Berman Neil S. - Coin Collecting For Dummies

Neil S. Berman: Neil S. Berman has been an expert numismatist and professional rare coin dealer since 1968. Coming back to the United States from Israel at the end of 1967, he apprenticed to the world-renowned Dutch numismatist and coin auctioneer Hans M. F. Schulman. He incorporated as Neil S. Berman, Inc., in 1968. In 1974, Neil became an associate of Metropolitan Rare Coin Company of New York. For the next several years, he represented Arthur and Donald Kagin of Des Moines, Iowa, then the largest coin dealer in the Midwest, as a purchasing agent. Later he represented Superior Galleries under the Goldbergs, also as a purchasing agent. In 1979, Neil, with his brother Jed, founded First Federal Coin Company, the first East Coast coin company to sell rare coins into IRA, Keogh, and pension plans. From 1983 until 1990, he was the purchasing agent for Asset Services, Inc., the largest coin company serving the financial community. Neil donated his large collection of German and Swiss silver minor coins to the American Numismatic Society (ANS) in 1989. In 1997, he received the American Numismatic Association (ANA) Service Award from ANA President David Ganz. In 2005 and 2006, he was associated again with Superior Galleries of Beverly Hills, this time under the ownership of numismatist Silvano DiGenova.

Neil catalogued the U.S. gold in the 1977 Kagins ANA Coin Auction Sale, the first New York coin auction sale in 1981 of Spink and Sons, Englands oldest and largest coin dealer, and a coin auction sale by Superior Rare Coin Galleries of Beverly Hills in 2006.

Neil has been published in Barrons,Trusts & Estates,The National Law Journal,The Financial Planner,Pensions World, and Executive Jeweler. In 1987, he wrote, with Hans Schulman, The Investors Guide to United States Coins, which sold 40,000 copies and received a Numismatic Literary Guild award for Best Investment Book. In 2007, he wrote the second edition of the book with Silvano DiGenova. Neil has just completed a book on rare coin auctions.

Neil has done coin appraisals for the U.S. Postal Service, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, the New York State Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Securities and Exchange Commission, American Express Company, Bank Leumi Trust Company, Chase Manhattan Bank, European American Bank, Morgan Guaranty Trust Company, Franklin Mint, and Seamans Bank for Savings, among others.

Neil has appeared and testified as an expert witness before the U.S. House of Representatives House Banking Committee and the Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs and Coins on H.R. 6058 and H.R. 6158. He has also testified in open court as an expert witness for the U.S. Postal Service.

He has, in the past, been a contributor to the Guide Book of United States Coins, by R. S. Yeoman, and John W. Dannreuthers masterpiece Early U.S. Gold Coin Varieties.

Neil is married to Susan Kerner Berman, a successful Realtor in northern Westchester County. They have two children, a dog, and a cat. He serves as a member of the Antenna Advisory Board of the Town of Lewisboro, New York. You can visit Neil at his Web site at www.neilsberman.com or e-mail him at neil@neilsberman.com .

Ron Guth: Ron Guth is a jack-of-all-trades and master of one numismatics. Ron is a certified public accountant (CPA), a licensed auctioneer, and a writer, but the bulk of his time is spent on his true love coin collecting and dealing. Rons battle with coin fever began when he was 12 years old, and hes never gotten over it. After a decade of collecting, Ron went professional in 1976, when he began working for a local coin shop in Tampa, Florida. In 1978, he partnered with David Goldsmith and purchased the Bay Area Coin Exchange in Tampa. Ron and Dave blasted through the silver boom, and then split up in 1981, when Ron moved to Evansville, Indiana (his wifes hometown), where he set up shop on First Avenue. In 1984, Ron formed Mid-American Rare Coin Auctions with Jeff Garrett of Lexington, Kentucky. The company quickly established itself as an innovative leader in the industry and, within the first year, became the fifth largest rare coin auction company in America. In 1988, Ron sold his interest in the company, went back to school to finish his bachelors degree in accounting and finance, and has since become a numismatic consultant and a major dealer in German coins.