CoinFacts Board of Experts

David AkersDavid Akers


Expertise: All U.S. coins.
Specialties: Rarities and high-quality examples

David Akers stared collecting coins in 1949. After graduating from Notre Dame, obtaining a Masters degree in mathematics from Oregon State, and serving as a U.S. Army combat artillery officer in Viet Nam, David became a full time coin dealer in 1971. He was President of one of the largest and most influential dealerships of the 1970s and 1980s, Paramount International Coin Corp

Between 1975 and 1982, David Akers published a six volume analysis of U.S. gold coins that is considered one of the key references for the market. He conducted numerous very important auctions, including the three part 1997-99 sale of the legendary John J. Pittman collection. He is one of only two dealers to ever receive all three of the Professional Numismatists Guild's three top honors: the Robert Friedberg Literary award, the Abe Kosoff Founders award, and the PNG Lifetime Achievement award. David Akers is considered one of the top rare gold experts of all-time.

David Akers (1975/82) David Akers (1975/88)


Expertise: All U.S. coins.
Specialties: Rarities and high-quality examples

Between 1975 and 1982, coin dealer/high quality-rarity specialist extraordinaire David Akers published a massive six volume set of books on United States gold coins. These six volumes were very influential at the time and have remained an important reference for all serious rare gold dealers and collectors. David also wrote the definitive book on United States gold patterns. David's insight was definitely way ahead of his time. Check out his comments on rarity misconceptions (example: 1932 $20) and coin types and varieties (1839/8 $10) for examples of his going against the "conventional wisdom" of the day. We're still researching his 1975 comments and theory on the 1841 $2.5 Liberty. In 1988, he expanded his comments on the 20th century gold series (1907-1933) in a specialized book on the four series of the 20th century.

David Akers has graciously allowed PCGS CoinFacts to republish his comments on all United States gold coins, along with comments from his many important auction catalogs, including his sale of the incredible John J. Pittman collection. His comments from his books appear on PCGS CoinFacts as "David Akers 1975/88". David, though now retired, still follows the market and he does make narrative comments on PCGS CoinFacts. His current comments on coins appear on PCGS CoinFacts under the byline of "David Akers".

John Dannreuther John Dannreuther
Founder, Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS)

Expertise: All U.S. coins.
Specialties: U.S. gold and type coins, counterfeit detection, and special strikings.

John Dannreuther grew up in the rare coin business. His father ran trade paper ads in the 1950s as V.J. Dannreuther and Sons. After graduating from the University of Mississippi with a degree in chemistry, John went back into the coin business, becoming a full-time dealer in 1973. Today he is considered one of the top rare coin experts of all time.

In 1986, John was one of the co-founders of Professional Coin Grading Service. In 1997, he was the principal text author of "The Official Guide To Coin Grading And Counterfeit Detection," the Numismatic Literary Guild's "Book Of The Year" award winner for 1998.
Ron Gillio Ron Gillio


Expertise: All U.S. coins and currency, all World coins and currency
Specialties: Rarities and large hoards

Ron Gillio is prehaps the best known coin dealer in the world. He started buying and selling coins in 1961 and since 1970, he has traveled extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia buying and selling U.S. and world coins and currency. In his career, Ron has handled many rarities, including two of the most famous U.S. coin rarities, the 1913 Liberty nickel and the 1894-S dime. He has been one of the largest importers of U.S. gold coins. Since 1970, he has imported more than 1,000,000 U.S. gold coins from various Swiss banks and Central Government Banks in Europe. In 1996, Ron found, negotiated and purchased the famous Wells Fargo hoard, the largest hoard of high quality U.S. $20 gold pieces in history.

