The Winter 2020-2021 issue of Intelligent Collector from Heritage Auctions has a great interview with collector Bob Simpson, whose amazing U.S. coin collection is being sold. Reprinted with permission from The Intelligent Collector magazine. ©2020 Heritage Auctioneers & Galleries Inc. (HA.com). Thanks.
-Editor
1792 Silver Center cent
Bob Simpson's Sweet Spot
CO-OWNER OF THE TEXAS RANGERS
FINDS NOW IS THE TIME TO RELEASE
ONE OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST
COIN COLLECTIONS
By Robert Wilonsky
What drew you to collecting?
I was probably drawn through the eyes of the child. When we went
on a trip, I'd get Daddy to stop in as many towns as he would
for me, and I'd get rolls of coins to look at until I could get him
to stop again. And so, to that little kid – I was probably 12 – that
created value. A lot of values that you pursue as an adult were
from your youth. A lot of them. People ask me why I was drawn to
oil and gas, because there's no history in my family of it. But when
I was little, we were on the plains around Lubbock. Daddy was a
cotton farmer. We'd drive by a farm and see a lot of pump jacks,
and he said, "Well, you know, I almost bought that farm." And so
he created a value in me that pump jacks meant wealth, oil meant
wealth. Maybe the reason we moved to it. I don't know.
Or is it possible that a reason you followed
your passions and pursuits is because you
didn't want to be one of those guys who said,
Almost. I almost bought that land. I almost
bought that well. I almost bought that coin.
You wanted to be the guy who did, in fact,
buy those things.
Yeah. In a lot of areas, yeah. I know how to squeeze the trigger
while others watch, because that's my nature. I'm a decision-maker,
acquirer, captain of the ship. And so, to me, that's fine. The one
thing I did learn from Daddy is not to worry about risk, because
he was a dryland farmer. That's about the riskiest occupation in
the world.
Did you view coin collecting as risky?
I viewed it as the opposite, as a haven more than a risk asset.
When you were 12 and asking your father
stop in a town to get you a roll of coin, what
were you looking for?
Mercury dimes – the most famous, the 1916-Ds, were being
found. Maybe you had a copper penny. You could still get Walking
Liberty half-dollars. And you had a chance there to get a fairly
expensive one.
So, instead of being a kid buying packs of
baseball cards looking for a Mickey Mantle,
you were getting rolls of coins.
Yeah. And, remember, in terms of risk, there wasn't any.
Right. You're just swapping out a dollar bill or
a $10 bill for a roll of coins.
And you could've made a few hundred bucks. And you're 12.
But how did you know about that at the age
of 12?
One of my brothers was a collector. I was the youngest. I used
to take some of his coins. But it helped my collection. Actually,
though, I paid him back. One thing I learned as a youngster is I
tended to always have money one way or another. I had my own
chickens or cattle or hogs. My brothers, particularly the oldest one,
were always broke.
1804 Plain 4 proof eagle
I'm curious how your perception of collecting has changed from that 12-year-old boy
in the backseat thumbing through rolls just
trying to find that thing that may or may not
be, you know, magical, like the bronze 1943-
D Lincoln penny which I know you thought
you'd found when you were a boy.
I thought, "I'm 16, I think I've got a $40,000 coin, and I'm rich."
But it was valueless. I still have it, though. Because I just held the
dream. There are some qualities that develop. Try to be the best at
what you're doing. And try to acquire the best assets that you can.
And I would caution anybody to stay away from the apparent bargains. If you'd like to have a lake lot, it doesn't do you any good to
buy a lot a block from the lake just because it's cheap.
Whether it's oil and gas or land, I learned over the years to buy the
best. And the best is the most expensive. It'll also do the best in the
future in terms of its financial performance. It goes hand-in-hand.
You're doing yourselves no favor to buy the "bargain."
I assume this applies to coins as well ...
One of my favorite coins is the 1920-S $10 gold piece, probably
the finest $10 Indian piece in the world. It's in the set I'm going to
keep. But, again, the price was painful. I learned a long time ago
that the best usually comes at a price that hurts. And so, I would
tell anybody bidding here, if you see the opportunity that's unique
to you, it's probably going to hurt to buy it, but you'll never regret
it.
The only thing that hurts more is not buying that thing you
desperately want.
