Who are you?

dsessom

Good morning!

I have been hanging out here a long time, so many of you already know me, but I thought it would be fun to provide clarity to the forum about who we are in real life. Some folks prefer anonymity, and that is perfectly fine as well! So this thread is purely voluntary and I may be the only old fool on this post! Haha!

My name is Dwayne F. Sessom, and I am having my 55th birthday 10 days from now! (Holy cow! How did that happen???)


I have been a computer technician for the Department of Defense for the last 25 years, and it's been extremely rewarding working to support our troops as a Civil Servant for the past quarter century! I have been in and out of numismatics since I was 12 years old, but started seriously in 2009, working with Holsonbake Numismatics, and have continued on my own for the past decade, with special interest in Barber coinage, especially "V" nickels. I humbly consider myself an expert in the Liberty Nickel series due to the sheer number of man hours I have devoted to collecting this series over the past decade. I actually put two nearly complete sets together in that time. One set of AU55/58 and another MS64/64+ set that I am currently, somewhat reluctantly liquidating to provide capital to dive into collecting Obsolete Currency - a new love of mine!

I consider many of you here on these forums, as my extended family! Thank you for putting up with me for so long! I look forward to many more enjoyable years!

Cheers,

Dwayne F. Sessom
V-Nickel-Coins (Ebay ID)

Twobitcollector

I'm an old guy that likes trains & coins.
This picture is from last Friday.

dsessom

@Twobitcollector said:
I'm an old guy that likes trains & coins.

I love the old locomotives myself! They are simply works of art in my opinion! When I was a child, I honestly wanted to be a train engineer when I grew up, and held that position for many years! I ended up going into law enforcement in my younger days as a Deputy Sheriff, but ultimately ended up in Information Technology, being a computer technician for the US DoD. You just never know how things will unfold in this life.

Barberian

I'm an old guy who likes cats (4), dogs (3), aquatic biota, and coins. Here's me wearing "bifocals," with my polydactyl tabby, Ernie, showing one of his mitten paws (7 claws instead of 5). Polydactyl cats are also called "ship's cats" for their role in rodent control and predicting weather changes on ships.

I like biology, and did bioassessment work in the mid-Atlantic states and the Everglades for a living. Nowadays, I enjoy fishing, cycling, and have become obsessed with roadside trash pickup and recycling aluminum cans, oftentimes on my recumbent bicycle, Big Red. The proceeds are turned into junk silver and bullion coins.

Big Red after a ride picking up cans. Tossed aluminum cans are a renewable resource in Florida.

Morgan13

In a simple guy really. I work construction. I'm 58.
My three favorite things are my family, Aruba and collecting coins.

fathom

Love it, thanks for asking.

1northcoin

I was one of these three:

No, that's not me, I'm the guy behind the camera, but he lives in the same shared Northland:

And this is a view from close to where I work:

OK, I am in this photo where I'm being interviewed for the nightly newscast relating to a Moose encounter:

lermish

@1northcoin said:

OK, I am in this photo where I'm being interviewed for the nightly newscast relating to a Moose encounter:

Did you survive?

Mr_Spud

Ok, this is me, from my companies website. Only the write up was done about 10 years ago, but the picture was updated about 5 years ago

And here is a rare picture of Mrs_Spud (she doesn’t like having her picture taken). She has a PhD in Epidemiology and is currently the Data Analytics Manager for the WIC (Women Infants and Children) Program at LA Biomed. She’s a hardcore gamer (Warcraft) and an avid Science Fiction fan (Dr. Who, Star Wars, X-Files etc…) and is into writing fan fiction. We have been married for 30 years, we met at R.P. Scherer (the company that invented softgels) where she worked with me in R&D. She also collects dimes, raw Barber Dimes are her favorite, but she also collects raw Mercury Dimes and raw and slabbed full torch Roosevelt’s. She has full sets of the raw Roosevelt’s, Barber’s and Mercury’s in albums, but she is still slowly working on the slabbed Roosevelt’s. She isn’t as active of a coin collector these days as I am, but when we lived in Charlotte she was the Secretary of the Charlotte Coin Club and played a major roll in setting up their Coin Shows including when the club hosted one of the ANA shows.

