Our Story
To Our Readers: Our Mission
The 24 words below, crafted through a collaboration of several dozen of our managers, express how we envision Our Mission here at Heritage Auctions and Heritage Magazine:
To be the world's most trusted and efficient marketplace and information resource serving owners of fine art, collectibles, and other objects of enduring value.
One of Heritage Auctions's two predecessor companies (parts of which merged in 1982 to form Heritage Auctions) was located in Boston, Mass., directly across the street from Fidelity Investments, with whom we maintained an excellent relationship. Fidelity was a wonderful firm even then, but much smaller than today.
In the 1970s, most American families invested only in bank CDs or saving accounts and equity in their homes. Some owned bonds or mutual funds. Few purchased stocks or similar investments.
Securities were hard to understand, and expensive to buy and sell; prospective stockholders had to navigate a sea of misinformation and trudge through a jungle of predatory salespeople "advising" them to buy shares of the wrong companies at inflated prices, or to sell whatever shares they had, at what now seem like ridiculously high commissions.
Fidelity, along with a few other firms, pioneered making the stock market understandable, available and profitable for mainstream Americans.
Stock investing isn't perfect even today, of course, and predators still lurk in the thickets, but securities are much safer for the average person than they were in the 1970s.
Today's collectors find themselves in a position similar to that of prospective stock buyers in the 1970s: Many are interested, yet rightly fearful. All want to buy intelligently, but intelligent buying requires expertise and many cannot spare the time to become experts.
Which brings us to Heritage Auctions. Like Fidelity, Our Mission is to build a level playing field, a more transparent platform through which both buyers and sellers can conveniently research and learn enough about assets they own, or wish to own, then consistently make intelligent transactions.
At Heritage Auctions, we believe that owning collectibles, like stock investing, can be both enjoyable and a wise financial diversification. We hope to be at the forefront of a worldwide effort to bring collecting mainstream, both as a prudent diversification of wealth and as a source of pleasure, mental stimulation and pride.
For more than 30 years, Heritage Auctions, the world's largest collectibles auctioneer, has continually reinvigorated the world of collectibles. Now, with each issue, Heritage Magazine for the Intelligent Collector gives readers priceless insights into the coins, currency, comics, fine art, Americana, entertainment, stamps and sports memorabilia that matter most to the world's most passionate collectors.
