839Wrote Illustrations of the Anglo-French Coinage in 1830
William Martin Leake1777 – 1860Collection purchased for £5,000 in 1864 by the Fitzwilliam Museum
August Otto Rühle von Lilienstern1780 – 1847Collection is in the Oriental Coin Cabinet Jena
John Doherty1785 – 1850
Christian VIII of Denmark1786 – 1848Collection is in the National Museum of Denmark
Joaquín Rubio y Muñoz1788 – 1874Collection is in the National Museum of Denmark and the National Archaeological Museum of Spain
Caspar Reuvens1793 – 1835Collection is in the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden
Claude Auguste Court1793 – 1880One of the first Europeans to become interested in the coins of South Asia
Frédéric Soret1795 – 1865Collection is in the Oriental Coin Cabinet Jena and the Bavarian State Coin Collection
John Gardner Wilkinson1797 – 1875Bequeathed his collection to Harrow School
Heinrich Leberecht Fleischer1801 – 1888Collection is in the Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft
Pieter Otto van der Chijs1802 – 1867Director of the coin cabinet of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden
Louis Félicien de Saulcy1807 – 1880Collected Jewish coins obtained during his travels in Palestine; wrote Recherches sur la numismatique judaïque, illustrated with coins from his collection
Ernst Heinrich Meier1813 – 1866Collection purchased by the University of Tübingen
Edward Clive Bayley1821 – 1884Collected Indian coins
Hermann Weber1823 – 1918Collected Greek coins
Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia1827 – 1892Collected Russian coins
Byron Reed1829 – 1891Bequeathed his collection to the city of Omaha, where it resides in the Durham Museum
Adriaan Justus Enschedé1829 – 1896Bequeathed his collection to the Teylers Museum
Georg Bühler1837 – 1898Collection is in the Bode Museum
Frank John Joseph1838 – 1895Reportedly had one of the finest private collections of coins and medals in North America, worth an estimated $30000 at his death
José Gerson da Cunha1844 – 1900Collection included more than 27,000 pieces
Prince Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha1844 – 1921Collection auctioned in 1928
Gustave Schlumberger1844 – 1929Collected Crusader coins
Samuel Mills Damon1845 – 1924Collection auctioned in 2006 for $3.9 million
Robert Wallace McLachlan1845 – 1926The "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
Samuel Jean de Pozzi1846 – 1918Collection auctioned in 1921
Gerald Ephraim Hart1849 – 1936Formed several outstanding collections of Canadian coins, tokens, medals, books and historical documents prior to 1900
Francis W. Doughty1850 – 1917Collection auctioned in 1891 with 1539 lots
Heinrich von Siebold1852 – 1908Collection is in the Oriental Coin Cabinet Jena
Eduard Glaser1855 – 1908Collection is in the Bode Museum
Ivan Ivanovich Tolstoy1858 – 1916Collection auctioned in 1913
George Hubbard Clapp1858 – 1949Donated collection of 1543 large cents to the American Numismatic Society
Milan Rešetar1860 – 1942Inherited and expanded his father's coin collection; wrote the two-volume Dubrovačka numizmatika
Henry A. Greene1861 – 1950Collection of Greek coins purchased by the Rhode Island School of Design Museum in 1940
Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia1863 – 1919Portion of collection is in the Smithsonian Institution
Ernest Robinson Ackerman1863 – 1931Collection auctioned in 1931
Frederick Parkes Weber1863 – 1962Inherited an interest in coin collecting from his father, Sir Hermann Weber
William A. Ashbrook1867 – 1940Majority of his collection stolen in 1919
William H. Woodin1868 – 1934Collected pattern coins
Edward Howland Robinson Green1868 – 1936Owned a Brasher Doubloon; at the time of his death, his collection was worth an estimated $5 million
Edgar Adams1868 – 1940Editor of The Numismatist
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy1869 – 1947Collection 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.
William Walter Coulthard Wilson1869 – 1924VP of American Numismatic Association, donated The Numismatist to A.N.A. and had one of the two finest collections of Canadian coins
Farran Zerbe1871 – 1949President of the American Numismatic Association from 1908 to 1910.
Enrico Caruso1873 – 1921Collection auctioned in 1923
John Abner Snell1880 – 1936Collection of Chinese coins auctioned in 2011
Eduard Kann1880 – 1962Austrian banker who went to work in China in 1901. Author of the first systematic catalog of Chinese coinage 'Illustrated catalog of Chinese coins '. Collection auctioned in 1970s and in 2000.
Frank Stenton1880 – 1967Collection is at the University of Reading
Herbert Ives1882 – 1953Served as President of the American Numismatic Society
Arthur W. Hummel, Sr.1884 – 1975Passed collection of Chinese coins on to his son Arthur W. Hummel, Jr.
Jerome Kern1885 – 1945Collection auctioned in 1950
Adolphe Menjou1890 – 1963Collection auctioned in 1957
Josiah K. Lilly Jr.1893 – 1966Collection of 6125 gold coins donated to the Smithsonian Institution
Louis E. Eliasberg1896 – 1976Put together the only complete collection of United States coins ever assembled
Robert L. Hendershott1898 – 2005
Joseph Douglas Ferguson1901 – 1981First 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
Richard S. Yeoman1904 – 1988Wrote A Guide Book of United States Coins
Oscar H. Dodson1905 – 1996Kept a collection of ancient Greek coins with him while serving on board the USS Hornet in 1942
Keith Bullen1906 – 1976
Buddy Ebsen1908 – 2003Owned a $4 Stella; co-founded the Beverly Hills Coin Club
Philip Grierson1910 – 2006Bequeathed his collection of medieval coins to the Fitzwilliam Museum
Arne E. Holm1911 – 2009Collection is in the NTNU Museum of Natural History and Archaeology
Eric P. Newman1911 – 2017Collection sold over five auctions in 2013–2014 for almost $55 million
John Jay Pittman1913 – 1996President 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 1997-99
Farouk I of Egypt1920 – 1965Collection included a 1933 double eagle, and was sold by auction for a fraction of its real value in 1954 after Farouk's overthrow
Arthur W. Hummel, Jr.1920 – 2001Inherited collection of Chinese coins from his father Arthur W. Hummel, Sr.
Chris Schenkel1923 – 2005Collection auctioned in 1990 with 3404 lots
Chester Krause1923 – 2016Started collecting when his aunts gave him some Whitman coin boards.-
Russell Rulau1926 – 2012Coined the term "exonumia"
Nelson Bunker Hunt1926 – 2014Collected Greek and Roman coins; collection auctioned off in 1990 and 1991 as a result of his bankruptcy
Jerome Remick1928 – 2005Edited 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
Harry W. Bass, Jr.1927 – 1998Collection resides in the American Numismatic Association Money Museum
Kenneth Bressettborn 1928Collects Chinese and Japanese coins as well as ancient Greek silver coins
David Gee1929 – 2013Collected Australian coins
William Herbert Huntborn 1929Collected Byzantine coins; collection auctioned off in 1990 and 1991 as a result of his bankruptcy
Jerry Buss1933 – 2013Owned a 1913 Liberty Head nickel and an 1804 dollar
Q. David Bowersborn 1938Began collecting at age 13 and became a coin dealer at age 14
Walter J. Husakborn 1942Collection of 301 large cents auctioned in 2008 for $10.7 million
Gregg Binghamborn 1951Owned an extensive collection of commemorative half dollars and a complete collection of Morgan dollars
Andre Dawsonborn 1954Collection auctioned in 1998 for over $6 million
Jo Nambiarborn 1961As 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
Paul Hollisborn 1972Began collecting at the age of six