Copperindian

The Big Reveal (btw, thanks to @dsessom for the idea & kicking off this thread):

Me & Dad 7 years ago after the Warriors won another one.

A little fun @ my own expense about 2 years ago.

About a year ago. Only one of the drinks was mine!

My loves: family (the missus & my granddaughter lead the way. Don’t tell my grandsons!).
My collecting faves: FE’s, IHC’s (or, as @orville says - NDN’s), Early Walkers, toned H10C’s & most recently, gold types.

Lazybones

Another old guy who loves guns, coins, and sailing! But I would give the first two up for sailing!

PeakRarities

I'm pretty open about my identity, many of you know me and have met me in person. I guess I'll share some other stuff that everyone doesn't know 😅.

I'm an only child but my Dad was 1 of 10, and all 7 of the men went into construction. I worked in various trades (landscaping, Electrical, HVAC, Septic installation) until I was about 24 (2019ish). Moved from NJ to FL at which point I started working in sales and marketing. Climbed the ladder and ended up with my own business, then partnered with another organization for a lucrative venture that lasted until the beginning of this year. Ultimately, that operation is what gave me the means to start collecting the coins that I had only dreamed of before. Despite the financial incentives, I eventually grew weary of the pitfalls and obstacles of that Industry and I realized that I was miserable.

I then decided that I wanted to pursue numismatics as more than just a hobby. I sold the business and started Peak Rarities around 6 months ago. Now I pretend to be a coin dealer so that I get offered the most premium coins for my collection.... .

Not married, but I'm engaged to be engaged with my girlfriend eventually. No kids, just a dog and a few cats. When I'm not hunting for coins, I might be hunting Deer, fishing, or playing cards.

dsessom

@Lazybones loves 1911's! That is quite the collection of 1911 pistols! I also collect firearms, but I am more of a "Cowboy gun" fan. I have several Colt Single Action Army clones, but no authentic Colts, and a few Rossi 1894 Winchester clones. Again, no authentic Winchesters. I have several Pietta black powder pistols that are a lot of un to shoot. Then, I have a few modern firearms as well - a .50AE Desert Eagle, a .45ACP Baby Desert Eagle, and an actual Armalite AR15 chambered in standard 5.56.

PeakRarities

Oooops forgot to add cat pics...

Floyd

Oliver

This was Ella, sadly she passed away about a month ago

Eldorado9

Count me in as a coin collector/Cat lover.

Mark Twain said “If man could be crossed with the cat,” he once wrote, “it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat."

Copperindian

privatecoin

An above average day dealing with my daughters.

airplanenut

I like airplanes, coins, hockey, and dogs. I try to make those interests overlap. I sold a bunch of coins to pay to learn how to fly. My doggy has been my passenger. I design airplanes to make money to buy coins, and if you fly regularly, there's a decent chance you've flown on something I've worked on. I made international hockey news and the front page of the NHL and NJ Devils website when I had a little fun in the sky, and now the Devils air (ha!) a commercial featuring me during many of their broadcasts.

Copperindian

@airplanenut: enjoyed your post! But where’s the pic of the great Martin Brodeur flying with you?

MWallace

My most recent picture. Taken about 6 weeks ago. Me on the left, and Chuck Leavell (Keyboardist for the Allman Brothers Band as well as for The Rolling Stones for the past 42 years).

Copperindian

@MWallace: great pic - love it!

MWallace

Thanks @Copperindian
I like your Metallica t-shirt. Here's one that I came up with recently and had printed.

Copperindian

@MWallace: thanks! The irony: the company that marketed the shirt came out with an Allman Brothers a week or so later. If I had waited, I would have bought that one instead!

dsessom

I'm glad to see at least a few folks having fun with this thread! Aside from collecting coins/currency, firearms and antiques, I also have a love for Corvettes! This is my heavily customized 2008 C6 Z06 that I daily drive. It has a LS7 (427 cubic inch) engine that I had built to make 660 horsepower on 93 octane pump gas - naturally aspirated! No supercharger, no turbo! Just a big thumping cam/heads/exhaust. The car weighs 3050 pounds. It's quick. 0-60 in 2.8 seconds, which means it's nearly as quick as a new 2024 Z06. Faster than a Dodge Hellcat Redeye, and never been beaten by any Mustang.

