Steinberg, Gilbert (1920-2008)

by Hadrien Rambach

“A flirtation with stamps ended when an air conditioner broke and soaked his collection” said an article, published in October 1989 when his US coins were sold. Gil Steinberg, like many US collectors, had collected American currency, medallions and tokens, before building the collection of Roman coins which Numismatica Ars Classica and Spink Taisei sold in November 1994. His obituary in The New York Times tells of his success story, having bought Lee’s Art Shop on West 57 Street in 1951 – a small business of only 500 square feet at the time, and developing it over the years into Lee’s Art Shop and Lee’s Lighting and Furniture Studio, a business employing over 100 employees and occupying 32,000 square feet at 220 West 57 Street.

Gilbert Steinbergs collection of Roman coins was sold by Numismatic Ars Classica in 1994.

Bibliograpy:

  • Hadrien Rambach, “Provenance glossary”, in Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 91: the George W. La Borde collection of Roman aurei – part I, Zurich, 23 May 2016, pp. [67]-[79].
  • Hadrien Rambach, “Provenance glossary”, in Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 99: the George W. La Borde collection of Roman aurei – part II, Zurich, 29 May 2017, pp. 47-63.
  • Hadrien Rambach, “Provenance glossary”, in Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 105: the George W. La Borde collection of Roman aurei – part III, Zurich, 9 May 2018, pp. 82-105.

 

This article was first published in a catalogue of auction house Numismatica Ars Classica.