July 19, 2018 – Longtime ancient coin specialist David S. Michaels has returned to the Classical Numismatic Group of Lancaster, Pennsylvania and London, England as of July 1st, 2018. Michaels, who previously worked for CNG from 1999-2001, has 30 years of experience in both running his own company and as a director with three of the largest auction houses in the field, most recently as Director of Ancient Coins for Heritage Auctions from 2010 to 2017.
David S. Michaels returns to CNG to help reestablish their presence at U.S. coin shows.
“I could not be happier to be rejoining this extraordinary firm,” Michaels said. “It will be my goal to use everything that I have learned over three decades to help maintain and grow CNG’s leadership in this field.”
“Dave will be helping to reestablish our presence at the major U.S. coin shows, something we have neglected over the last few years, as we focused on our auction business,” stated Victor England, Senior Director of CNG. Michaels will attend around 10 major U.S. coin/trade shows each year, beginning with the American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money in Philadelphia from August 14-18, 2018. In addition to attending shows, Michaels will work closely with Senior Directors Victor England and Eric McFadden, and the CNG numismatic staff, to secure consignments for future electronic, mail-bid, and live auctions, including Triton XXII, scheduled for January 2019.
Michaels has possessed a lifelong fascination with ancient history, starting with a viewing of the movie “Cleopatra” at the age of six in 1964. “For some reason those scenes of Greco-Roman grandeur just stuck with me and the Ancient World has been my passion ever since,” he said. Michaels will be using this passion to write and create more historical content for CNG’s auction catalogs and website. Originally a journalist, a chance purchase of an ancient Roman coin during a visit to Italy in 1985 turned his life around. “Within three years I’d started a little coin company, Imperial Coins, to finance my collecting habit,” he recalled. In 1988, he quit his job as a newspaper editor to become a fulltime coin expert with Worldwide Treasure Bureau in Visalia, California. In 1991, he started Palladium Numismatics, which he operated for eight years before joining Classical Numismatic Group as Sales Director in 1999, a time when CNG was pioneering Internet coin sales for ancient coins and hitting its stride with the Triton series of auctions in New York.
In 2002, Michaels moved back to California to join Freeman & Sear as Vice President of Sales. During his eight-year tenure, he created and managed the firm’s website, brokered its foundation, with Harlan J. Berk, Ltd., of the Gemini series of auctions, and was the company’s main public face at coin shows. In 2010, Michaels moved to Heritage Auctions as Director of Ancient Coins, where he helped the Dallas-based firm develop a major presence in a field it had never previously tapped. Over his nearly eight years with Heritage, the World/Ancient coin department sold more than $62 million worth of ancients. An expert on the ancient Roman military, Michaels has authored several novels and magazine articles on historical themes. In 2002, he cofounded the Legion VI Victrix historical reenactment group, which has appeared in numerous television documentaries and given presentations at the world-famous Getty Villa Museum in Malibu, CA. His wife, Lorie Ann Hambly, is also an ancient historian and author. He has three daughters, Alexandria, Arianna and Julienne, all of whom reside in California.
To hear more about Michaels’ passion for coins and to find out which coin initiated his career in numismatics, watch this video that was recorded during his time as the Director of Ancient Coins at Heritage Auctions.
David S. Michaels can be reached at his e-mail address.
And if you want to see what the Legion VI Victrix historical reenactment group does, check their Facebook page or their website.