You'll never regret it. You can always get more money, but some
of these opportunities, you can't produce another one. That's what
I would share, that wisdom with potential buyers. Here's a guy
that's been doing it a long time in a lot of arenas, including the
Rangers. We bought that at auction. Usually, the good stuff hurts.
How has your philosophy behind your collecting changed since you were a little boy?
I'm more interested in just outright art – the beauty of the collection, of the coin. And what I would hope somebody would say
about my collection is that, first, he had a great eye for beauty as
well as history. I think it speaks for itself.
Do you find that you are more unorthodox
than most when it comes to collecting?
I was ahead of my time, so to speak. I have my own ability to see
beauty. I think it's just the same as artwork. I have artwork. It's
just a natural thing. You either kind of got it or you don't.
Did you find that your ability to recognize
the beauty of a coin was there from the beginning, or was that a thing you also had to
develop?
No, it was natural. You could throw some coins out right here, and
you could tell to some degree, just for starters. I just have a good
eye for it. I didn't think of charging money, like Certified Acceptance Corporation is doing now. But that's really what they're
doing, is to give people assurance.
Let's say you've got a coin graded 66 and a 67 comes along. I can't tell you
how many times I've kept my 66 over the 67 or the 67 over the 68. Is the 68
worth more? That big a gap, it probably is. But the 66 to the 67, when the 66
has more eye appeal, you probably can't sell the 67 for more money than the
66.
It's often said that collectors are just temporary
custodians of history. Is that how you think of coin
collecting?
Yeah. It's true not only with collections but possessions in general. There's a
cycle you go through in life, which is: When you're younger, your perspective
is infinity and you're immortal, and so you're an accumulator. At some point,
it goes the other way, where you think of yourself more as a steward, and
then what's the ultimate resolution of this asset. Should I share with other
collectors? Leave it to my kids? What am I going to do?
We tend to over-clutter our lives and get beyond our capacity to appreciate
what we have. I'm 72, so you reach the age where you're thinking about it
differently. You're more aware that you were the custodian. I've kept a lot of
my coins that I would encourage my children to never sell. But most we're
going to share with the community, that thrill of owning that coin they get
they take home and would like to hold, like to own and then spread the joy.
And that's sincere.
1885 Trade dollar
I keep going back to that 12-year-old in the back
seat of the car on the family trips going through
coins. I wonder what he would say to the man 60
years later who has acquired such an extraordinary
collection and has decided now to part with some
of those coins. I wonder if that kid could've believed
that he could amass such a remarkable collection.
No, he couldn't have seen that coming. But the concept of giving them back
to the community, fellow collectors, is a maturity thing. It would never have
crossed his mind. He wouldn't have worried about it. But I think it's the right
thing to do. I've been wanting to do this for years, to some extent, but I haven't had time. It is a painful process. I spent days doing it. I am selling some
that, on a different day, I might have kept. But there are people that would
appreciate some of these coins.
Well, absolutely.
And cherish them where I don't. It's almost just wrong to be that gluttonous.
Well, it is. But that's part of the joy of collecting, right? I mean, as a collector myself,
when someone says, "I want to sell you this
thing you didn't think you'd ever be able to
acquire," it's thrilling. And that's because
you will cherish it, and you know that one
day you might hand it down or one day you
might sell it to somebody else who loves it
for the same reasons you do.
There are some coins on down the scale, where you think, maybe, "Is there anybody that loves those?" And there are. It's just a
different guy, a different collection, a different viewpoint. There's
no chance I could appreciate that many coins. Some of them, I
would have three or four of the same coin – a coin that I loved
every time I saw it, so I bought it.
The collector's curse. The fear of never seeing something again.
Let somebody else have a go at it. I wasn't buying them because
I thought they were going to make me a fortune. I was buying
them for their beauty. This is a passion. It's a good thing to do.
I hope it continues, and I hope the youngsters pick up the value.
Theirs will be a little different because they didn't sit in the back
of the car looking through rolls of coins, probably. But theirs
will be more of a history, beauty, investment. I'm hoping there
are other people out there that have shared this passion as a
youngster and would like to fulfill their dreams.
To read the complete issue, see:
HERITAGE AUCTIONS | WINTER 2020-2021 INTELLIGENT COLLECTOR
(http://intelligentcollector.com/mag/pdf-versions/2020-2021-winter-issue.pdf)
Wayne Homren, Editor
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