PCGS US Coin Forum Mount Rushmore
RYK
Posts: 35,797 ✭✭✭✭✭
Nominate (up to) 4 All Time Great Living US Coin Forum Members and another 4 All Time Great Deceased US Coin Forum Members.
This is an opportunity to recognize the numismatists and coin personalities who have shaped the US Coin Forum over the years. Please describe their contributions along with the nomination. For some of us, this is a trip down memory lane. No snarky or insulting comments, just positive vibes here. Multiple nominations of the same person(s) are encouraged, to strengthen the candidacy. This is not to say who had the "best coins", but instead the greatest coin forum acumen, humor, and humanity.
I will go first:
In the Living category, I will nominate @Tradedollarnut. He is as passionate and educated about coins as anyone here and has exposed us to both the highest echelons of collecting and the dealer side and freely shared what he learned with everyone. And, yeah, he had the best coins, too.
I will also nominate @Longacre for the Living category. For a few years in the 00's, no one brought more to the conversation (and to thread volume) than he did. He read voraciously about coins and asked lots (and lots and lots...) of questions. He was a great contributor, and the forum has never replaced him or that role.
In the deceased category, I will nominate @Bear. He was a kindly, elderly collector who freely shared his knowledge of coins, his wins and his foibles.
I will also nominate @Russ. He had a passion for a specific variety (the AH Kennedy) and other Kennedy proof halves and was singularly driven to find them, identify them, and profit from them. He was a successful eBay entrepreneur and the unofficial enforcer of the forum. No BS got by him.
I have an additional four to nominate, two for each category, but I do not want to hog the conversation. @Russ would surely PM from "the other side" and tell me to pipe down if I do.
Your turn, Go!
Comments
I’ll nominate @RYK, in the living category, as an unofficial mentor to me and perhaps to many others. I would not know what original gold actually looked like without his willingness to evolve his collection and teach a newbie like me. In addition to this, he elevated the quality of the forum discussions with thought provoking posts while providing balance and perspective to a sometimes unwieldy audience. To his credit, (or at least to the credit I give him), he invented the term DOG and popularized the collecting of it.
Latin American Collection
I completely agree about @bear. He is still missed.
I'd also nominate @ricko . It's pretty hard to be the most prolific poster on the forum. It's even harder to be a nice guy, informative, and helpful at the same time. Besides, he has a great avatar. He even learned how to post photos.
RYK (I'm serious)
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
Going to need wider doors for some of the heads after this (not anyone listed, just in general)
Fred Weinberg. Still living.
TomB and CaptHenway would get my vote along with RYK. I really miss the days when Longacre used to post a lot
The mentioned current and deceased members are or were generous with sharing their knowledge & always ready to help at a moment's notice. The contributions of these intelligent numismatists are valuable to us all and they are complete gentlemen. These are just a small number of the very deserving people here.
Living: Roger B, Bill Jones, Capt. Henway, Yosclimber
Deceased:
Russ
kieferscoins
Bear
FC57Coins Frank Chiong
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
Clankeye, the founder of the brilliant Coinalot series.
Oreville, everyone's generous mentor.
TomB, steady, constructive, bright, knowledgeable.
Ricko, like God, he's everywhere.
Can we get a bigger mountain? Lots more faces to chisel in....
Here's a warning parable for coin collectors...
Living:
@FredWeinberg
@CaptHenway
@ricko
@seanq
All have made great contributions to the forum, and have been helpful when I've had questions.
Deceased:
@Bear
@Russ
@MFH
@Keiferscoins
Always great posts, with many memories from my early days on the forums.
Does anyone know if BongoBongo is living or dead, and what he/she looks like?
Some of my personal favorites in no particular order (the latter three are not deceased, but rarely if ever post anymore):
@BillJones
@tradedollarnut
@boiler78
@TomB
@Justacommeman
@ColonelJessup
@Sunnywood
@RYK
I based my selections on knowledge of coins, quality/quantity of coins shared, literacy, and sense of humor.
I nominate Realone based simply off of his high level of amour-propre
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
I believe that you are describing @FC57Coins (Frank Chiong), and I have a Roosevelt dime from him in my 7070 as a memorial. Great guy and 100% excellent forum member who is a worthy nominee.