Anyway, it's fun to drive on a daily basis and has surprisingly been one of the most reliable cars I have ever owned.

skier07

I’m an older guy with osteoarthritic knees who still loves to ski.

Raybo

@PeakRarities said:
Oooops forgot to add cat pics...

Floyd

Nice Two Cent Piece!

airplanenut

@Copperindian said:
@airplanenut: enjoyed your post! But where’s the pic of the great Martin Brodeur flying with you?

Haven't met Marty yet, but I did get to meet Dano:

...and try on one of his rings:

We'll see what the weather is like when the Devils are in town in a few weeks. If it's good enough, hoping to at least get the play-by-play guy up for a flight.

mirabela

Inveterate winter hiker

Incurable fly angler

Cat guy

Progressing guitar player

Enthusiastic coin collector but not much of a coin photographer

M4Madness

My name is David and I'll be 57 next month. I've worked in the limestone industry for 37 years, fabricating stone for thousands of large buildings nationwide. My wife and I celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary a few days ago. We have no children, but have cats as our children -- one is a polydactyl.

I am an avid firearms owner, and was Site Staff for AR15.com for a number of years (24-year member there). I've owned a transferable Colt M16 machinegun and various suppressed weapons, along with military grade nightvision and thermal optics.

I'm pretty active in amateur (ham) radio and spend time weekly making contacts with other radio operators from some pretty obscure places around the world. It's basically a never-ending geography lesson.

I've been an archer for 35 years, but some shoulder discomfort has probably put an end to that. I spend a lot of hours pursuing whitetail deer every fall with archery tackle, rifles, and a muzzleloader. I'm one of the fortunate Indiana residents that have a lifetime hunting license (bought mine in 1999), so it costs me nothing to hunt anything in this state.

I'm also a huge "metalhead", and could listen to 80's thrash metal and never grow tired of it.

Crepidodera

My name is Doug Veal, just turned 67, a retired retail manager. I have a passion for liberty seated quarters and longhorned beetles.
And my dog Willie keeps me very busy.

Looking for longhorned beetles in NE Iowa

Willie the wildman

Sanddollar

Skill set:
I can look in two directions at once.
I can roll a blunt in the rain.

Other interests:
I have a track record of success blending domain and systems subject matter expertise with broad experience and common sense in order to identify core issues and consult with clients on results focused solutions.

crazyhounddog

Great thread👍

Martin

@Morgan13

Iron head?

Martin

winesteven

In my “prior life” I worked for Consumer Reports Magazine for 14 years, writing Food articles, including testing (I have a Master’s degree in Nutrition). Near the end, I realized I was spending less time reading Nutrition journals (and not enjoying them), and more time reading about taxes and financial issues. As a result, while still at Consumer Reports Magazine, I started a little sideline business preparing tax returns.

After five years, that little sideline business grew large enough, so I left Consumer Reports. In the meantime during those five years, I passed the IRS’s Enrolled Agent exam (which allowed me to represent taxpayers in all states at any level of audit). Also during those five years, I got my Securities licenses and was one of the “pioneers” getting the Certified Financial Planner designation, about 40 years ago.

By 2001, my late wife and I had built that tax practice to the point that together we were doing 1,200 tax returns annually. That year we sold the tax practice, but kept the investment practice, and moved from Metro NY to South Florida (east coast). Two great things about Florida - no State income tax, and you don’t have to shovel sunshine!

I had been happily married for 46 years when my wife, age 64, in early 2017, died suddenly with no medical warning. She had a Pulmonary Embolism, and died within minutes. Subsequently, I met Ann, we dated for many years, and married in July 2023.

Together we enjoy travel, fine dining, fine wine (of course, lol), theater, opera, symphonies, ballet, jokes, laughing, and having fun. She enjoys seeing me enjoy this wonderful coin hobby!

Here are two photos. The second one shows me in the clothes I wear to FUN in Orlando, carrying that red and white striped canvas bag.

Steve

PerryHall

@winesteven said:
Two great things about Florida - no State income tax, and you don’t have to shovel sunshine!

