COSTA MESA, CA.- Stack’s Bowers Galleries announced the sale of the spectacular collection built by Utah businessman and Utah Jazz owner Larry H. Miller for $23,636,374 (all prices include buyer’s premium). The collection was sold in two auctions. Part 1, offered in November, realized $9,057,072, while Part 2 realized $14,579,302.

Assembled quietly over many decades, the Larry H. Miller Collection included an astounding array of rarities that are found only in the most legendary cabinets in U.S. numismatics. Offered publicly for the first time by Stack’s Bowers Galleries, the Miller Collection has joined the ranks of such revered names as Garrett, Norweb, Eliasberg, Pogue, and other luminaries.

Highlights from the Larry H. Miller Collection Part 2 included such rarities such as:

• 1804 Draped Bust Silver Dollar. Class I Original. Proof-65 (PCGS). Ex Stickney-Eliasberg.: Realized $3,360,000 (https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-P97MV/1804-draped-bust-silver-dollar-class-i-original-bb-304-proof-65-pcgs-ogh)




• 1794 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar. MS-62 (NGC). Ex Willing-Flannagan.: Realized $1,050,000 (https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-P97N6/1794-flowing-hair-silver-dollar-bb-1-b-1-rarity-4-ms-62-ngc)

• 1894-S Barber Dime. Proof-65 (NGC). CAC. Ex Eliasberg.: Realized $1,440,000 (https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-P97M9/1894-s-barber-dime-proof-65-ngc-cac)

Accompanying the world-class rarities in the firm’s December 2020 sale was a complete set of circulation-strike Morgan silver dollars that rivals the very finest ever assembled, and which crossed the block in November. The set showcased an incredible proportion of condition census examples, many with provenance to the famous sets assembled by Louis Eliasberg and Jack Lee.

Comprising nearly 1,600 coins, the Larry H. Miller Collection was presented in two separate sales on November 12 and December 17, 2020. Printed catalogs were produced for each offering and are sure to become treasured references for generations of future collectors. The Stack’s Bowers Galleries sale of the Larry H. Miller Collection attracted advanced collectors across all categories of U.S. numismatics and was among the most significant numismatic happenings of 2020.

Larry H. Miller was an entrepreneur and philanthropist most famous as the owner of the National Basketball Association’s Utah Jazz from 1985 up to his death in 2009. He also founded the Megaplex chain of movie theaters and owned over 60 car dealerships throughout the Western United States, among many other successful ventures. A lifelong resident of Salt Lake City and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, he grew his business empire over 30 years with the help of his wife, Gail. Born into a modest middle-class family, Larry’s story of self-made success embodies the very essence of the American Dream.

By the time Larry passed away in 2009, he had created one of the finest collections known. He instructed his wife to sell the coins at his passing but knowing how much they meant to him, she could not bear to part with them. However, after 11 years, she decided it was time to do something else with the value invested in the collection, and that is what precipitated its sale at this time. The proceeds from the sale of Larry’s coins are being donated to Intermountain Health to build one of the finest Children’s Hospitals west of the Mississippi in Lehi, Utah. Larry would agree with this decision--blessing lives was, is and will continue to be, the legacy of Larry and Gail Miller.