I will add my fourth nominee in the 2nd category: @IGWT (Lou B ) who died suddenly in his 40’s. He was a true connoisseur of Shield nickels who was doing ground breaking research when his life was suddenly cut short. Oh, and he was also able to infect the coin collecting trait in his daughter, who collects Walker Halves. Like Frank (and Russ, above), I am honored to have a Shield nickel in my 7070 from his collection.
RYK, YES, Frank Chiong! Thank you!
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
Deceased Mike Hayes deserves a vote for his Barber exuberance and his good humor. He was eager to share his experiences and positively gave feedback to all.
Ditto vote for bear.
TomB from a dealer (high integrity both from selling and consigning) and collector (sharing his deep knowledge and for his reeded edge half scholarship) perspective.
roadrunner for his knowledge of wheeling and dealing in the 80’s and his extensive seated type knowledge generously shared with all. Wish he posted more often.
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
Colonel Jessup. Currently AWOL (but still lurking).
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
The first two names in each category that come to mind for me are:
Tradedollarnut (even though I wonder if his name should be Seateddolllarnut, instead😉) and TomB;
Russ and Bear.
More later, after I give this additional thought.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
In retrospect, I wish that I had split the "live" nominees into active and inactive (has not posted for a year or more).
In the active/living category, I am on board with the @TomB nomination. A very knowledgeable collector/dealer/photographer, very decent person, concise and accurate posts. Sadly, I never got to meet Tom in person.
In the inactive/(presumably) living category, I am going to nominate, @ANACONDA . No one stirred the pot here like he did, and even when he was not posting, people were commenting on his coins, his photography, his auctions, his coin firm, his women, his legal woes in Costa Rica, whatever. If the Anaconda name was in the thread title or he was responding on a thread, you knew your plans for the evening were shot.
Hard to choose four names for each list. Too many notable forumites to choose from.
Lots of greats, for me:
boiler78
Cardinal
TDN
CharlotteDude
I guess it depends upon how long you've been around...in my short tenure here are the greats whose posts I have found the most educational. The first two have taken the time to teach about specific coins or series, while the second two have provided more of a historical reflection on numismatics in general.
@BillJones
@Boosibri
@CaptHenway
@ColonelJessup
Dimeman has an incredible eye and wit. I not only miss him on this forum but on the sports side too because of his passion for the boys.
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
Let's see..... First thoughts are....
Deceased -
Russ
Frank Chiong
Bear
Living -
CaptHenway
TomB
BillJones
FredWeinberg
Cheers, RickO
There could also be a mountain out back for those long departed or banned from this forum but who may or may not be around on other sites. Maybe even a mountain for the antagonizers (regardless of good comments) like gmargulies, dorkkarl, lauralegend, EVillageProwler, JamesEarlyUS, coppercents, K6AZ etc.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
Yes, that would be an interesting foursome, those who were banned.
There could even be a category for those who were banned and later returned; Mark Feld and Laura are two that immediately come to mind.
Very surprised one of my favorite forum members has gone unmentioned.
@lordmarcovan
Though he posts infrequently now, his adventures are legendary.
My buddies @Zoins, @Broadstruck, and @coinsarefun will also have a place on any mountain I decide to carve up in the name of numismatics.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Living -
@abcde12345
Some other candidates:
@MrEureka
@lkeigwin
@messydesk
@robec
I would nominate MrHalfDime in the deceased category.
He was a wealth of information and always willing to share,
Many greats have already been named.
Here are my "Top Ten" that shouldn't be missed:
1 & 2:
iWOG and
LucyBop.
When those two went at it over the naturalness of blast white Franklins and commemorative coins it was legendary. Fratlaw was also excellent at making his points.
3:
Marty is an honorable mention as his passion and enthusiasm was contagious.
4:
GregM (Margulies) was also top of his game and held his own.
5:
There was an Ike and toned collector named Supercoin who also expressed his sometimes controversial opinions well.
6 (& 7):
Living in the here and now, I'd go with keets (spell-checks always wants me to correct his name to beets).
He too lives strong for his love of coins and medals. Perhaps, just maybe not always the most patient person in the world yet does have a spicy sense of humor and along with TomB takes the time to write interesting threads (other than the single word threads he flooded this forum with a few years ago).