Ron Gillio has owned auction companies in the United States, Hong Kong, and Singapore. He put on his first coin show in the San Fernando Valley in 1967 and was the owner of the very important Long Beach coin show (which he now runs on behalf of Collectors Universe) for many years. Ron has perhaps the broadest base of coin and currency knowledge of anyone in the world as he has handled an incredibly wide spectrum of rare coins and currency from virtually every country in the world. In 1983, Ron collaborated with Walter Breen in writing and publishing the standard reference book for California Fraction Gold. Today these historically important coins trade according to their BG (Breen-Gillio) numbers.

Ron was on the Board of the Professional Numismatists Guild for 17 years, serving in all of the PNG's officer positions, including President. In 1995, Ron Gillio was given the PNG's Abe Kosoff Founders Award for his significant contributions to the numismatic community.

Ron Guth Ron Guth
President, CoinFacts.com

Expertise: U.S. and World coins.
Specialties: Encased Postage, Exonumia, U.S. Colonial Coins, German Coins and Stamps, Civil War Commutation Money.

Ron Guth is a licensed Certified Public Accountant who has been involved professionally in numismatics for nearly forty years as a collector, dealer, researcher, and writer. For the past two decades, he served as an auctioneer for virtually every major numismatic firm, selling classic rarities such as the 1913 Liberty Head Nickel and the 1804 Silver Dollar.

In 2001, Ron authored the award-winning Coin Collecting For Dummies. In 2002, he co-authored United States Proof and Mint Sets 1936-2002, which won the Numismatic Literary Guild (NLG) Award for Best Numismatic Investment Book. In 2003, Ron co-authored the best selling book The 100 Greatest U.S. Coins, which went on to win the Professional Numismatic Guild and the NLG Best Book of the Year Awards. In 2003, Ron received the prestigious President's Award from the American Numismatic Association in recognition for his numerous contributions to numismatics. From 2005 to 2008, Ron served as PCGS President before becoming President of CoinFacts.
David Hall David Hall
President, Collectors Universe

Expertise: All U.S. coins.
Specialties: Top quality U.S. type coins, gold, silver dollars, commemoratives, and early 20th century coins.

David Hall arguably understands collectibles markets and how they work better than anyone in the world. He became a full-time rare coin dealer in 1972 and was quickly one of the major players. In the 1980s he was the man behind the major market innovations of the decade; guaranteed buy/sell markets, electronic trading, and his piece de resistance, the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS). In 1990 David Hall was named Orange County "Entrepreneur Of The Year" by Inc. Magazine. The February 20, 1996 issue of Numismatic News called him "the man who changed the rare coin market forever." The July, 1999 issue of Coinage Magazine named David Hall one of the top "Numismatists of the Century."
Jim Halperin Jim Halperin


Expertise: All U.S. coins.
Specialties: Rarities and high-quality coins

Jim Halperin is Co-Chairman and an owner of the world's largest rare coin firm, Heritage Auction Galleries. Jim and the traders under his supervision have transacted billions of dollars in the rare coin business. In the 1970s, Jim was founder and owner of New England Rare Coin Galleries, one of the most influential firms of the decade. In 1983, Jim's business merged with that of his friend and former archrival Steve Ivy to create Heritage Auction Galleries, which would became the world's largest rare coin firm and the third-largest auctioneer (of all things) in the world.

Jim Halperin's coin buying and selling skills are such that he is considered one of the top coin traders of all-time. PCGS founder David Hall once described Jim as the "Michael Jordan of rare coins." Jim's grading skills are such that when PCGS conducted an "open-to-all" "World Series of Grading" contest, Jim finished first in the ultra competitive dealer's division.

Jim's firm Heritage sells more than $700 million a year. Information about Heritage is available at www.HA.com.

Jaime Hernandez Jaime Hernandez
PCGS Price Guide Editor

Expertise: U.S. coins.
Specialties: Copper Coins, Type Coins, and Modern Coins

By the time he reached his early twenties, Jaime Hernandez was successfully buying and selling coins with some of the most prominent dealers and collectors in the country. He became well-known for finding pricing niches in the coin market and being able to capitalize on them. He joined PCGS in 2005, primarily as the modern coin pricing Editor for the PCGS Price Guide. Jaime has written numerous articles on U.S. coins and is also the editor of the PCGS eCollector e-newsletter. He has contributed his numismatic knowledge and interviewing skills to a number of PCGS videos.

