SALT LAKE CITY — Before his death in 2009, Larry H. Miller was known as an acute businessman and owner of the Utah Jazz.
But few knew he was an ardent coin collector as well.
Before he died, Miller, with the help of a couple of representatives working on his behalf, quietly amassed a collection of 1,600 rare coins worth an estimated $25 million.
Now his widow, Gail Miller, has decided to sell the collection and donate the proceeds to Intermountain Healthcare to build a second campus of Primary Children’s Hospital in Lehi. The collection will be sold by Stack’s Bowers Gallery based in Santa Ana, California, during to two sales in November and December.
The collection includes an 1804 draped bust silver dollar valued at $3 million or more, an 1894-S Barber dime with an estimated value of $1.25 million and up, a 1794 flowing hair silver dollar and an 1884-S Morgan silver dollar, both valued at $1 million or more.
According to Stack’s Bowers, the collection also included a complete set of circulation-strike Morgan silver dollars that rivals the very finest ever assembled.
In January, Gail Miller, owner and chairwoman of the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies, announced she and her family would donate $50 million toward the new hospital, the largest single donation the family has ever made.
The hospital is part of Intermountain Healthcare’s $500 million plan to create a national model for children’s health care. According to Intermountain Healthcare, the hospital will be situated on a 38-acre campus near 3300 West and 2100 North in Lehi, and will feature five floors, 66 beds, and a three-story medical office building, with a combined 468,000 square feet. It is set to open in 2023.