Superior Galleries Launches New Website, Hires New Manager, and Starts a New Era

By CoinLink on Thursday, May 6, 2010
Filed Under: Dealer News, General Collecting, Press Releases, Superior Galleries

On April 30, 2010, a new website was launched, and it reflects the wide variety of products and services that Superior offers. The Superior coin firm in Los Angeles County has gone through several transformations over the decades.

It was founded by Isadore Goldberg about 1930. Superior Stamp & Coin and Superior Galleries were operated by the Goldberg family until the early 1990s. It was later owned by A-Mark and then Tangible Asset Galleries (TAGZ).

In 2007, Superior Galleries was purchased by the Dallas Gold & Silver Exchange (DGSE). In 2009 and 2010, a series of changes were implemented, including the closing of the longstanding auction division.

Coin business veteran Aaron Ware has been named the ‘Numismatic Manager’ of Superior. DGSE has long been very active in markets for ‘high end’ watches, jewelry, and bullion. At the relatively new location in Woodland Hills, CA, Superior deals in a variety of valuable goods, including, of course, coins, paper money, and other numismatic objects.

For more information about the DGSE and the acquisition of Superior Galleries, click here to read Greg Reynolds’ interview of Kris Oyster, the managing director of numismatics for all DGSE companies.

Aaron Ware reminds everyone that “coins are a major portion of the business. We do have a resident expert in diamonds and high-end watches. Our focus is on U.S. coins; we will stock American coins and paper money from colonial times to the present.”

From 1993 to 1998, Ware and Tony Mitchell owned a coin store, Classic Coin and Bullion, in Reno, Nevada. Next, Ware was a partner in a coin store in Carson City, OldMint Coins. During most of the last decade, Aaron was Director of Operations for Northern Nevada Coins. Ware specializes in Carson City Mint coins and in silver dollars, “stuff that you would expect to see often in Nevada.” Over the years, he gained experience in “all series of U.S. coins,” from the 1790s to current issues. Now, at Superior, he has “shifted focus a little. We don’t see as much CC gold, and we do see a lot more early gold.” Already, at Superior, Ware has handled a fair number of pre-1840 U.S. gold coins, some of which are now available.

Ware has chosen not to collect coins because he does not wish “to compete with the customers.” He does “collect stuff [relating to] World’s Fairs and Expos, tickets, brochures, books, and primarily medals.”

As for the future of Superior, Ware says, “Now that we are no longer in the auction business, [the emphasis] is on offering a large and diverse inventory at very competitive fixed prices. We have brought old Superior clients back and we have rapidly been expanding our customer base.” While the old Superior offered mostly, expensive, high grade coins, Ware reports that “we offer coins in all grade ranges, everything from nice Almost Good coins all the way up to MS-67+ coins; we are now able to serve the needs of all variety of collectors.” Ware is “really pleased to be at the vanguard of a new era at Superior Galleries.”