Contact Jaime at JHernandez@collectors.com.
Ron Howard Ron Howard
Director of Grading, Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS)

Expertise: All U.S. coins.
Specialties:U.S. type coins, gold, and rarities.

Ron Howard has been a collector/hobbyist since 1959. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Mississippi in 1970 and became a professional numismatist in 1972. Up until 1986, when he joined PCGS as the first grader hired, he was a coin buyer and cataloguer for several major numismatic firms, examining, purchasing, or cataloging virtually all major U.S. collections during that period. He has attended over 300 numismatic conventions. Ron has authored a book on silver dollars and many articles, and has contributed to numerous auction catalogues, including at least four American Numismatic Association auction catalogues.
Don Kagin Don Kagin
CoinFacts Expert

Expertise: All U.S. coins.
Specialties: Pioneer gold, patterns, and varieties

Don Kagin has literally spent his whole life in the coin and currency market. His father, Art, and uncle, Paul, were partners in one of the most influential firms of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, Hollinbeck-Kagin's. Don grew up in the coin and currency market with two of the world's top dealers as his teachers. Don later became the first PhD in numismatics.

Don is the author of Private Gold Coins and Patterns of the United States, the definitive reference work for this important area of the rare coin market. Don has handled virtually every Pioneer gold coin and has helped assemble some of the greatest collections of all-time. Don is considered to be the number one authority on Pioneer gold.

Don's inventory of Pioneer gold and other rare and esoteric coins and currency is available for viewing at www.kagins.com
Julian Leidman Julian Leidman
Numismatic Expert

Expertise: All U.S. coins.
Specialties: U.S. colonial coins, patterns, ultra-rarities, die varieties, Hard Times tokens.

Julian Leidman began his career as a professional numismatic dealer and consultant over 40 years ago. Julian boasts an unbroken record of attendance at every major U.S. coin auction since 1968, where he represented not only himself but as many as 25 bidders at a time. Along the way, Julian handled some of the most important U.S. coins. He assisted in the completion of the finest collection of double eagles ever assembled, he was involved with the 1973 sale of the renowned Wilkison collection of gold pattern coins, and he assembled specialized collections of all early U.S. coins by die variety. Julian consults with corporations, dealers, and collectors to build world-class collections and to promote numismatics. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Professional Numismatists Guild, of which he is a proud member. Contact Julian at Julian@JulianCoin.com or visit his website at www.juliancoin.com.
Kevin Lipton Kevin Lipton


Expertise: All U.S. coins.
Specialties: Rarities and high-quality examples

Kevin Lipton started buying and selling coins at age thirteen and within a few years earned a reputation as one of the great numismatic prodigies. At only 16 years old, he was the full-time numismatic buyer for Steve Ivy Rare Coins of Dallas (the firm that became Heritage). At only seventeen years of age, he started his own company, Kevin Lipton Rare Coins, and was one of the major players in the rare coin market, handling some of the rarest U.S. coins and being involved of many of the largest deals of the era. In 1989, Kevin Lipton was the chief advisor to the American Rare Coin Fund L.P., Kidder Peabody’s $25,000,000 rare coin limited partnership. In 2000, Lipton was the recipient of the Professional Numismatist Guild’s "Sol Kaplan Award" for his help in cleansing the profession of fraud and thievery.

For PCGS CoinFacts, Kevin Lipton is one of the four members of the pricing committee for the Million Dollar Coin Club, the PCGS CoinFacts listing of the approximately 200 U.S. coins now worth a million dollars or more. Kevin is obviously one of the most qualified persons in the world to offer guidance on the pricing of these ultra rare coins.

