# GreatCollections Coin Auction Scraper (`lulzasaur/greatcollections-scraper`) Actor

Scrape live coin and currency auctions from GreatCollections.com. Search by keyword or browse by denomination. Extracts title, grade, certification number, current bid, end date, images, and coin specs.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/lulzasaur/greatcollections-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [lulz bot](https://apify.com/lulzasaur) (community)
- **Categories:** Other
- **Stats:** 3 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $5.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md):

```bash
npm install apify-client
```

In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md):

```bash
pip install apify-client
```

In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md):

````bash
# MacOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash
# Windows
irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex
```bash

In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md).

If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).


# README

## GreatCollections Coin Auction Scraper

Scrape live coin and currency auction listings from [GreatCollections.com](https://www.greatcollections.com) — one of the largest certified coin auction houses in the US (1.8M+ coins sold, $1.5B+ realized).

### What it scrapes

Each result contains:

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `coinId` | GreatCollections internal item ID |
| `title` | Full auction title (e.g. "1884 Morgan Silver Dollar NGC MS-62") |
| `url` | Direct link to the coin's auction page |
| `status` | `active`, `buy_now`, or `ended` |
| `currentBid` | Current bid in USD (null for Buy Now items) |
| `buyNowPrice` | Fixed Buy Now price in USD (null for auction items) |
| `minimumBid` | Starting/minimum bid |
| `bidCount` | Number of bids placed |
| `timeLeft` | Time remaining (e.g. "3d, 20h") |
| `auctionEndDate` | Auction end date/time in Pacific Time |
| `imageUrl` | Primary coin image URL |
| `images` | All coin images (up to 10) |
| `year` | Year on the coin |
| `gradingService` | Grading company: NGC, PCGS, ANACS, CACG, NCS, etc. |
| `grade` | Numeric/label grade (e.g. "MS-62", "AU-50", "PR-65 DCAM") |
| `certificationNumber` | Third-party cert number for verification |
| `country` | Country of origin |
| `denomination` | Denomination (e.g. "$1", "5¢") |
| `series` | Coin series (e.g. "Morgan Silver Dollar") |
| `strikeType` | Business Strike, Proof, etc. |
| `mintLocation` | Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco, etc. |
| `designer` | Coin designer name |
| `actualMetalWeight` | Silver/gold content in oz |
| `coinWeight` | Total coin weight in grams |
| `diameter` | Diameter in mm |
| `composition` | Metal composition (e.g. "90% Silver, 10% Copper") |
| `buyersPremium` | Buyer's premium description |
| `cacDesignated` | True if coin has CAC approval sticker |
| `cacgDesignated` | True if graded by CACG |
| `scrapedAt` | ISO timestamp of when data was collected |

### Inputs

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `searchQuery` | string | Keyword search (e.g. "Morgan Dollar 1921", "PCGS MS-65") |
| `denominationUrl` | string | Browse path like `/Denomination/13/Silver-Dollars` |
| `maxItems` | integer | Max results to return (default: 5) |
| `maxPages` | integer | Max listing pages to fetch (default: 1, ~50 items/page) |
| `scrapeDetails` | boolean | Visit each coin page for full specs (slower but richer) |
| `proxyConfiguration` | object | Proxy settings (default: Apify Residential) |

If `searchQuery` is set, it takes priority over `denominationUrl`.

### Denomination browse paths

Browse any category by setting `denominationUrl`:

- `/Denomination/13/Silver-Dollars` — Morgan, Peace, Seated Liberty dollars
- `/Denomination/4/Small-Cents` — Lincoln cents, Indian head cents
- `/Denomination/9/Dimes` — Barber, Mercury, Roosevelt dimes
- `/Denomination/12/Half-Dollars` — Walking Liberty, Franklin, Kennedy halves
- `/Denomination/21/Gold-Double-Eagles` — $20 gold pieces
- `/Denomination/25/Silver-Eagles` — American Silver Eagles
- `/Denomination/30/World-and-Ancient-Coins` — World coins
- `/Denomination/34/US-Paper-Money` — US currency

### Pricing

This actor uses Pay-Per-Event (PPE) billing at **$0.005 per result** (Apify standard dataset item rate).

