IRA GOLDBERG

Ira Goldberg has been a professional numismatist for over 45 years. He currently co-owns and operates Ira and Larry Goldberg Coins & Collectibles, Inc. in Los Angeles, California. In the company’s June 1, 1999 auction, a World Record was set as a $20 gold 1907 Ultra High Relief hammered for $1, 210,000, becoming the first gold coin ever to realize over one million dollars at public auction. Prior to the formation of his own company in 1998, Mr. Goldberg served as Vice President of Superior, an A-Mark Co. (1994-1998), and prior to 1994, as owner and President of Superior Stamp and Coin Company (Beverly Hills, CA), which, at that time, was one of the largest numismatic and philatelic auction houses in the world; it was founded by Mr. Goldberg’s grandfather in 1931.

Ira is a widely recognized expert on United States coinage from Colonials through Modern issues; he is also a widely-respected authority on ancient Greek, Roman and Judean coinages and antiquities, as well as world gold, world crowns and minors. In addition, Mr. Goldberg has given lectures on a variety of numismatic subjects to coin clubs and numismatic organizations. He has also written feature articles for The Numismatist, Coin World, Numismatic News, The Manuscript Society, and other industry publications, and has been a contributor for many years to two of the most important numismatic reference books in the industry: The Guide Book of United States Coins (“The Red Book”) and The Handbook of United States Coins (“The Blue Book”). In the field of ancient coins, he is a consultant and contributor to A Guide to Biblical Coins and, with Larry Goldberg, co-edited Money of the World – Coins that Made History (Whitman), a book which won the NLG Award for Best World Coin Book for 2008.

Ira Goldberg is a licensed and bonded auctioneer in California and New York, and is an expert cataloger. He has served as consultant and advisor to many famous personalities such as Buddy Ebsen, Joshua Heifetz, and Los Angeles Lakers’ owner Jerry Buss, building and selling numismatic collections for them, and he has handled America’s single most important numismatic item, the King of  Siam Set, three different times – once privately and twice at auction. In 2008, the King of Siam Set brought a record-breaking $8.5 million. On May 28, 2009, Ira and Larry Goldberg auctioned The Millennia Collection, which realized over $24 million, the most a World Coin Auction has brought in a single day.

Ira served on the board of directors of the Professional Numismatic Guild (member #153) for the maximum ten-year limit and as its President (1993-1995). He has also served on various committees for the American Numismatic Association, in addition to serving as an authenticator for their authentication service. Mr. Goldberg is a life member of the American Numismatic Association (LM-838), the Numismatic Literary Guild, the Manuscript Society, and other trade organizations. He has acted as a consultant to the Columbus-America Discovery Group regarding the find aboard the S.S. Central America, to date the largest recovery of United States gold coins of any treasure salvage operation, and is a partner in the California Gold Marketing Group, the entity responsible for the sale of the treasure. In addition, Mr. Goldberg is responsible for his company’s successful ventures into other areas of the collectibles business. He has expertise in such diverse fields as historical manuscripts, Hollywood and sports memorabilia, animation art, modern and antique jewelry, and selected areas of fine art.

Ira Goldberg has also been an appraiser for many of the major banks and insurance companies in California. He has appeared as an expert witness, both in deposition and in court, numerous times, including appearances as appointee of the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Service, and the I.R.S. He currently teaches “Coins that Made History” at the ANA Summer Seminar. On Thursday, January 6th, 2011, Ira received a Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Numismatic Society, for his outstanding contributions to the Numismatic Community.