I receieved my B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cal. State Long Beach in 1988. I am currently the Senior Network Engineer for Clarion Corp., maker of car stereos. I was in the Air Force for six years before college as an aircraft mechanic. I could not do the blue collar work, but white collar politics are pretty bad. Born, raised and currently live in the Los Angeles area.
Great thread. I am retired from the US Army and am now the Manager and Superintendant of 2 Navy Golf Courses at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown Virginia and I can say I spend everyday at the golf course and thats not all bad.
FORMER # 1 NOW # 3 ON ALL TIME FINEST CLAD QUARTER COLLECTION
Hello people, I am new to this group, but thought I would join in on this thread. I am a Registered Nurse specializing in the field of Dialysis for the past 12 years. My ambitions far exceed my bank account, but I don't let that stand in my way. BOB
Registered Investment Advisor. I manage about $70 million for about 100 different families, friends and my own family. I work at home over looking the Wasatch Mountains in Salt Lake City. These mountains will soon host the Olympics.
I was a native Californian and graduated from the University of California at San Francisco. I have lived in Utah for more than 20 years.
I am one of the few remaining "Computer Dinosaurs". I joined the USAF in 1965 and they made me a computer programmer (IBM 1410/Honeywell 800), when 64K was a lot of memory and had no idea what a "computer programmer" did. I have spent my entire adult life working with business applications (payroll, inventory, etc.) on mainframes. I worked for Drexel Furniture Co. (3 years), Nello Teer Construction Co. (3 years) and the State of North Carolina (27 years and retired as a Senior Applications Development Project Manager on March 1, 2001.
Other than coins, I enjoy NASCAR racing (Jeff Gordan), golf (mostly high 80's) and classic vehicles (in the last few years I have owned a 1969 SS396 Camero, 1967 SS396 Chevelle and now have a 1972 customized SS454 Chevy truck.
I have been married twice, the last 26 years to a wonderful lady named Lorraine and have one son (29), two step-sons (38 and 40), and four grandkids.
I started collecting coins about two years ago with raw Morgan dollars, moved to Silver Eagles (full set of both raw MS and Proofs) and Proof Sets. Now I am mostly collecting PCGS slabbed registry coins (see my sets below) and trying to adjust to the lower retirement dollars. Being a member of this board is very educational and enjoyable (lots of great people here).
I have had about 4 careers already at the ripe old age of 30.
First off, I left college at the age of 20 (no degree, studied CS at the University of MN) and spent several years working both property maintenance and as a clerk at a gas station/grocery store. Over 5 years I worked my way up to area manager (supervised 12 stores) for the gas station company and then left due to long hours and lack of further advancement opportunities.
After that I held a variety of contract positions dealing with network administration and Oracle database migration for Fortune 500 companies, and then worked in production, testing and automation for a semiconductor manufacturing company.
In 1999, I moved to California and began my current business of starting companies for a living with some college buddies of mine. I am currently the Chief Strategist for a Dallas area software company that we sold one of our companies to, and I am in the process of building two other technology companies in my spare time, as well as offering product marketing and strategy consulting services to companies in the wireless business space.
I currently am building a CNS Type set, and I am very slowly working on a MS64 and better set of Buffalos. I also collect modern first edition novels.
RELLA
Do not fall into the error of the artisan who boasts of twenty years experience in his craft while in fact he has had only one year of experience... twenty times.
Feeling extremely young all of a sudden. Graduated with a BBA in Accounting in 1996 and passed the CPA exam on the first try out, all four parts. Took a job with a private oil and gas company in Dallas, TX for a year and a half, then tired of working downtown every day, switched to the suburbs and now work in city government in the finance department. Mostly spend time tweaking the financial software and utility billing software. Don't get to do much actual accounting.
I am a retired blue collar guy. I worked for a major oil company, at a petrochemical plant in SE Ohio for 35+ years. Worked my way from lowest class operator to Supervisor of operations and maintence in the Utilites section. Married to Bev for over 20 years, 4 daughters, one stepdaughter and one stepson, all grown and gone, most of the time...lol. And 9 grandchildren to spoil.
I got back into collecting in 1996 and am working on a raw Morgan set, Proof Kennedy Registry set and other US coins in circ. and BU.
I am totally impressed with the quality of the people on this forum and really enjoy most of the give and take in daily dialog.
***quarterjack*** I will look you up at the Strongsville show. My wife and I will be there all three days.
Wow! Well it was so refreshing to read this thread!!
What a diverse group!! Interesting, many members have a military backround-is there some connection between the military and coins that might make it more likely today that military men/woman would collect coins than non-military? Maybe a topic for another thread?
Fewer attorneys and doctors than I thought. I always heard that doctors tend to be avid coin collectors?
I expected to hear from more stockbrokers. Is Dragon the only active stockbroker among us that can set up a new account for those, like myself, that could really use his help (Dabigkahuna-do you trade your own account only now?)
