Ten Famous Coin Collectors

Famous Coin Collectors

Quirks and hobbies are natural parts of the human disposition. From cracking jokes, to building model airplanes, these personality traits make us who we are, creating a sense of uniqueness from others, as well as unity among those that share our passions. One of the world’s favorite pastimes falls into the category of hobbies, and it has been around for quite a few centuries: coin collection.

From custom coins and metal work to widely-circulated currency, coin collection is a hobby that spans many countries and generations. Some people collect valuable coins merely for the interest in the coins, the metal, and the history of currency, while others do so as a form of investment. Either way, collecting money can never really be a bad thing. Below are nine celebrities with a weakness for those shiny metal objects.

Wayne Gretzky

The Great One, as hockey enthusiasts dubbed him, was an avid collector of rare and valuable coins. His interest stemmed from a financial standpoint rather than a cultural or historical curiosity.

Buddy Ebsen

Also known as Jed Clampett, from The Beverly Hillbillies, Ebsen has been a collector for many years now. Though he may not have played a very cultured character is his most famous role, he certainly made up for it off-screen.

Nicole Kidman

Though she is one of the biggest celebrities to make the list, her involvement in coin collecting and numismatics is mostly speculation. It is certainly widely rumored that she has been involved in coin collection, but since the gossip columns are not very interested in the topic, there is nobody to pursue the facts.

Paul McCartney

Though he is not a noted numismatist, his involvement mostly comes from situations that affected his band in the early days. McCartney has stated that The Beatles were pelted with pennies at a few shows early in their career. At the end of the show, they all bent down and picked up quite a few of the pennies, which quickly ended that activity, and began his coin collection.

Andre Dawson

The famous baseball player, who was recently inducted to the Hall of Fame, is also a noted coin collector. It is widely accepted that Dawson put together one of the best coin collections ever, and it was auctioned for a pretty penny quite a few years ago.

John Quincy Adams

One of our forefathers, John Quincy Adams was a widely-known collector of coins for many years. His involvement is believed to be in the general numismatic motivation, as he was also interested currency and its evolution over time.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

His love of coins was rewarded with his appearance on the U.S. dime, on which he has appeared since 1946. This coin was the appropriate choice as the President was afflicted with polio, and The March of Dimes was an extremely successful program and association that greatly contributed to the eradication of polio.

Tony Blair

One of the most famous and sometimes most notorious Prime Ministers of Great Britain, Tony Blair, was also a collector of rare and custom coins. While in office, he received a thoughtful gift of rare Russian coins valued at 200 pounds at the time, and it is one of the very few gifts that he took with him personally and did not bequeath with his “throne.” The specifics of the coins are not widely known, but the gift encouraged an interest in coins.

John Larroquette

The famous actor is one of the current coin collectors of the times. He is known for his many cameo television appearances as well as movie roles, and has recently been seen at quite a few custom coin and rare coin conventions.

Petrarch

Coin collecting has obviously been a hobby for a long time if it’s been around since the Renaissance. Though Petrarch is recognized for being the “father of Humanism”, this Italian scholar and poet is credited for having become one of the first and perhaps most famous of all contemporary coin collectors.

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Posted by List Guy on June 24, 2010. Filed under Miscellaneous, People, The List. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry