A lot of things need to be considered when purchasing a coin. Type, variety, toning, eye appeal and that all-important condition to name a few. Even the individual coins history. Who owned it? What collection(s) was it a part of? EX: John J. Pittman Collection or something similar. The Garrett family, Norweb Collection, D'Este, John Quincy Adams, Duke of Argyle, King Farouk and many others. In the world of coin collecting, the names for these important collections are called pedigrees . A coin with an acknowledged important pedigree may not always bring a greater premium at auction, but it gives the coin a lot of credibility and sometimes can be a blessing or a warning.

There are many collectible coins that have changed hands so many times nobody has any idea who owned them previously. It isn't always important to know. But there are coins which are either particularly scarce or in extremely high grade that were singled out by a famous collector to be part of his or her collection. This can be important information to the person now considering buying the coin.

A pedigree can ensure the coin is top quality. It can also ensure the coin has been in legitimate hands (There is no danger of it being confiscated at some later date because it was stolen property.). There is a certain prestige that goes along with the ownership of some fine coin known at one time to have been in a famous collection.

In recent years it has become increasingly important to establish pedigrees for more coins as more collectors enter the hobby. Pedigreed coins are no longer necessarily for those people owning the rarest and most expensive coins. Some famous U.S. coin collectors including the husband and wife Norweb team, John J. Pittman and the Garrett family were known for their good taste in what they collected. Francis Cardinal Spellman was well known for his medieval European collection. Likewise, former U.S. president John Quincy Adams was known for his ancient coin collection. Although through the many trades made in ownership of coins some of the pedigrees will be lost on some of these famous coins, the pedigree will follow many of the others. The new owner of such a coin has the pleasure of seeing his name attached to these illustrious pedigrees for the future.
Pedigrees can help with research. The classic U.S. 1804 Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle silver dollar coins each have a detailed pedigree that documents where the coins originated once they went into the hands of collectors.

The pedigrees surrounding the four previously known specimens of the 1913 Liberty Head nickel help shed some light on the mystery regarding if the fifth piece ever really existed or if the so-called number five specimen was in reality a copper pattern Buffalo nickel of the same date currently owned by Eric Newman of St. Louis. As we recently found out the fifth specimen actually does exist. That’s another story in itself.

Pedigrees can also give warnings. King Farouk of Egypt was a notorious collector, as well as a notorious womanizer. Once he was overthrown and his coin collection seized it went onto the auction block. It was quickly learned the king had each coin lacquered. A King Farouk pedigree on your coin can be a cautionary flag that the coin has probably been stripped of this lacquer. Coins owned by the D'Este family from Renaissance Italy are currently being offered on the market. A D'Este pedigree means the coin has a small eagle countermark in silver somewhere on the coin surface. It was a custom at the time to mark your coins in this manner. Today, while some people will grimace about the thought of marking a coin in this manner other people will pay a premium just to get the D'Este mark.

Pedigrees are an increasingly important part of the information or paperwork following coins. It can be a helpful tool for the potential buyer, as well as an important document helping someone sell his coins.

Signature Set Details:

