Heritage Auctions
There is a short sentence that could describe Heritage Auctions in a nutshell: Heritage is the world’s largest auction house for collectibles. And there are many other superlatives that Heritage can be proud of: Largest auction house for numismatics, largest auction house for comics… But what does Heritage look like? Ursula Kampmann was there.
What does it actually mean, being the largest auction house for collectibles? And how can a numismatic journalist characterize such an auction house? Perhaps first with a few numbers: In 2024, Heritage sold $1.86 billion (!) in merchandise. More than 32.8 million people visited the Heritage website. Just to put this number into context: It corresponds to almost all the residents of Germany’s two most populous states: North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria. Since its founding, Heritage has conducted more than 13,500 auctions in more than 50 different categories of collectibles.
Nevertheless, coins and banknotes remain the core business. According to Heritage, the total hammer price achieved in this category exceeds the combined total of ALL numismatic auction houses worldwide each year.
It’s clear: Heritage is far more than just a normal coin dealership and auction house. There is a gigantic headquarters in Dallas and ten branch offices: four in the United States, two in Asia, and four in Europe. Last but not least, Heritage constantly seeks customer contact at coin shows. Heritage representatives are present at virtually every major event.
What is more, Heritage isn’t just about numismatics. They offer special auctions for comics, sports memorabilia, and pop culture items. They also auction art and crafts, rare wines and books, jewelry, watches, handbags, minerals, fossils, and much more. A visit to Heritage is like walking through a giant museum, where every object has a price tag attached.
An auction factory
Anyone visiting Heritage’s headquarters for the first time is initially struck by its sheer size. This is where the majority of Heritage’s 530 employees work tirelessly to prepare the approximately 500 auctions held each year. Before the World’s Fair of Money in Oklahoma City, I had the chance to visit the hallowed halls and take a look behind the scenes. Join me on this tour of some of the most spectacular departments.
Sports memorabilia as investment products
Our first stop takes us to the sports memorabilia section. I admit, I lack the background knowledge to be truly enthusiastic about all the jerseys, baseball gloves, and signed baseballs. Americans are different. Michael Provenzale practically raves as he shows us the baseball glove of a highly famous catcher in the United States and points out small, illegal notes this catcher made on his glove decades ago. Specialist Michael Provenzale shares his passion with his customers, whose eyes light up when they catch a glimpse of these revered relics of America’s national sport.
Touching them is only rarely possible, as in the USA, sports memorabilia has become an investment. They are graded like coins, sealed in plastic, and thus serve as an investment that can be converted back into cash at any time. Sports cards, in particular, are almost like stocks today. They rise (and occasionally fall) in value. A potential investor can find out about the current “price” for themselves by using the valuation tools provided by Heritage on its website.
American Comics: Anyone who has old issues can rejoice
The comics that you buy at Heritage are no longer intended for reading, too. While European graphic novels, even in the smallest print runs and of the finest quality, are enthusiastically read by collectors and still trade for double-digit sums, old American comics have established themselves as a pure investment. You have to keep a magazine like that in a safe! Greg Holman reacts uncomprehendingly to my rather naive question as to whether a buyer wouldn’t want to at least leaf through his comic once. Greg is the comics specialist at Heritage and compiles the catalogs. Don’t get me wrong: He’s enthusiastic about what he does, practically beaming as he shows us rare issues and autographs. But reading the original issues would never occur to him. You could just buy the reprints! They exist for all these issues; and reading them is much easier. After all, you don’t want to tarnish your expensive investment with a coffee stain!
Enthusiasm as the basis of success
Anyone who speaks with the Heritage representatives quickly realizes that these specialists combine two skills: They are acutely aware of the rarity and significance of the objects they are dealing with. Yet they are also capable of being enthusiastic about them. You can see the joy Eric Grubbs takes in this unique Rolling Stones record. He enthusiastically explains that it was unavailable for purchase even when it was first released. A normal fan would have been horrified, too, because all the tracks are only briefly played. With such audio samples, the producer tried to draw the attention of influential music editors to the Rolling Stones’ sound.
An unrivaled infrastructure
Anyone who walks through the building with their eyes open will notice not only the enthusiastic specialists. Above all, they will see the many helpful minds working behind the scenes to ensure that these objects are optimally prepared for the modern public. What other auction house, for example, can afford its own printing facility? Heritage has one in-house, allowing it to control the printing process from brochures to auction catalogs. The fact that the printing facility is often inadequate for the needs of the auctioneers because even more catalogs need to be produced is another matter.
I’m allowed a glimpse into the production studio where all the vlogs and podcasts are recorded and edited. Their professionalism rivals that of any local TV or radio station. If you don’t believe me, see for yourself. Watch the video being edited here right now. It’s an interview with Mexican director Guillermo del Toro, who won an Oscar in 2018 and is selling his collection through Heritage.
I’m deeply impressed by the photographic department, where several photographers spend their entire day capturing a wide variety of objects in the right light. We all know how difficult it is to photograph a coin properly. Now imagine having to photograph not only coins, but also meteorites, handbags, wine bottles, and football shirts! And all in such a way that the image accurately reflects the object and, moreover, makes you want to buy it.
Success doesn’t come overnight
When you see what Heritage Auctions represents today, it’s hard to believe that the auction house is actually a product of the crisis. When Steve Ivy transformed his coin business into Heritage Auctions in 1976, the numismatic boom of the 1970s was more or less over. Through the merger with Jim Halperin’s New England Rare Coin Galleries, Heritage Auctions gained the market presence it needed to weather the difficult 1980s and, unlike many other coin dealers, grow. Even then, Heritage placed great value on internationality. The multilingual Marc Emory, who acquired coins for Heritage in Europe, became well-known among coin enthusiasts.
One of the most important decisions made by Heritage management was to create a website as early as 1996. This made Heritage an extremely early adopter of online business. By comparison, Sixbid wasn’t founded until five years later, in 2001, the year Heritage held its first comic book auction.
Heritage consistently relied on collectors being interested in more than one area: diversifying instead of specializing. In 2003, the memorabilia department was added. This brought Heritage a lot of media attention, and that was very useful. Let’s remember: the decisive tipping point of coin prices dates back to 9/11 2001. From then onwards, many investors were looking for interesting investments to diversify their portfolios. Collectibles were interesting and promised a decent increase in value. Furthermore, from the mid-1980s onwards, grading institutes made it possible for unexperienced buyers to purchase – initially – just coins, later increasingly more and more diverse collectibles. Collecting became synonymous with investment in the USA. This dramatically increased the number of potential customers. The fact that the media promoted the name of Heritage Auctions reporting about record results for pop culture objects around the world was more than helpful.
This was also good for the Numismatics Department, which remains the core business of Heritage, its bread and butter, so to speak. And that won’t change, even if completely different objects cause a sensation in the media. Just remember the $32.5 million (including premium) paid for the red shoes worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz . “
Heritage’s management proudly states on its website that more than 90,000 consignors have entrusted their treasures to them since 1976. The fact that more than 94.8% of consignors consigned multiple times is evidence that Heritage has met their expectations.
If you would like to learn more about Heritage, please visit its website and read the detailed Wikipedia article .
For European clients, there is a separate website for Heritage Auctions Europe.
Heritage Auctions has a very interesting YouTube channel where you can learn a lot about modern collectibles.
My favorite vlogs are about “Rosebud“.
Text and images: Ursula Kampmann
