Coin dealer, collector, PCGS co-founder, and newsletter writer. Born February 25. 1942. Died January 18, 2008. Education: University of Oklahoma. Career: Fred Sweeney Rare Coins, early-to-mid 1970s; later, A-Mark, Steve Ivy Rare Coins, and New England Rare Coins, Professional Coin Grading Service. Numismatic Affiliations: ANA. National Silver Dollar Roundtable.
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Jon Bruce Amspacher, known professionally as Bruce, was born in Norman, Oklahoma on February 25, 1942. He lived in Norman for 28 years, and attended the University of Oklahoma, where he earned a bachelors degree in English.
After college, Amspacher went to work as a coin dealer. He began dealing coins in 1969, and a year later he moved to Kansas City to work for Fred Sweeney.
After a few years, he moved on to work at several leading firms, including A-Mark in Los Angeles, California; Steve Ivy Rare Coins in Dallas, Texas; and New England Rare Coins in Boston, Massachusetts.
By the early 1980s, Amspacher was a leading dealer in high-end silver dollars. He was a frequent contributor to the Coin Dealer Newsletter and regularly published his own newsletter, The Bruce Amspacher Investment Report.
In 1985, Bruce Amspacher teamed up with coin dealer David Hall and a group of other dealers to found Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS). According to Hall, Amspacher came up with the name for the company.
Amspacher was a noted collector of not just coins, but of tokens, medals, knives, and Hummel figurines. He was also an avid reader, bowler, and watcher of Jeopardy.
On January 18, 2008, Amspacher, who had lived with diabetes throughout his adult life, died of complications from the disease.
In 2020, Bruce Amspacher was inducted into the PCGS Coin Dealer Hall of Fame.
Bruce Amspacher Video Highlights
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