Collector Receives $10,000 Credit from Heritage Auctions

Heritage Auctions client Steven Wilson was awarded a $10,000 auction credit March 11 through a drawing among collectors who participated in the firm’s annual numismatic survey.

Wilson’s interest in collecting was born out of a childhood curiosity about the hobby shared by his father and uncle.

“My father had a retail business, and so did my uncle, about 50 years ago,” Wilson said. “My uncle saved silver dollars, and my dad had a huge jar of pennies. So I’d look through it, and the Indian heads and old Lincolns started fascinating me. My grandfather, in the 1930s, bought gold coins from people rather than letting them get sent to the government, and I ended up being gifted a few of those over the years.”

Wilson said his curiosity received a boost from his interest in American history.

“I liked coins related to the Civil War, related to the founding of the country, some of the financial trials and tribulations of the country,” he said. “I started collecting for a while when I was a teenager, but as I advanced in life and my education, I stopped because I didn’t have any time. But then in the late ’90s, when the internet came around, I started seeing Heritage Auctions’ website, and my interest started again.”

Wilson focused on two sets: Morgan dollars and Peace dollars, and then branched out into collecting $3 gold pieces and Saint-Gaudens $20 coins.

Wilson finds himself most comfortable when collecting through a reputable platform, like Heritage Auctions or its website, HA.com.

“It’s hard to find what I want,” he said. “I don’t really trust raw coins, because while I have collected for years, I don’t really have the eye to pick up a subtle cleaning. I feel a lot more trust when I do business with a good company like Heritage.”

Wilson has not yet targeted a specific coin on which he will spend his auction credit but enjoys considering his options.

“I have looked at some of the inventory on HA.com, but I really enjoy the auctions,” he said. “If I find something I like, I will bid on it. I enjoy picking out two, three, four coins. I set a (top) price, and then I’ll make a bid a few days out, and see if my bid holds up.”

Heritage Auctions’ next U.S. and World Coins auctions are at the Central States Numismatic Society Convention April 22-27 in Chicago, Ill.