Slot Name	Slot Comment	Certification #	Coin Info	Graded By	Country	Grade	Photo
Omaha Bank Hoard	The was a hoard of mint-state bank rolls purchased by a private collector beginning in the 1930's. It consisted of over 2000 assorted gem rolls of assorted coins, including quarters, dimes, halves, cents and nickels.	73062762	1942 25C D	PCGS	United States	MS 66
Omaha Bank Hoard	The was a hoard of mint-state bank rolls purchased by a private collector beginning in the 1930's. It consisted of over 2000 assorted gem rolls of assorted coins, including quarters, dimes, halves, cents and nickels.	1540955-032	1945 5C P	NGC	United States	MS 67
Binion Collection	Ted Binion was heir to the famous Horse Shoe Casino in Las Vegas. For 35 years he pulled coins from slot machines, gaming tables & shipments as well as from Federal depositories. When he was murdered in Sept. 1998 he had amassed a 46,000 pound hoard of silver coin and bullion appraised between 7 & 14 million dollars.	348857-009	1887 $1	NGC	United States	MS 62
Redfield Hoard	Born Oct. 29th 1897, LaVere Redfield grew up in poverty. At age 37, having made millions in land and oil stocks, he moved to California and bought a large farm. Redfield distrusted the government & banks & preferred hard currency. For decades he accumulated silver coins (mostly silver dollars) and would dump them down a coal chute to the basement of his house. Redfield died in 1974 and upon the death of his wife in 1981 the IRS found 680 bags of precious metals, 407,283 silver dollars (351,259 were uncirculated), uncashed dividend checks dating back to 1959, 19,000 sets of bronze coins, paper money, three contianers of stamps, and huge land holdings. The silver was just a very small part of his estate.	2506602-003	1891 $1 S	NGC	United States	MS 63
Benson Collection	Former Jerry S. Benson, Jr. collection. The goal for Benson, of collecting only the best was refined to pursuing superlative coins from the first century of Mint production, focusing on early copper and large size silver, as well as early and proof gold. Nearly every piece carried pedigrees from the most celebrated numismatic cabinets.	71650479	1945 5C D	PCGS	United States	MS 65
Benson Collection	Former Jerry S. Benson, Jr. collection. The goal for Benson, of collecting only the best was refined to pursuing superlative coins from the first century of Mint production, focusing on early copper and large size silver, as well as early and proof gold. Nearly every piece carried pedigrees from the most celebrated numismatic cabinets.	71650598	1948 5C D	PCGS	United States	MS 65
Jules Reiver Collection	Jules Reiver was a World War II hero that was awarded the Bronze Star. Reivers' famous heroism in World War II at Omaha Beach on D-Day and action at The Battle of the Bulge inspired the role of Lt. Col. Kiley, played by Henry Fonda, in the famous movie. He was also a passionate Numistmatist and author. He was the author of the first standard attribution guide for late date large cents, Mature Head United States Copper Cents 1843-1857, superseding by a long distance Frank Andrews' 1883 work on the subject. Reiver also had a deep interest in silver coins. He spent about 70 years, before his death in 2004, assembling probably the most complete collection of early U.S. Copper and Silver coinage (1793 to 1839) by die variety and die state that has ever been assembled. In his collection he amassed more than 5000 significant issues.	308246-004	1904 1C	NGC	United States	MS 64
Jules Reiver Collection	Jules Reiver was a World War II hero that was awarded the Bronze Star. Reivers' famous heroism in World War II at Omaha Beach on D-Day and action at The Battle of the Bulge inspired the role of Lt. Col. Kiley, played by Henry Fonda, in the famous movie. He was also a passionate Numistmatist and author. He was the author of the first standard attribution guide for late date large cents, Mature Head United States Copper Cents 1843-1857, superseding by a long distance Frank Andrews' 1883 work on the subject. Reiver also had a deep interest in silver coins. He spent about 70 years, before his death in 2004, assembling probably the most complete collection of early U.S. Copper and Silver coinage (1793 to 1839) by die variety and die state that has ever been assembled. In his collection he amassed more than 5000 significant issues.	308280-011	1936 25C S	NGC	United States	MS 63
Louis Eliasberg Collection	This coin is from the Louis Eliasberg, Sr. collection; perhaps the most prestigious collection auctioned off in the twentieth century, and being the only collection of United States coins ever formed which was complete by denomination, date and mint. Something that will, most likely, never happen again.	641200-010	1890 S$1 O	NGC	United States	MS 63
Richmond Collection	With over 3600 U.S. coins, the Richmond Collection was another one of the great collections of our time. It was assembled over a three decade peroid by a "prolific and fastidious collector" and was auctioned by DLRC in 2004/5. The Richmond Collection contained nearly every regular issue coin between 1838 to 1955 including many proofs. Some highlights of the collection were a complete collection of Silver dollars from 1794-1934, including the 1870-S Seated and the 1885 Trade dollars, lacking only the 1804. Other highlights were the finest known 1894-S dime, an 1873-CC quarter, a pair of 1893-S Morgan dollars (MS 63 and 64 respectively) and a pair of 1895 proof Morgan dollars.	1716009-035	1882 5C	NGC	United States	MS 65
Reserve Bank of Australia	From my understanding.These coins were among the dispersal of the last gold holdings of the Australian Governments central banking authority.	1981256-001	1881 $5	NGC	United States	AU 50
Reserve Bank of Australia	From my understanding. These coins were among the dispersal of the last gold holdings of the Australian Governments central banking authority.	1981254-022	1907 $10 LIBERTY	NGC	United States	MS 61
GSA Hoard	In January of 1960 The Treasury began releasing the 180 million Silver Dollars that it had stored in it's vaults. This release stimulated collector and investor interest and by January 1964 there were only about 28 million left. The release was halted in March 1964 while the Treasury decided what to do with the remaing silver Dollars. (By this time there were only 2.9 million left--most of which were minted in Carson City). On December 6th 1971, the Government Services Administration (GSA) took control of the remaing silver Dollars and sold them in a series of sales between 1972 and 1980.	2508879-001	1881 S$1 CC GSA HOARD	NGC	United States
GSA Hoard		2507115-001	1882 S$1 CC GSA HOARD	NGC	United States	MS 62
GSA Hoard		2506603-001	1883 S$1 CC GSA HOARD	NGC	United States	MS 63
GSA Hoard	In January of 1960 The Treasury began releasing the 180 million Silver Dollars that it had stored in it's vaults. This release stimulated collector and investor interest and by January 1964 there were only about 28 million left. The release was halted in March 1964 while the Treasury decided what to do with the remaing silver Dollars. (By this time there were only 2.9 million left--most of which were minted in Carson City). On December 6th 1971, the Government Services Administration (GSA) took control of the remaing silver Dollars and sold them in a series of sales between 1972 and 1980.	2508879-002	1884 S$1 CC GSA HOARD	NGC	United States
Fitzgerald Collection	Fitzgeralds's Nevada Club Reno Hoard. Lincoln Fitzgerald, who at one time owned the Nevada Lodge at Lake Tahoe as well as the Nevada Club and Fitzgerald's in Reno, Nevada. Fitzgerald was an infamous figure. As a young man, he was reportedly a bookkeeper for Detroit's 'Purple Gang, a mob organization that specialized in bringing in liquor from Canada during Prohibition. Fitzgerald opened the Nevada Club at 224 N. Virginia Street in downtown Reno in 1947. In 1949, two years after the casino’s opening, Fitzgerald survived an assassination attempt in which he was critically wounded by a blast from a 12-guage shotgun while on his way home. According to news reports at the time, there was speculation that it was an attempted mob “hit,” because of bribery and illegal gambling charges Fitzgerald faced earlier in Michigan and his association with the notorious Detroit Purple Gang. Fitzgerald died in 1981 at age 88 of natural causes. His widow, Meta, passed away in March 2004 at the age of 92.	1838670-069	1899 S$1 O	NGC	United States	MS 64
W.J. Skiles Collection		374382-017	1881 3CN	NGC	United States
Battle Creek Collection	This is one of 1400 Silver Dollars in this collection that included "some of the very finest toned pieces to come out of original mint bags that had not seen the light of day for over a century". All were certified by NGC.	1865268-058	1886 S$1	NGC	United States	MS 63*
John J. Pittman Collection	John Jay Pittman was one of the most important and well liked numismatist of all time. He had the knowledge and he used it to collect one of the most important coin collections ever assembled. The John Jay Pittman Collection consists of rare coins that combine both rarity and quality.	698542-005	1917 10C D	NGC	United States	MS 64
Harry W. Bass Jr.	Harry W. Bass Jr. was an active collector and quintessential philanthropist, Harry W. Bass Jr. was a life member of the ANA for more than 30 years. He was awarded the Medal of Merit in 1989 and was inducted into the Association's Numismatic Hall of Fame in 1998. He was instrumental in the use of the Sheldon Scale for non-copper coins and it was at his suggestion that Abe Kosoff used the Scale when grading all of the coins in the 1968 Shuford sale. Mr. Bass became president of the American Numismatic Society in 1978 and later formed the Harry W. Bass, Jr., Foundation for numismatic research. Bass' interest in numismatics began in the mid 1960s. He joined the ANA in 1966 and spent a year studying the subject before he actively began collecting. Soon after entering the field, he defined his goal - to collect United States-issue gold coins from 1795 to 1933 by date and mintmark, with special attention to die varieties of early U.S. gold. He made many important numismatic discoveries while creating the most complete collection ever assembled, including many one-of-a-kind specimens. Of paramount importance in the collection is a set of virtually all known die varieties of early (1795 to 1834) United States gold coin denominations, in the finest condition. Also included in the Bass holdings are: The only complete collection of $3 gold pieces, including the unique 1870-S. A complete collection of U.S. gold coin types of all periods and designs from 1834 to 1933. A spectacular grouping of rare U.S. pattern coins and The foremost collection of 1896 silver certificates, among them the "Educational Series" of U.S. paper money ($1 through the proposed $50 denominations) that includes vignettes, progress and trial proofs, as well as the uncut first sheets of the actual $1, $2 and $5 notes. Bowers & Merena Galleries sold many of his coins in four landmark sales, but the "core collection" remains intact.	5566235	1879 S$1 S	PCGS	United States	MS 64
Walter H. Childs Collection	Formed beginning in 1870, the Childs Collection, long hidden in a bank vault, is one of the most incredible, most interesting, most important cabinets of United States coins ever assembled. Many coins, including gem Proofs, were ordered directly from the Philadelphia Mint. Other coins were purchased from such old-time dealers as J.W. Haseltine, Charles Steigerwalt, and other pioneers. The Childs Collection is nearly complete by date from 1793 to the mid 20th century, in denominations from the half cent to the gold $5. Many of the coins have been off the market for over a century!	957465-001	1916 S 10C MERCURY	NGC	United States	MS 65

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