Michael "Miles" Standish

Michael "Miles" Standish
Michael "Miles" Standish
Born	(1964-11-13) November 13, 1964 Kalamazoo, Michigan
Nationality	United States
Occupation	Author, Senior Grader and Vice-President of Business Development
Employer	NGC (Numismatic Guaranty Corporation)
Home town	Austin, Texas
Religion	Christian
Spouse(s)	Andrea Mangione Standish
Awards	U.S. Mint Director's Coin of Excellence

Michael "Miles" Standish (born November 13, 1964) is an American businessman, author, rare coin expert, sports memorabilia expert and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of a provider of authentication and grading services of high-value assets. He currently serves as vice president of the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC).^[1]

Early life and education

Born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on November 13, 1964, Standish became interested in numismatics at a young age. He is a 1983 graduate of Portage Central High School in Portage, Michigan, where he lettered in football and was a disc jockey of the school radio station. Standish first became involved in selling coins at the age of 17, when he set up his first table at the National Silver Dollar Show (1982) in Houston, Texas. However, his passion for coins was first sparked at the age of 9.

Personal life

Standish is an active participant in a non-profit organization that works with hospitals and healthcare providers to instill family and child friendly healthcare practices around the world. Standish’s wife Andrea Mangione Standish is the founder and president. While a notable numismatist and author, Standish collects sports memorabilia, is a big fan of the Chicago Cubs and all things baseball.

Career

Standish began his career in the coin industry as he traveled to regional and local coin shows. He was hired by ANACS, America's Oldest Grading service, to be a grader in 1984.^[2] While at ANACS, Standish began to write a monthly column called "Under the Loupe", which was published in Coin World Magazine from 1984 until 1988.

Standish left ANACS in 1985 and went to work for Michael G. DeFalco, a notable dealer specializing in silver dollars, toned coins, and commemoratives. He also worked for Wayne Miller and Steve Contursi, where he served as a coin buyer. It was at about this time that Standish got the nickname “Miles”, a humorous reference to Myles Standish, the Plymouth Colony captain. Standish credits the origin of the nickname to then American Numismatic Association President Florence M. Schook.

In January 1987, Standish joined PCGS and was the first full-time coin grader in the company’s history.^[3] He became part owner in the company in 1995. In 2004 Standish received notoriety for the detection of an impostor coin. "Someone had taken a 1945 cent (which was made of copper alloy) and altered the '5' in the date to resemble a '3.' Expert authenticator Miles Standish...needed only seconds to spot the alteration and pass the news along to the coin's now crestfallen owner. Instead of being rare and worth a small fortune, the coin was just an ordinary cent."^[4] Standish also spoke out about a rare dime-penny that was discovered in 2000.^[5]

In 2005, Standish left PCGS to serve as vice chairman and chief numismatist of ANACS.^[6] While at ANACS, Standish modernized ANACS' business model and brought them back to profitability. Standish left ANACS in September, 2006 and returned to PCGS where he served as vice president.

In 2015, Standish joined NGC and currently serves as vice president.

Numismatics

Standish is one of American numismatics' most recognized graders and authenticators of coins. Standish was the first full-time coin grader at Professional Coin Grading Service. In the course of his career, Standish has graded between 8,000,000 and 10,000,000 coins, including a number of significant rarities, such as the 1913 Liberty nickels and all of the 1804 dollars.^[7]

While with PCGS, Standish developed a number of marketing innovations, including PCGS’ bulk submission and First Strike programs, the company’s Signature Series of PCGS inserts which include autographs of notable figures such as Presidents George H. Bush and Gerald Ford, U.S. Mint Directors Donna Pope, Jay W. Johnson, and Philip Diehl, Edmund Moy, Chief Engraver John Mercanti, General Tommy Franks and Hall of Fame baseball player Nolan Ryan.

In 2011, for his service to numismatics and to the U.S. Mint, Standish was awarded the “Director’s Coin for Excellence”^{[8] [9]} by Director of the United States Mint, Edmund Moy.^[10]

Other notable accomplishments include creation of the first encapsulated holder housing a U.S. coin and a U. S. Presidential Autograph and his planning and implementation of an innovative marketing and merchandising program to maximize the sales of State Quarters--an encapsulated coin holder with a State Quarter and the corresponding state flag.

Standish is also well-known for his highly sought after Standish signature label on collectible coins.^[11][12]

Sports collectibles

Standish served as Vice President of Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) and launched PSA/DNA First autograph Sammy Sosa- authentication from 1996-2001. During that time, Standish authenticated a number of high profile sports items including Mark McGwire’s 70th home run ball^[13] and Henry Aaron’s 715th home run bat and ball.^[14] In 2014, Standish merged his passion for sports and numismatics by offering a series of limited edition PCGS-graded coin inserts, featuring the signatures of members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.^[15]

Author

In 2014, Standish authored “Morgan Dollar: America's Love Affair with a Legendary Coin” ^{[16][17][18][19]} It was recognized as a Best Specialized book in the 2015 Annual NLG (Numismatic Literary Guild) Writers' Awards. ^[20] In 2012, he co-authored "American Silver Eagles: A Guide to the U.S. Bullion Coin Program" with former Chief Engraver of the U.S. Mint, John Mercanti.^{[21] [22][23]}

From 1984 to 1988, Standish wrote a monthly column titled "Under the Loupe" for Coin World Magazine.^[24]

Other publications

Standish has contributed to multiple periodicals on the subject of coin and sports memorabilia collecting and authentication, including:

• LA Times and Orange County Register – Numismatic and Sports Memorabilia Features
• Coin Collectors Survivor Manual
• Money Magazine
• Coin Age Magazine
• Chicago Tribune
• International and national print, radio and television coverage as the official authenticator of Hank Aaron and Mark McGuire memorabilia

References