Kevin Lipton is one of the greatest coin traders of all-time and has handled most of the important United States coin rarities. He has sold over one billion dollars worth of high quality rare coins. Today he remains one of the largest and most active buyers and sellers of U.S. rare coins. He attends every major coin show and participates in every major coin auction. He is one of the top buyers of U.S. coin rarities. Those interested in selling (or buying) U.S. coin rarities can contact Kevin at his office weekdays at 310-712-8118.

Denis W. Loring Denis W. Loring
Numismatic Expert

Expertise: All U.S. coins
Specialties: U.S. Large Cents, particularly Sheldon varieties and Proofs, Capped Bust Quarter Dollars by Browning variety.

Denis W. Loring has been specializing in large cents for over 40 years, and he is one of the top experts of all-time for this specialized field. Denis is a founding member of the Early American Coppers club, and currently serves as its President. He is a Consulting and Contributing Editor for Penny-Wise, the bimonthly journal of EAC, and the author of numerous articles. His cataloging credits include such well-known large cent auctions as Ruby, Norweb, Rasmussen and Husak. He wrote the grading standards for large cents found in the standard ANA grading guide. He is a member of ANA, ANS, NLG, JRCS, NBS and the Rittenhouse Society, and an ANA exhibit judge for both U. S. coins and numismatic literature.

When not working pursuing his numismatic interests, Denis is a Senior Vice President with RGA Reinsurance Company, the nation's largest life reinsurer. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries and an ARIAS-certified arbitrator. He is married to Donna Levin, a cruciverbalist, and lives in Singer Island, Florida.
John Love John Love


Expertise: Morgan and Peace Dollars
Specialties: All Morgan and Peace Dollars

John Love has handled more Morgan and Peace dollars than anyone in the world. He is quite simply "Mr. Silver Dollar." From his shop in Cut Bank, Montana, John began selling silver dollars in the early 1960s. In the 1970s, he was the world's largest silver dollar dealer and was known for two things, selling very high quality and correctly graded silver dollars, and being able to handle exceptionally large deals.

Over the years, John Love has been involved in most of the largest and most famous silver dollar deals. He was one of the three distributors of the incredible 484,000 coin LaVere Redfield dollar hoard in the 1970s. And John has handled many of the finest known examples of all of the important dates in the Morgan and Peace dollar series.

John Love is still active today, buying and selling high quality Morgan and Peace dollars...one at a time, or in huge quantites. John can be contacted at 800-801-4260.
Greg Rohan Greg Rohan


Expertise: All U.S. coins.
Specialties: Rarities and high-quality collections

Greg Rohan is President (and an owner) of the world's largest rare coin firm, Heritage Auction Galleries. At Heritage, Greg oversees the firm's private client group and works with top collectors in every field in which Heritage is active. Actively involved in numismatics for over 35 years, Greg has personally overseen many of the rarest items and most important collections ever handled by the firm, including the purchase and/or sale of the Ed Trompeter Collecction (the world's largest numismatic transaction according to the Guiness Book of World Records), the legendary 1894 San Francisco dime, the 1838 New Orleans half dollar, and the 1804 Silver Dollar (on multiple occasions). During his career, Greg has handled more than $1 billion of rare coins.

For PCGS CoinFacts, Greg is a member of the four person pricing committee for the PCGS CoinFacts Million Dollar Coin Club, a listing (with prices and condition census) of the approximately 200 U.S. coins now valued at $1,000,000 or more. As PCGS founder David Hall said, "Greg Rohan is probably better qualified than anyone in the world to answer the all important question, 'What would this million dollar coin sell for at auction?'"

Greg's firm Heritage sells more than $700 million a year. Information about Heritage is available at www.HA.com, and Greg can be reached at Greg@HA.com.

