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The Binion
Collection |
| BINION COLLECTION |
COIN
MARKET CONTRIBUTION |
OLD WEST HISTORY |
SILVER DOLLARS |
Ordering Information |
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A coin company has sold to private collectors most of the 100,000 silver dollars that the late Horseshoe executive Ted Binion had buried in his secret desert vault near Pahrump. "The coins are special," said Mark Albarian, president and chief executive officer of Goldline International of Santa Monica, Calif. "Many people purchased them not because Ted Binion owned them but because they wanted the coins." The Binion collection, which was offered for sale in January, contains mostly uncirculated Morgan and Peace silver dollars that carry dates between 1878 and 1935. Some of the pieces were of such good quality that they sold for $10,000 each, Albarian said. "The sales have been brisk," he added. "Each coin was independently graded. There are not many uncirculated, 100-year-old silver dollars around." Albarian said he noted high interest among Nevada buyers, who may have made purchases because of the notoriety of the Binion case. Binion was found dead in his Las Vegas home in September 1998. His live-in girlfriend, Sandy Murphy, was sentenced to a minimum of 22 years in prison in connection with his death. Her co-defendant and lover, Rick Tabish, received a 25-year minimum sentence. Tabish was arrested two days after Binion's death as he tried to dig up Binion's silver, which had been buried in a desert vault near Pahrump. He had constructed the vault for Binion. The Binion coins were authenticated by the Numismatic Guaranty Corp., one of the nation's leading facilities for the inspection, authentication and grading of coins. The firm sealed each silver dollar in a tamper-proof plastic holder showing the coin's year, mint of issue and grade. Goldline said many of the Binion dollars were kept in bags and left untouched for years in a walk-in freezer at the Horseshoe. The dollars were used in casino play before 1964, when the government reduced the silver content in silver dollars. Albarian said the coins were a good investment for Binion, who apparently began collecting as a child. He said Binion paid face value for some of the coins back in the early 1960s. Spectrum, a coin wholesale company in Orange County, Calif., bought the collection and hired Goldline to market the coins to the public. Information on the coins can be found at the Web site www.binioncollection.com. Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Binion
Collection - Binion
History - Coin
Market Contribution © 2010 Goldline International, Inc. |
