Consumer >> CEO Interviews >> January 14, 2005
SILVANO DIGENOVA is President and Chief Executive Officer of Superior
Galleries. He has long been recognized as a leading market maker in the
rare coin industry. Mr. DiGenova began his career as a rare coin
prodigy, trading coins as a dealer while still in high school. A self-
made millionaire in coins before the age of 21, he left the Wharton
School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania -- simply because
he was earning too much money to stay in school! Mr. DiGenova is an
authority on the rare coin market, grading, authenticity and appraisals.
He was co-founder of the Professional Coin Grading Service world's
largest and most respected grading entity. He was fundamental in the
design of the PCGS grading set, which is the standard by which all coins
are still graded today. He was also co-founder of the American
Numismatic Information Exchange (known today as Certified Coin
Exchange), the first fully electronic trading network in rare coins,
which was modeled after NASDAQ.He has been featured in Fortune's "People
to Watch," quoted on the front page of Wall Street Journal and has been
interviewed in hundreds of newspapers across North America. In addition,
he has appeared several times as a commentator on CNN/fn, Bloomberg
Television and other financial news programs.In the 1990s, Mr. DiGenova
began expanding his rare coin trading ability into other markets, buying
and selling fine and decorative arts from the 19th and 20th centuries.
Today, his vast wealth of knowledge has made him a leading expert in not
only rare coins, but 19th and 20th century lamps (such as Tiffany,
Pairpont and Handel), art glass (such as Tiffany, Daum, Galle and
others), art nouveau decorative items (such as Royal Dux, Amphora and
others), porcelain (such as Miessen, KPM and others), fine prints (such
as Louis Icart, Maxfield Parrish and others) and nearly everly area of
19th and 20th century fine and decorative arts. Profile
PAUL BIBERKRAUT currently serves as Chief Financial Officer, Executive
Vice President, Secretary and as a Director of Superior Galleries. Mr.
Biberkraut has served in this role since December 2002 and previously as
the company's Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance from
October 1999 to December 2000. Mr. Biberkraut has more than 15 years
experience in management roles with varying levels of responsibilities
for finance, accounting, information technology, operations and human
resources. Prior to returning to Superior, Mr. Biberkraut was a senior
finance manager for information technology at PacifiCare Health Systems,
Inc., and previous to that, was the corporate controller of Quality
Systems, Inc. Mr. Biberkraut also served two years as the audit
committee chairman for an Orange County, California, based credit union,
which followed nine years as board member, treasurer and president of an
Orange County, California based not-for-profit social service agency. Profile
Mr. Di Genova: Superior Galleries is an auctioneer, dealer, and
wholesaler of rare U.S. coins and other fine collectibles.
