A.C. Dwyer's Coin Stories

I am not like Harry Bass Jr., or Louis Eliasberg Sr. in that I have limited resources. I work a normal job, not unlike John Jay Pittmann. The 1954 King Farouk Auction was to Mr. Pittmann's collection what the SS Republic was to mine. A once in a lifetime opportunity to add some of the finest specimens to my collection.

I am not a CEO, doctor, lawyer, or dealer.

I am simply a collector - a numismatist. (and a philatelist)

In 2004, I entered The Arlington Collection of Type 1 Double Eagles into the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) registry. The Arlington Collection is my private coin collection that originally consisted mostly of Type 1 Double Eagles. I am passionate about gold, especially $20 double eagles.

In 2007, I removed the coins from my NGC registry set after three years of being the number one ranked set in its category, and receiving NGC's Best Classic Set award in 2005. As of March 2009, the registry set is still the second most viewed set out of over 10,000 sets even though the coins were removed over a year ago. The fact that the set has remained near the top over a year after removing all the coins shows just how popular the double eagle is among collectors. Being both large and gold, the double eagle will always be one of my favorites.

Today my interests are a lot broader than $20 double eagles. Type collecting is now my major focus. And although gold is still at the top of my interests, I am not limiting myself to gold - or even coins for that matter. Territorial gold and hard times tokens among others, have all been attracting my interest lately. One of the most recent additions to my collection is an 1854 Kellogg & Co. $20 gold piece which is pictured on this page.

But it's the stories I want to know. The history and stories surrounding the coins is what makes this hobby interesting. The desire to share these stories and other information is what led me to create this website and related blogs. I have written articles in the past for various numismatic publications and websites (see example), but I prefer to post the articles here because I like the feedback I receive, both good and bad, that I do not receive when I publish elsewhere. When I publish an opinion, I don't expect everyone to agree with my viewpoint and I like the debate. When I publish historical stories, I do my best to document sources so that you can investigate the facts yourself.