Jerry Buss died Feb. 18 at the age of 80 in Los Angeles.
After he bought his Los Angeles Lakers basketball team in 1979 they were 10-time National Basketball Association champions while he owned them.
His numismatic holdings also proved to be champions during the same time period.
While he was building a sports dynasty, he was also building a coin collection that he sold in 1985.
He acquired a 1913 Liberty Head nickel in the summer of 1978 for $200,000. An 1804 dollar was added about six months later for the same amount.
Though these purchases made news, at the time his identity was concealed from the public. He was simply a mystery buyer who was called a star in the entertainment industry.
When Buss sold his collection Jan. 28-30, 1985, the nickel brought $385,000 and the silver dollar $308,000.
He also had an 1894-S dime among other rarities that appeal to collectors who began with circulation finds in childhood as he did.
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