I have chosen to call my collection the “Clackamas Collection” for a few reasons. The Clackamas people comprised one of the tribes on the lower Columbia River that were collectively called The Chinook Indians by Lewis and Clark during their famous expedition. The Clackamas river is not as well known as larger rivers in Oregon, such as the Columbia. However, the ClackamasRiver is a noble stream, with its roots in the Cascade Range near Mt.Hood, and some of the best white water rafting and fly fishing in the Northwest. The Clackamas is one of Oregon’s “hidden gems”, known best to locals. F ..read more

Half Cent collectors need to get their war-chests ready! Why? Because, next month, THE half cent collection for the ages will be sold at auction in Los Angeles by Ira & Larry Goldberg (in conjunction with McCawley & Grellman auctions). The collection, known as the "Missouri Cabinet Collection" represents a collaborative effort for more than 50 years by two prominent numismatists (R. Tettenhorst and Eric P. Newman). This half cent collection has two distinct features that assure its place in the pantheon of truly great collections: 1. It is the most complete collection of half cents eve ..read more

Ira & Larry Goldberg Auctioneers conducted the sale of the Paul Gerrie collection on Feb. 3, 2013 at their offices in West L.A. Mr. Gerrie is a true connoisseur of old copper, and the coins in his collection reflect his passion for originality and high-quality early large cents. Physical attendance at the sale was modest, but the people in the room were just the tip of the iceberg (so to speak). Many collectors were being represented by dealers, while numerous others placed their bids by phone or over the internet. The bidding for these noteworthy Gerrie coins was spirited, with a few surp ..read more

Introduction: Do you consider coins to be a good investment? The answer should be: “It depends”. For United States coins, there are many examples of quality collections that were assembled carefully and sold for many times their cost of acquisition. Famous collectors such as T. Harrison Garrett, Mr. & Mrs. R. Henry Norweb, Virgil Brand, and Louis Eliasberg built collections that set record prices when they were sold at auction. However, these collectors had an edge when it came to their investment in coins: that edge was knowledge. Each of these collectors had an eye for quality and an app ..read more

Introduction Coins with problems can be a painful subject to discuss. Collectors generally seek problem-free coins for their collections. Most literature on the subject of coin collecting or investing in coins emphasizes the need to avoid coins with problems. However, in the "real world", it is inevitable that a collector will encounter coins that are desirable additions to the collection in spite of a problem. Another "real world" situation involves the uninformed acquisition of a problem coin - the problem is revealed by submission to a grading service, or exhibition to a more experienced co ..read more

The Whister Collection of half cents (aka Bob Yuell), together with the remaining half cents from the Davy collection were sold by Ira & Larry Goldberg on Sunday, Sept. 4th at their new office in west L.A. A total of 458 lots were dispatched over about 5 hours of bidding. Attendance at the sale was moderate - about what one might expect, given the narrow focus of the collections, and the state of the overall economy. However, the copper "faithful" were rewarded with the chance to add some truly rare and magnificent pieces to their collections. There were a few surprises in this sale, but f ..read more

Most collectors I know enjoy talking about "The Good Old Days", but they rarely mean "Last Year" when they say it! The coin hobby is currently staggering through the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, along with most of the rest of the economy. People look back wistfully to those relatively care-free days, when you didn't need a mask to buy a cup of coffee, and you could get on an airliner without much thought of what was lurking on the exposed surfaces or in the air. Large gatherings mostly ended in the U.S. by April 2020. This has included all the coin shows & coin conventions that I tradi ..read more

Selections from the Doug Bird collection of Large Cents will be sold at auction by Ira & Larry Goldberg in Los Angeles, CA Feb. 16, 2020. This sale promises to join other legendary name sales by the Goldbergs - names like Ted Naftzger, Dan Holmes, March Wells, Paul Gerrie, Tom Reynolds, and more. The Goldbergs have an affiliation with copper like Midas had one for gold. I have known Doug Bird personally for more than 3 decades. My first encounter with Doug was at a coin show in Portland, OR in the mid 1980's, where I was a novice collector and he was already an experienced dealer in early ..read more