Costa Mesa, CA – Stack’s Bowers Galleries is honored to have been selected to auction the coin collection of the late T. Boone Pickens, influential businessman and financier. Pickens gained recognition in the 1980s through his impact on the oil industry and eventually earned the nickname “Oracle of Oil.” He went on to apply his expertise in many other areas of the energy industry, advocating for natural gas, wind power, nuclear power and other alternative energies. 1n 1997, he founded the hedge fund BP Capital Management (originally BP Energy Fund), which he chaired for over two decades before he closed the company in 2018. In his later years, he became respected for his generous philanthropy and even signed on to the Giving Pledge in 2010 at the behest of his friends Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. Pickens was quoted as saying “I enjoy making money, and I enjoy giving it away.”
Pickens was also a passionate collector in many areas and his art collection was sold by Christie’s in 2020 for over $20 million, a portion of which was donated to charity. Pickens’ interest in numismatics was borne out of practicality and began with collecting unusual coins out of his pocket change, including such popular issues as Buffalo nickels and Morgan and Peace silver dollars. This fascination grew into a purposeful acquisition of Proof sets and Mint sets for himself and his family. Pickens’ mother, Grace, also collected coins which he eventually inherited. T. Boone Pickens passed away in September 2019 at the age of 91 after a long and fulfilled life. By this point his coin collection filled four bankers’ boxes and exhibited an incredible breadth of types and international currencies. Stack’s Bowers Galleries is proud to be able to share his collecting legacy through a special auction of these important numismatic mementos.
Coins from the Collection of T. Boone Pickens will be presented by Stack’s Bowers Galleries in their December 2022 Collectors Choice Online Auction, with live bidding taking place on December 13 and hosted on the firm’s website StacksBowers.com. The Pickens Collection spans a wide range of numismatic categories with a focus on Liberty Head gold and modern U.S. commemorative issues, as well as international items from Austria, Canada, Denmark, Great Britain, France, Mexico, the Ottoman Empire, Russia, and several other countries. For more information about the Collection of T. Boone Pickens or to consign your collection to a future auction, contact Stack’s Bowers Galleries at info@StacksBowers.com or call (800) 566-2580.
About Stack’s Bowers Galleries
Stack’s Bowers Galleries conducts live, Internet and specialized auctions of rare U.S. and world coins and currency and ancient coins, as well as direct sales through retail and wholesale channels. The company’s nearly 90-year legacy includes the cataloging and sale of many of the most valuable United States coin and currency collections to ever cross an auction block — The D. Brent Pogue Collection, The John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, The Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection, The Harry W. Bass, Jr. Collection, The Joel R. Anderson Collection, The Norweb Collection, The Cardinal Collection, The Sydney F. Martin Collection and The Battle Born Collection — to name just a few. World coin and currency collections include The Pinnacle Collection, The Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection of World Gold Coins, The Kroisos Collection, The Alicia and Sidney Belzberg Collection, The Salton Collection, The Wa She Wong Collection, and The Thos. H. Law Collection.
The company is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, with galleries in New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. Offices are also located in New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Virginia, Hong Kong and Paris. Stack’s Bowers Galleries hosts an annual Global Showcase in August featuring United States coins and currency, Ancient coins and World coins and currency in its Costa Mesa auction gallery. They are also the Official Auctioneer for several important numismatic events, including the New York International Numismatic Convention, the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Spring, Summer and Winter Expos, the Spring and Fall Hong Kong shows, and the Maastricht Paper Money Shows.