Pmh1nik: What type of martial arts instructor are you? My kids are brown belts right now in Korean Tae Kwan Do and expect to get their black belts early next year.
Wow, what a great group of forum members! I hope we hear from more of you who decide to introduce yourselves to us Wondercoin.
Please visit my website at www.wondercoins.com and my ebay auctions under my user name www.wondercoin.com.
I am originally from Pittsburgh, BA in accounting Penn State (1980) and MBA from UConn (1986). I spent 7 years in the service, enlisted and commissioned, early 70s and early 80s. I have worked in finance for a number of large firms and for 10 years I did start ups, turn arounds and fixes for non profits (at no pay pretty much).
I have been involved with computers since grad school where I combined computers and finance. A couple of years ago I moved back into computers full time and via a long circuituous route, I ended up at the U.S. Mint as a Systems Analyst in the Finance area, specializing in PeopleSoft support.
I collected coins when I was young, but poverty got in the way. I restarted my collecting a year and a half ago and while I collect a number of different series, I am focused now on my No Bands Mercury collection.
Retired United States Mint guy, now working on an Everyman Type Set.
I retired at 50 and currently live in North Carolina.
I have a BSEE from Stanford and an MBA from UT at Austin. Before retiring I spent 25 years in Chicago managing the futures, foreign exchange and bullion trading for several large brokerage and investment banking firms.
I addition to coins and my observatory, my other interest is 3D animation.
Sophmore in College and when I am not collecting coins, I am working with them for a local mail order coin business in my town. I was the ANA intern this last summer and have received and internship with Heritage for this comming summer. Hopefully I can get a job with a big coin company or auction house.
I was born with the DR handle. David Robert, then grew into it buy attending USC for Medical school. I did a residency in Emergency Medicine at USC-LAC County Hospital and have been an ER doc in Vegas ever since.
Hey DRG.. would we have possibly seen you on one of those Life in the ER shows that airs on the Discovery Channel? (I THINK its Discovery channel) I remember seeing several that were filmed at a Las Vegas hospital.
I am 31 and have been married for 5 years (as of 12-31) we have a boy (goose4 age4) and a girl, age 1. I also just found out there is going to be another (the 3rd and final) in September!
I have worked as a Police Officer in my City here in Ohio since early 1994. (almost 1/3 of the way towards my retirement!!!)
what are the times on this strongsville show Quarterjack or Beartracks?? And where is it exactly?? is it worth an hour drive?
This is a great thread. Now I know why I like some of you guys so much, and I'm still mystified as to why I like others.
I'm either a 4th or 5th generation Californian (I can't remember if my great-great grandparents or great-great-great grandparents forst moved to So' Cal'). I lived a completely selfish life for years, studying what I wanted with no consideration of how it would affect my potential career. I worked after school during high school to save for my future, started college, took two years off of school to live in Japan in the late '80's, went back for another year of undergrad work, spent all the money I'd saved to finish my last year of undergraduate studies in Japan and got my BA in Japanese Studies. Then I decided to get my MA in 16th Century Studies (i.e. the Reformation). I worked for a few years in LA to save up for grad school, then, when that wasn't working too well, went back to Japan to work three years and saved enough. I worked on my MA while first working as an English teacher, then as a market analyst, then as a car salesman. After I got my MA I considered going on for a doctorate in 16th century Japanese history, but I met my wife-to-be and realized I needed to get a job. Now I've left that behind and am a wireless telecommunications consultant. I've been happily married for the last 4 years and have a two-year-old daughter. My wife says I can get my PhD after I retire.
I first started collecting Lincoln cents, common date Morgans, Mercury dimes, etc. back in the mid '70's. I picked up odds and ends after that but didn't have any clear collecting goals. I got back into collecting after reading up on silver dollars, trade dollars, seated liberty coins, etc. For the past year I've been dealing in coins part time and moving into the dark side. I collect all the weird stuff other collectors avoid while dealing in 19th century type coins that at least some collectors are interested in.
BTW, I was never in the military but grew up with an interest in military aviation since my dad was an aircraft engineer.
I started my career as a systems engineer with EDS in Detroit supporting various IT needs for General Motors (Perot had already been bought-out by GM when I joined). I then moved on to the MDCVB (Metropolitan Detroit Convention & Visitors Bureau as their MIS director). I am now a senior systems program manager with Carlson Marketing Group in Troy, MI supporting General Motors and Ford incentive programs. (and thanks to EDS...they paid for my MBA in Finance to supplement my computer systems engineering knowledge).
I completed my B.S. in Mathematics (Weber State) in '78 at the age of 18. MBA, Utah '85.
