Ambio Rare Coins - ARareCoins.com

Jeff Ambio - President of ARC

Jeff Ambio holds a Masters of Business Administration from Pepperdine University and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Cornell University. Upon his graduation from Cornell in 1998, Jeff chose to pursue a life-long love of coins. Since then, his passion for coin collecting has blossomed into a successful and rewarding career. Indeed, few numismatic professionals can lay claim to such a prolific career in so short a period of time. His numismatic resume reads like a “Whos’ Who” of the most prestigious auction houses and rare coin dealerships in the United States, and his writings provide collectors with volumes of much-needed numismatic knowledge and information.

Jeff launched his professional numismatic career in 1999 when he went to work for Heritage Numismatic Auctions (now Heritage Auction Galleries) in Dallas, Texas. There he served as both a Cataloger and the Catalog Production Manager for the firm’s U.S. coin catalogs, handling thousands of rare and important United States coins. He also designed and wrote many of the marketing pieces produced by the firm during his tenure.

After a short stint as a Cataloger with Superior Galleries of Beverly Hills, Jeff moved to California permanently in 2004 to accept the position of Director of Numismatics with Bowers and Merena Auctions of Irvine. He later served as Vice President of Numismatics at Rare Coin Wholesalers of Dana Point, California.

In addition to extensive numismatic cataloging and marketing experience, Jeff is a widely read numismatic writer credited with ground-breaking work in the field. His first book, Collecting & Investing Strategies for United States Gold Coins, was published early in 2008. Delving deeper into the U.S. gold series, Jeff then completely updated and revised David W. Akers’ classic work A Handbook of 20th-Century United States Gold Coins: 1907-1933. His third and most current book, Collecting & Investing Strategies for Walking Liberty Half Dollars, is the first book published on this important and popular series in 15 years.

Jeff has also authored numerous articles. A market analysis entitled, “Profit from the Central America Treasure?—Previous Coin Hoards Suggest a Surprising Opportunity” appeared in the February, 2001 edition of Rare Coin Investment Trends. Turning his attention to proof Seated Dollars, Jeff authored “Proof 1840 Seated Dollar Restrikes” for Volume 28, Issue #83 of The Gobrecht Journal. This article was reprinted in the May 7, 2002 edition of Numismatic News under the title “Restrike Proof 1840 Seated Dollars Possible.” Two follow-up articles on proof Seated Dollars, “Reverse Die Dates 1854 Dollar Restrike to 1859” and “Restrike Proof 1856 Seated Dollar Confirmed,” appeared in the June 4 and July 30, 2002 editions of Numismatic News.

Works published in Coin World include “The Last Double Eagle” (co-authored), which appeared in the June 3, 2002 edition. Two additional articles, “Unique Indian Eagle May Have Been First” (November 11, 2002) and “Republic Shipwreck Yields RPM $20” (February 7, 2005) garnered front-page exposure.

Jeff’s received an Extraordinary Merit Award from the Numismatic Literary Guild (NLG) in August, 2002 for his article titled “Proof 1840 Seated Dollar Restrikes” that appeared in The Gobrecht Journal.

Early in his career, Jeff’s achievements as a numismatist were honored with a scholarship to attend the American Numismatic Association (ANA) Summer Seminar. In 2007, he came full circle, this time returning to the ANA Summer Seminar as an instructor and originator of the course “Attributing United States Coins.” Jeff is a member and supporter of the ANA and the NLG.

In 2007, Jeff returned to his lakeside home in Texas, where he founded Ambio Rare Coins and earned his license as an auctioneer (TX # 16420). He also continues to work as a technical and marketing consultant for rare coin auction houses, dealerships and brokerage firms across the United States. His recent cataloging work has expanded to include United States currency as well as Ancient and World coins.

Jeff is the loving husband of Misty Renee, and the proud father of one son, Tristan Drew. In his spare time, he enjoys freshwater fishing and studying European military history.