Mike Sargent Mike Sargent
Head Verifier, Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS)

Expertise: U.S. and World counterfeit coins
Other Areas: U.S. gold coins, territorial gold coins

Mike Sargent is the Head Verifier at PCGS and is a leading expert on counterfeit detection in both US and World coins.  He maintains a large database of known counterfeits and is constantly looking for new pieces to add.  When Mike could find the extra time, he authored many articles on counterfeit detection for the "Rare Coin Market Report".  He enjoys all early US gold coins especially territorial gold coins after spending 8 years working with Harlan White, from San Diego, while receiving valuable experience handling such pieces.  Since joining PCGS early in 1989, Mike has graded over 5 million coins for PCGS and is considered one of the top grading experts in the world.
Laura Sperber Laura Sperber

Expertise: High quality U.S. coins.
Specialties: Gem quality type coins

Laura Sperber became a full-time coin dealer in 1979. Today she is Co-President of Legend Numismatics. Laura's firm is one of the industry leaders in the acquisition and sales of high quality U.S. rare coins, including ultra rarities. Laura has handled many of the rarest and most famous United States coins including the unique 1870-S Liberty Seated half dime, the 1885 Trade dollar, the 1804 silver dollar, and the famous 1894-S dime, of which she has handled three different specimens. She has owned two of the five known specimens of the legendary 1913 Liberty nickel. Laura and Legend Numismatics have helped build some of the finest sets of U.S. coins in existence.

For PCGS CoinFacts, Laura lends her expertise to helping us price the ultra rarities for the PCGS CoinFacts Million Dollar Coin Club. The fine quality coins Legend Numismatics specializes in can be viewed at their website, www.legendcoin.com.

Mitchell Spivack Mitchell Spivack


Expertise: Modern U.S. coins.
Specialties: All modern U.S. coins.

Mitchell Spivack is one of the nation's leading experts in the area of Modern United States coinage (1932-date) having focused his study in that area of numismatics for the past (25) years. Over the past ten years, he has assisted collectors in building top/world class sets of Mint State or Proof Memorial Cents, Jefferson Nickels, Roosevelt Dimes, Washington Quarters (silver and clad), State Quarters, Franklin Half Dollars, Kennedy Half Dollars, Eisenhower Dollars, Susan B. Anthony Dollars, Sacagawea Dollars, Presidential Dollars, Silver and Gold Modern Commemoratives and all Gold Eagle and Platinum Statue of Liberty coins, to name just a few. Yet, Mitchell’s numismatic expertise crosses over to classic coins as well, where he has assisted collectors with building world class/“Hall of Fame” sets of Two Cent pieces, Shield Nickels. Liberty Nickels, Standing Liberty Quarters, Silver Classic Commemoratives, patterns and classic rarities, such as acting as agent for the purchase and sale of the finest known PCGS graded 1894-S Dime for a record $1,900.000 in 2008. Mitchell is an avid collector as well with (70) PCGS registry sets ongoing at this time spanning a variety of coin series from patterns through Presidential Dollars. Mitchell has been PCGS' outside Modern expert for the Price Guide since 2007 and serves as a member of PCGS' Advisory Board. Mitchell received his B.A. from Rutgers University in 1980 and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1983 and is currently an inactive member of the California State Bar. Mitchell’s web site is www.wondercoins.com

You can contact Mitchell at mjcapc@aol.com.
Don Willis Don Willis
President, Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS)

Expertise: U.S. type coins and early issues.
Specialties: Capped Bust half dollars.

Don Willis started collecting coins in 1961 and assembled all the usual sets mostly from circulation. He did some vest pocket dealing in the 1970s and 1980s while pursuing a corporate career in Information Technology and Management. He was a Senior Vice President at a multi-billion corporation until 1995 when he founded an Internet software company. He sold that company in 2002 and became a full time dealer and the owner of Premium Numismatics. While at Premium Numismatics he specialized in pre-1840 U.S. coins. Don joined PCGS as President in October of 2008. He is a life member of the ANA, CSNA, FUN and CSNS.
Doug Winter Doug Winter
Professional Numismatist, Researcher and Author

Expertise: U.S. gold coins
Specialties: Branch mint gold coins

Doug Winter is one of the nation's leading experts in the area of United States gold coinage. He is a dealer who specializes in the branch mint issues from Carson City, Charlotte, Dahlonega and New Orleans and he has written the standard reference books on all of these subjects.