### Notes

- No Cloudflare protection — lightweight cheerio scraper, no browser needed
- Descriptions are loaded via AJAX and will be empty unless you visit detail pages
- Residential proxies recommended for consistent access
- Auction data changes in real time; re-run to get updated bid amounts

# Actor input Schema

## `denominationUrl` (type: `string`):

Browse a denomination category. Use the path shown in the GreatCollections nav, e.g. '/Denomination/13/Silver-Dollars', '/Denomination/4/Small-Cents', '/Denomination/34/US-Paper-Money'. Used when searchQuery is blank.
## `searchQuery` (type: `string`):

Keyword search for coins (e.g. 'Morgan Dollar', '1921 Peace Dollar', 'PCGS MS-65'). If set, overrides denominationUrl. Note: search.php may need stronger proxy settings on cloud.
## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of auction listings to return. Default 5 (for QA test runs). Set higher for production scrapes.
## `maxPages` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of listing pages to scrape. Each page contains ~50 items.
## `scrapeDetails` (type: `boolean`):

If enabled, visits each coin's detail page to extract full specs: grading service, certification number, country, year, denomination, series, mint, designer, weight, diameter, composition, and full description.
## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Proxy settings for the scraper. Defaults to Apify Residential proxies for best results.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "denominationUrl": "/Denomination/13/Silver-Dollars",
  "maxItems": 5,
  "maxPages": 1,
  "scrapeDetails": false,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}
````

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "denominationUrl": "/Denomination/13/Silver-Dollars"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("lulzasaur/greatcollections-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "denominationUrl": "/Denomination/13/Silver-Dollars" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("lulzasaur/greatcollections-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "denominationUrl": "/Denomination/13/Silver-Dollars"
}' |
apify call lulzasaur/greatcollections-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=lulzasaur/greatcollections-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "GreatCollections Coin Auction Scraper",
        "description": "Scrape live coin and currency auctions from GreatCollections.com. Search by keyword or browse by denomination. Extracts title, grade, certification number, current bid, end date, images, and coin specs.",
        "version": "1.0",
        "x-build-id": "u9Pjm7zN3G583x50w"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/lulzasaur~greatcollections-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-lulzasaur-greatcollections-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/lulzasaur~greatcollections-scraper/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-lulzasaur-greatcollections-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK",
                        "content": {
                            "application/json": {
                                "schema": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/lulzasaur~greatcollections-scraper/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-lulzasaur-greatcollections-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "components": {
        "schemas": {
            "inputSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "denominationUrl": {
                        "title": "Denomination Browse URL",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Browse a denomination category. Use the path shown in the GreatCollections nav, e.g. '/Denomination/13/Silver-Dollars', '/Denomination/4/Small-Cents', '/Denomination/34/US-Paper-Money'. Used when searchQuery is blank."
                    },
                    "searchQuery": {
                        "title": "Keyword Search Query",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Keyword search for coins (e.g. 'Morgan Dollar', '1921 Peace Dollar', 'PCGS MS-65'). If set, overrides denominationUrl. Note: search.php may need stronger proxy settings on cloud."
                    },
                    "maxItems": {
                        "title": "Max Items",
                        "minimum": 1,
                        "maximum": 5000,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Maximum number of auction listings to return. Default 5 (for QA test runs). Set higher for production scrapes.",
                        "default": 5
                    },
                    "maxPages": {
                        "title": "Max Pages",
                        "minimum": 1,
                        "maximum": 100,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Maximum number of listing pages to scrape. Each page contains ~50 items.",
                        "default": 1
                    },
                    "scrapeDetails": {
                        "title": "Scrape Detail Pages",
                        "type": "boolean",
                        "description": "If enabled, visits each coin's detail page to extract full specs: grading service, certification number, country, year, denomination, series, mint, designer, weight, diameter, composition, and full description.",
                        "default": false
                    },
                    "proxyConfiguration": {
                        "title": "Proxy Configuration",
                        "type": "object",
                        "description": "Proxy settings for the scraper. Defaults to Apify Residential proxies for best results.",
                        "default": {
                            "useApifyProxy": true,
                            "apifyProxyGroups": [
                                "RESIDENTIAL"
                            ]
                        }
                    }
                }
            },
            "runsResponseSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "data": {
                        "type": "object",
                        "properties": {
                            "id": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "actId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "userId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "startedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "finishedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "status": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "READY"
                            },
                            "meta": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "origin": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "API"
                                    },
                                    "userAgent": {
                                        "type": "string"
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "stats": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "inputBodyLen": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2000
                                    },
                                    "rebootCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "restartCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "resurrectCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "computeUnits": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "options": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "build": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "latest"
                                    },
                                    "timeoutSecs": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 300
                                    },
                                    "memoryMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1024
                                    },
                                    "diskMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2048
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "buildId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultKeyValueStoreId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultDatasetId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultRequestQueueId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "buildNumber": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "1.0.0"
                            },
                            "containerUrl": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "usage": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "usageTotalUsd": {
                                "type": "number",
                                "example": 0.00005
                            },
                            "usageUsd": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "number",
                                        "example": 0.00005
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```