...and no sales tax on coins and bullion.

dsessom

@crazyhounddog said:
Great thread👍

Thanks Joe! Folks here are like extended family and you are a dear friend that I would not have without this forum.

burfle23

Just an average counterfeit researcher here.

Helping during the Dayton tornados:

From my EAC 1794 collectors profile:

dsessom

@winesteven Now THAT is the kind of introduction I had in mind when originally posting this thread! Very nice to meet you, Steve! We have never met, but I hope to become acquaintances through these forums at least, and perhaps meet at a coin show at some point, as my beautiful partner of 13 years, Linda Lake, is encouraging me to "get out more" and attend some major shows around the country and enjoy life a little, rather than being a hermit. (She is right! lol)

Your professional life story is both impressive and inspiring! I would love to own my own business, after I retire from Federal government service in 5 years, but several issues give me pause. One of those is of course tax issues, another is health insurance, and the third is I have no idea how to manage employees. Perhaps you could offer some inspiring advice, or knowledge about the rewards and horrors of self employment?

At any rate, thank you for your wonderful introduction!

dsessom

@Sanddollar said:

Other interests:
I have a track record of success blending domain and systems subject matter expertise with broad experience and common sense in order to identify core issues and consult with clients on results focused solutions.

That is the best line of corporate completely meaningless double speak that I have seen in a while! Congratulations!

dsessom

@mirabela said:

Progressing guitar player

I really enjoyed that! You are a wonderful guitar player! I have been playing myself since I was 12! I guess that I completely forgot to reveal that part of my life. I do not have a video, but I DO have an audio track of a song that I composed and recorded in a professional studio a year ago. It is more hard rock/heavy metal and just instrumental. I cannot sing to save my file.

Here it is: https://soundcloud.com/vypervenom/vypervenom-rock-aint-dead

Enjoy!

By the way, you remind me very much of the actor Fred Ward, who is one of my favorite actors!

Thank you so much for your introduction, and the guitar performance as well!

Lazybones

@dsessom

My collection of 1911 pistols total 58; all but 2 are vintage Colts. The other 2 are a 1944 Remington Rand WWII bringback and a Ruger SR1911 Commander.

That's quite an impressive collection of westerns YOU have!

M4Madness

@dsessom said:
I DO have an audio track of a song that I composed and recorded in a professional studio a year ago. It is more hard rock/heavy metal and just instrumental. I cannot sing to save my file.

Here it is: https://soundcloud.com/vypervenom/vypervenom-rock-aint-dead

I thoroughly enjoyed that guitar work. Not only do I lack singing ability, I cannot play an instrument either. LMAO! I am relegated to being entertained by the music of others.

My first introduction to "harder" music was getting Kiss "Alive II" on 8-track in 1978 at the age of 10. I loved Ace's solo on "Shock Me". Then in March 1982, my friend got Ozzy's "Diary of A Madman" for his birthday, which happened to be two days after the death of Randy Rhoads. Randy was the most impressive player I'd ever seen! Not long after, a chance encounter on the school bus introduced me to Dio's "The Last In Line", when another rider was playing it on a "boom box". Vivian Campbell's guitar style blew me away. "Diary of a Madman" and "The Last In Line" completely rerouted the course of music in my life, and I still rank them as my top 2 favorite albums of all time.

The 80's and early 90's found me buying cassettes (and later CDs) from tons of heavy groups: Dio, Ozzy, Black Sabbath, Slayer, Megadeth, Metallica, Anthrax, Testament, Grim Reaper, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Pantera, Death, Sepultura, Metal Church, Nuclear Assault, Sacred Reich, and many, many more...

seatedlib3991

I simply must learn how to take pictures and post them with my new smart phone so I can post to this post.
However, my very old friend Elliot the ginger cat took a turn for the worse. At least I was given the chance to say goodbye. Oct. 8th 2002 -- Dec. 12th 2024. I look forward to posting to my rather new coin friends but it will be a little while. James

Baylor8670

@dsessom said:

@Sanddollar said:

Other interests:
I have a track record of success blending domain and systems subject matter expertise with broad experience and common sense in order to identify core issues and consult with clients on results focused solutions.

That is the best line of corporate completely meaningless double speak that I have seen in a while! Congratulations!