Doug is the owner of Douglas Winter Numismatics and his website, www.raregoldcoins.com, is consistently ranked as one of the best in the coin industry. On Doug’s website you will find his latest market comments along with listings from his inventory of important rare gold coins.

DWN is an authorized PCGS dealer who resides in Portland, Oregon. You can contact Doug via email at dwn@ont.com.
Gordon Wrubel Gordon Wrubel
Senior Grader, Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS)

Expertise: All U.S. coins.
Specialties: U.S. gold coins and early copper.

Gordon Wrubel, Senior Grader at Professional Coin Grading Service , is a well-known expert in rare U.S. coins specializing in top quality rare U.S. gold. He is in charge of our inventory acquisitions and consults with clients who are building some of the world's finest collections. In 1974, he became a full-time coin dealer and has sold over $50,000,000 in valuable coins during his career. He holds a life membership in the American Numismatic Association and in 1980 became a member of the Professional Numismatists Guild. In 1986, Gordon was one of the founders of the Professional Coin Grading Service and served as Director of Grading until 1995. He is also one of the world's top experts in rare "rock and roll" records. Contact Gordon at WrubelG@collectors.com.
PCGS Grading Room PCGS Grading Room
Graders for Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS)

Expertise: Coin grading and counterfeit detection
Specialties: All United States coins
The PCGS graders make occasional comments on specific coins for PCGS CoinFacts whenever they see a coin that starts their hearts pumping. These graders each look at ten thousand or more coins a month so when they are moved to make a comment it is a special coin indeed. The grading room experts include:
  • Ron Howard, PCGS Director of Grading, a former coin dealer with decades of experience buying and selling super high quality coins and rarities. Ron has been grading and authenticating at PCGS since 1986 and has personally grading well in excess of 5 million coins.
  • Gordon Wrubel, PCGS founder and a top expert on gold coins and early copper. Gordon has been grading at PCGS since we opened for business in 1986 and has graded well in excess of 5 million coins.
  • Mike Sargent, PCGS grading expert and Head Verifier. Mike has been with PCGS since 1988 and has graded and verified (the final grading task) over 5 million coins. He is also one of the world’s top counterfeit detection experts.
  • Miles Standish, PCGS Senior Grader and Vice-President and perhaps the most prolific grader in the world. Miles started grading at PCGS in 1987 and has graded more coins than any other professional grader in the world.
  • John Butler, PCGS Grading Expert, started at PCGS in 1997 and has graded several million coins.
  • Mike Faraone, PCGS Expert and variety specialist, started at PCGS in 2004 and has graded close to a million coins for PCGS.
  • Ken Park, PCGS Grading Expert and also a world coin expert, has graded off and on at PCGS since 1995 and has graded over a million coins.
  • Alex Moulinos, PCGS Grading Expert, joined the PCGS grading team in 2006.
  • Lew Larson, PCGS Grading Expert, joined PCGS in 2006.
  • Charlie Browne, PCGS Grading Expert. Charlie was a Senior Grader at PCGS for several years in the 1980s/90s and rejoined PCGS in June, 2009.
  • Andy Vickery, PCGS Grading Expert and bulk grading specialist has been with PCGS since March, 2009.
  • Keith Moon, PCGS Grading expert started at PCGS in July, 2009.
  • Dragon Liu, PCGS Grading Expert and Chinese counterfeit detection expert. After dealing in Chinese coins in his China homeland, Dragon moved to the U.S. in 2007. He joined PCGS in July, 2009.