8 & 9:
There was also an attorney (who shall remain nameless as he was super rude to my wife at a coin show once) and his side kick (Brian?).
Wrote the most creative eBay descriptions and could sell $40. AT'ed ANACS Peace dollars for thousands with impunity. I think he either lives now in Texas and is silent or still in the jungles of Peru or somewhere like that.
And last, but not least...
10:
GSAGUY.
What a monster set of toned Morgans he owned! No one could beat him at his game before he sold the lion's share of his collection. Wrote fun and interesting threads too.
Kinda bittersweet to think of all the people I corresponded with here 15 years ago who aren’t with us anymore. But nice to see them remembered.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
Those who are still actively posting -
TomB = class act
Boosibri = always a thought-provoking post
Ricko = Ironman
ProofMorgan = amazing eye and the eye candy when he occasionally posts
No longer posting/lurking -
ColonelJessup = never a dull post or moment
No longer posting:
RYK = Top-notch contributor in his time
Living -
Currin- Contributions especially the Hansen Thread!
RYK - DOGS, great perspective on collecting and life!
Tradedollar - Rep need i saw more!
Boosibri, Charlotte Dude, ProofMorgan and Gazes - Great to interact with!
Do banned members count?
You mean like RogerB and Insider?
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
yep and Condor (sp?)
I largely agree with the suggestions thus far save for Kiefer. Cheating forum members is disqualifying IMHO. That's one of the reasons Kryptonitecomics doesn't deserve to be nominated.
I would add Mark Feld to the list of exemplary posters deserving of nomination.
There are too many names to think of, but I'll second @Oreville and @Ricko.
And the late @CarlWohlforth deserves mention as well.
Thankee, kind sir. (See, you lured me back out of mothballs!)
Say! The title of this thread just gave me an idea!!!
Lawdy, ol' Russ' avatar has not lost its power to make me smile, after all these years.
Thank you all for the kind words.
Once we pick the names, can we get a talented sculptor to model it in mashed potatoes, a la "Close Encounters of the Numismatic Kind?"
Dog97 also had a variety of opinions that would on occasion rub the right (and wrong) way.
This one goes back a ways, but @CarlWohlforth in the deceased category. He was a great dealer and a truly helpful and honest contributor here. Taught me a lot.
Some of the heads of the nominees are already made of granite. Maybe they can just pose for a Mark Goodman photo.
m
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
Or buried under it.
Much respect for those who contributed and made this world of collecting better having had a presence within it.
@roadrunner - Never met him but his seated liberty knowledge Top of the line.
@oreville - Bredth of knowledge is unparalled
@Speedy deceased
If I have to choose another deceased there was only one other member that I got to know who is past. Mr. Hayes.. The eponymous Barber Thread guy.
@tradedollarnut is some else I hold in high esteem
@Stuart Blay is another member
I do not like lists like this because if egos are unchecked they do end up a little hurt. There are a group of people on here
@ad4400 , @Walkerguy21D , @crazyhounddog , Mark Feld, @robec , @TomB ... All with knowledge overflowing and always willing to share it. Alain helped me build my Buffalo Nickel set, Greg my Walkers (12 years ago) and Robec imaged a lot of my coins and had input on my Matte Proof Lincoln set... Mark and I did a fair amount of business before he joined Heritage.
This forum has done a ton for my knowledge, what I look for... I am certain this is not the purpose of this thread but I will extend a thank you to everyone who has helped me.
Ciao
J
I for one like swimming around in the hobby pool that is the forums.
It is populated with a wide variety of hobby participants and is filled with knowledge and experience in abundance that can be yours for nothing more than a little time devoted to reading threads.
Eye candy posted in photos and videos; plus entertainment, plus humor, etc. are additional +++++s.
Infamy - BNB
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
I considered @mgoodm3 for the nomination. He taught himself how to take outstanding coin photos in the nascent era of digital photography, taught everyone else here who could learn how to do it, took professional coin photos as a side gig, then wrote a book on it, and retired from his medical job to do it as a career. Quite a contributor!
No but you can use their alts
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
I will also nominate @ColonelJessup for his poetic responses and knowing more about coins that the sum of 95% of the collective forum.> @Crypto said:
Do we get to consider their collective body of work or only for the current iteration? Insider 1, 2, or 3? Glicker 1 - 10?
Latin American Collection