I just figured it was written by AI

dsessom

@M4Madness said:

@dsessom said:
I DO have an audio track of a song that I composed and recorded in a professional studio a year ago. It is more hard rock/heavy metal and just instrumental. I cannot sing to save my file.

Here it is: https://soundcloud.com/vypervenom/vypervenom-rock-aint-dead

I thoroughly enjoyed that guitar work.

Thank you! This was a "bucket list" type of thing for me. I have always wanted to record in a professional studio, and it was a LOT of fun! I might do it again some time. Thanks so much for the kind words!

dsessom

@seatedlib3991 said:
I simply must learn how to take pictures and post them with my new smart phone so I can post to this post.
However, my very old friend Elliot the ginger cat took a turn for the worse. At least I was given the chance to say goodbye. Oct. 8th 2002 -- Dec. 12th 2024. I look forward to posting to my rather new coin friends but it will be a little while. James

I am sorry for your loss. I am sure Elliot was like a family member, as pets always are. My condolences.

winesteven

@dsessom said:
@winesteven Now THAT is the kind of introduction I had in mind when originally posting this thread! Very nice to meet you, Steve! We have never met, but I hope to become acquaintances through these forums at least, and perhaps meet at a coin show at some point, as my beautiful partner of 13 years, Linda Lake, is encouraging me to "get out more" and attend some major shows around the country and enjoy life a little, rather than being a hermit. (She is right! lol)

Your professional life story is both impressive and inspiring! I would love to own my own business, after I retire from Federal government service in 5 years, but several issues give me pause. One of those is of course tax issues, another is health insurance, and the third is I have no idea how to manage employees. Perhaps you could offer some inspiring advice, or knowledge about the rewards and horrors of self employment?

At any rate, thank you for your wonderful introduction!

Four tips regarding employees:

1. I only want smart people working for me, especially since my work is very detail oriented. I've successfully used the Wonderlic Personnel Test, a 12 minute minute test, as the first step in the interview. It gives a good sense of a person's cognitive abilities, and has worked well for me.
2. I always compliment and thank each employee. If they do something smart (like catching an error of mine), I compliment them specifically for that too.
3. If an error is made, I never get upset. We determine what can be done to minimize that error from happening again.
4. Perhaps most important, pay your employees well. It will help retain them. In my line of work, a lot of time and energy goes into training, so turnover is not my friend. If you pay peanuts, all you get are monkeys!

Steve

Copperindian

@dsessom said:

@Sanddollar said:

Other interests:
I have a track record of success blending domain and systems subject matter expertise with broad experience and common sense in order to identify core issues and consult with clients on results focused solutions.

That is the best line of corporate completely meaningless double speak that I have seen in a while! Congratulations!

I don’t know; made total sense to me! I’m focused on “rolling a blunt in the rain”! THAT was meaningful…..

M4Madness

@seatedlib3991 said:
However, my very old friend Elliot the ginger cat took a turn for the worse. At least I was given the chance to say goodbye. Oct. 8th 2002 -- Dec. 12th 2024.

You have my sincerest condolences! We've had as many as ten cats at once, but currently only have three. 22 years is quite the life for a feline! We've had two reach 16, but none exceed it yet. I pray that our remaining ones do. I've often heard said that ginger cats are the best cats. The two I've had have been wonderful. Sam passed away at 16 and Max is still plugging along at 10.

dsessom

@Copperindian said:

I have a track record of success blending domain and systems subject matter expertise with broad experience and common sense in order to identify core issues and consult with clients on results focused solutions.

I would like to paraphrase this line, so that it makes more sense to my generation, using a lyric from Vanilla Ice;

"If you've got a problem, Yo, I'll solve it! Check out the hook while my DJ revolves it." -Robert Van Winkle aka Vanilla Ice

oldabeintx

60 years in the insurance business, 70 years as a collector. Started my own property and casualty insurer in 2006 (finally). Sold it a couple years ago. Married almost 60 years. Wife and I split our year between Mukilteo, WA (summer) and Dallas (the rest). Golf, fishing, collect coins, art, art glass. Wife has a cat that hates me. Picture below is Sardine Lake, CA. Been going there for 62 years. I’m on the left, my little bro on the right.