Collector Spotlight: Jim Gately

Jim Gately was attending St. James Elementary School in Southern California in the 1960s when his love for coins was first kindled. “Every Thursday for lunch, we had what was called ‘Hot Dog Day.’ This was a very special treat, as my school had no cafeteria or indoor eating area,” he recalled.

“All the kids would bring spare change and buy hot dogs and chips. It was a great treat, and all the kids loved it! Well, my mom was the treasurer of the school, and she would bring all the coins home that night to deposit in the bank the next day. My dad was a coin nut, so we would sit at the dining room table that evening and go through these coins. I had no idea what to look for, as I was only about nine or 10 years old, but to handle and swap out coins that were decades old was very exciting and fun.” A young Jim sought many of the classic U.S. coins from the earlier decades of the 20th century, though he gravitated toward Buffalo Nickels.

He rode his bike to several coin shops in Southern California over the next few years, purchasing many of the Full Horns Buffalo Nickels he needed to round out his collection. “Then one day, it happened. A coin shop owner brought me behind the counter and said, ‘You have to see this nickel.’ So, I took a look at it and almost dropped to the floor. It was an uncirculated Buffalo Nickel, and I had never seen anything so beautiful!” He added, “As a kid new to the hobby, I had no idea there were uncirculated Buffalos still around, and I still remember that moment almost 60 years later!”

He collected into his teen years and ended up focusing on other aspects of life as he got into high school years. Then about 20 years ago, his passion for Buffalo Nickels stirred once again. “This is when I learned about third-party grading, ‘slabs,’ PCGS, and Registry Sets. It was another ‘WOW’ moment, and I got back into my pursuit of Buffalos.” He became a PCGS Set Registry member around 2006, inspired by the Buffalo Nickel sets of Tom McCarroll and Gerald Forsythe, which he thought were “two sets that I realistically felt were unbeatable.”

And yet, he beat them. “The PCGS Set Registry has 13 different sets of Buffalo Nickels – eight major sets and five specialty sets. My Buffalo Nickels are #1 in every set category.” While his Buffalo Nickels are known for their magnificent toning, he said his original aim was completely different. “I started out trying to collect blast-white Buffalos,” he remarked. “I soon found out that toned Buffalos added another level of beauty to these coins. So, I opened my search to include toned Buffalos.”

He is quite the variety enthusiast, having built a complete variety set, short of one he noted PCGS has yet to grade: the 1915 S/S RPM FS-502. “I am not sure that one does exist! It is the only Buffalo I am missing.” He also has several other notable PCGS Registry Sets, including a Standing Liberty Quarter set and Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle set. While he owns some of the most beautiful examples of early 20th-century U.S. coinage known, he hopes to one day add some early pattern strikes to his prestigious collection.

Among his other interests is building a trio of sets centered around money from Ireland and England during the period of 1689-90. “These sets are of Irish Gunmoney and are of great historical importance in Ireland and England,” he said. “These coins are not too expensive and very interesting to collect.”

How does he assemble such impressive sets? “The advice I would give to the average collector is to go slow and keep your eyes open. Do not be in a hurry, but when you see something out there, don't hesitate to scoop it up. You never know when you may have this opportunity again.”