Forbes Magazine Votes Heritage Website

Dallas, Texas: Heritage's website, www.heritagecoin.com, has just been selected by Forbes magazine as "The Best of the Web" in its special Interactive Money Guide edition. "In their Fall 1999 issue," noted Heritage's Chief Internet Officer Brian Shipman, "Forbes rated 250 top websites from among the millions found worldwide. Forbes searched for websites that would be the most useful for their readers, and Heritage was the only numismatic site so honored."

"Heritage is the world's largest dealer in rare coins," continued Co-Chairman Steve Ivy, "and we have always been a technologically driven company. We started using computers to expand customer service more than two decades ago, and our success is now built on worldwide networked systems supporting our customers' needs. We have been a part of the Internet for several years now, and our web presence continues to grow. We are especially honored that Forbes recognized us for our friendly customer service."

"The Heritage website," explained Webmaster Tim Hughes, "strikes a balance between the needs and desires of our customers. We have sections that explain who we are and what we do, but most of our visitors already know about Heritage - that is one advantage of being the world leader. Most come to do business -- inspect our on-line inventory, which is updated continually, or to participate in our auction sales, which occur monthly. We also have a wonderful photo archive of numismatic treasures, and an on-line version of our Heritage Insider magazine. Our staff numismatists love the "Ask An Expert" section, but I enjoy most giving away $20 gold pieces to visitors who sign-up for our Free E-listings service."

Greg Rohan, Heritage Executive Vice President, explained further about the importance of the on-line inventory listings: "Heritage maintains the world's largest rare coin inventory, but many of the coins we purchase are exceeding rare - some even unique. These coins are snapped up by astute collectors as soon as we put them in inventory. Collectors love the ability to inspect our current inventory, so they can get "first crack" at these coins. Our non-computerized collectors who receive mailed offerings too often find that their first choices have been long sold. Heritage spends about $2 million every week buying new coins, so our on-line clients always find something new to consider."

"Heritage has committed more than $1 million to expand our auction presence on the worldwide web," continued Bob Korver, Director of Heritage's Numismatic Auctions. "For many years we have been posting the text of our monthly auction catalogs on our website, but bidders had to submit their bids by e-mail or fax. As soon as the worldwide web became sufficiently secure to allow for numismatic transactions, Heritage was ready with our exclusive Interactive Internet? software. Now everything can be done from the keyboard! Bidders can register, view a full-color photograph of every single-coin lot, enter bids directly into our database from their PCs, receive e-mail confirmation of the status of their bids, and even construct a personal catalog. Our website is now producing more than $2 million in Internet bids per sale. To ensure that our consignors realize the highest prices realized, we need to find the highest demand - we can find that individual, whether he is sitting in our audience, participating by mail, fax, or telephone, or participating on the web from anywhere in the world! Heritage is the first major auction company to fully integrate Internet bidding with their floor, mail, fax, and telephone bidders. A measure of our success is our recent Bullet Auction in Chicago, where one-third of the lots sold were won by Internet bidders! This is a logical extension of Heritage's promise to our consignors to bring their coins to the buyers, worldwide. Heritage is known as "America's Convention Auctioneer,? because we are the official auctioneers of every major convention. The Internet allows us to reach out to the rest of the world in a meaningful way."

"Interactive bidding," added Halperin, "is really fabulous in its potential for consignors to realize higher prices. Internet bidders can view the current opening bid, and then execute a higher bid directly from their keyboards. They receive automatic confirmation of their bids, plus automatic notification if they are no longer high bidder. That means they are continually encouraged to bid higher. The only question is why anyone would consign their coin collection to an auctioneer that did not include Internet bidders, or that ignored the bidders gathering at major conventions, or that offered their coins to an Internet-only auction? You need every segment of demand to maximize prices."

"In the future," summarized Ivy, "Heritage will continue to use every technological advantage to ensure that our customers receive the highest possible service in the marketplace. That certainly means expanding our web presence, and investigating every other technology that emerges."

The text of the article appeared in Forbes Magazine as follows:

HERITAGE RARE COIN GALLERIES
www.heritagecoin.com

A smartly designed, responsive page created by a Dallas-based coin dealer. Heritage sacrifices high-tech doodads for effective simplicity: you'll need to call or e-mail them directly to buy any of their standing inventory. Their live auctions, held once a month, are conventionally staged, but now also allow bids sent through e-mail or entered directly at the site. Much of Heritage's inventory is on display in crisp, well-defined scanned images--a rarity. You can also read Heritage's in-house collecting magazine.

BEST: E-mail and phone number contacts for Heritage employees--who actually enjoy answering questions.

WORST: Could use a search engine to get you through the site.

We happen to agree with Forbes on all counts, including our site's need for a search engine. That project is already underway, and includes an in-depth coin search engine to assist you in finding just the numismatic pieces you are interested in. Look for it before the end of the year.

Heritage Rare Coin Galleries can be reached be e-mail at shop@heritagecoin.com. Heritage Numismatic Auctions can be reached by e-mail at bids@heritagecoin.com. Both are located at Heritage's world headquarters, 3500 Maple Avenue, 17th Floor, Dallas Texas, 75219-3941; 1-800-US COINS (1-800-872-6467).