I am a certified Project Management Professional and work as a Sr. Project Consultant for a Fortune 200 company. I travel all over the world, reviewing multi-million dollar IT projects and providing oversight, counsel and advice. Have lived in Northern Utah, Oregon (Portland area), Arkansas (Little Rock area) and twice in England (southwest and London area). Currently work from my home in Southern Utah. Have visited 48 states and 40 countries.
I've been collecting coins since I was a boy - over 30 years. Have become much more serious since 1998 as my available time and resources have improved. It is still a thrill to acquire rare coins that I used to read about in the Red Book as a 10-year-old boy. I used to wonder how anybody could afford a Trade Dollar, or a $3 gold piece, or a Flowing Hair Dollar or a Lesher "dollar". Now I own these and others - magic!
Collecting should be fun. Set registry is just another way to enjoy collecting. It is not and cannot be the final assessment of a collection's "value".
Well my life story is this: Born and raised in New York City and suburbs and started collecting coins in 1960 when I was 7 years old. I received my coin collecting merit badge in 1966 on the way to my Eagle Scout earned in January 1867.
I graduated from Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio) in 1975 (I feel old here) with a B.S in Accounting and also an MBA in January 1877 and became a CPA in November 1977. Currently a CPA in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. But with the Enron mess that is nothing to crow about.
I am also a Certified Fraud Examiner and am in practice in New York.
Married nearly 22 years to my beloved wife who is now a full time Judge with 2 teen girls who drive me crazy.
I have loved collecting coins for over 40 years now and practically try to do it all. Too much to see, too much to do, and also fear completing the set of my dreams as the famous quote (guess who) applies so well to me and many of us is:
"Having, after all, is not such a pleasing thing as wanting; it is not logical but it is often true."
I treasure the people I have met in the hobby (especially the Norwebs when I was in Cleveland), the Pittman family to the everday collector to most of all, the kids who have that gleam in their eyes when discovering for the first time.
My name is Brian. I'm 14 years old. I live in a small rural town. We're surrounded by large cities though. Ithaca is really close. Home to Micheal Casper's coin shop, also home to Cornell University, which I plan on attending in 2 years. Elmira is close too. Eileen Collins, and Tommy Hilfiger were born there. My aunt dated Tommy in high school, only for a short time. Mark Twain spent the last of his days there. My aunt lives in Pine City outside of Elmira. She has her PHd and all those other degrees. They got rich off a large inheritance from her father-inlaw. I have a gpa of 4.0. My dad is an engineer and my mom used to be a day trader until she lost a lot of money. I lost all of my college savings in the stock market. I want to get my law degree and open up a large corporate law firm in a big city. I love coin collecting. That's about it.
For some life lasts a short while, but the memories it holds last forever. -Laura Swenson
In memory of BL, SM, and KG. 16 and forever young, rest in peace.
Retired Navy Air Traffic Controller (1998 w/24 yrs). Married 25 yrs to another sailor, who will retire next year! I've been with Northrop Grumman the last year as a Shipboard Air Traffic Control Systems Integration Engineer. Big fancy title for providing contractor services to Navy customers requiring shipboard air traffic control advise/solutions.
Originally from California (family settled in Santa Clara County in 1850), but presently call Maryland home.
Thoroughly enjoy collecting, but to be honest - the hunt is just as enjoyable, AND MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE!!
I have worked in the maintenance division at Lockheed-Martin Aeronautical Systems for the last 21+ years. I have done everything from landscaping to servicing the milling machines. I got interested in coins at an early age, but it bloomed into a full-blown passion in 1988. Since then I have been into all areas of coin collecting including Cameo Jeffersons and Kennedys and most recently, a PCGS registry set of Uncirculated Modern Gold Commemoratives. I started the set several years ago and plan on upgrading many times over. I also set up at coin shows on occasion. That's where I have my most fun. I really enjoy talking to and helping collectors, even if I don't sell many coins. I really appreciate the comradery of this forum. There are some truly wonderful people in this arena, and it makes me very proud to be a part of you.
Spent my entire career as a corporate tax consultant, currently as a partner in a Big5 firm. I put together structures for equity and debt placements, stock and asset acquisitions and dispositions, etc. in a tax-effecient manner for large corporate clients.
Been collecting since I was 9 when my grandmother showed me her cigar boxes full of all kinds of old coins.
Daryl
Some refer to overgraded slabs as Coffins. I like to think of them as Happy Coins.
Great Idea, Mitch In 1975 I founded a motorcycle dealership in Downers Grove, Il. Today the dealership has national recognition due to our participation in professional Supercross and motocross racing. Former national champions, Doug Henry and Steve Lamson started their careers with our Team DGY during the late 1980's and early 1990's. Today DGY Motorsports represents the Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki franchises. I started my interest in coins in 1955. In 1995 I completed a mint state, full head (except overdate, I had the only MS65 overdate, and the 1927-S in MS66) set of Liberty Standing quarters. The set was PCGS except for the 1926-S and was the 3rd or 4th finest set at that time. Larry Whitlow sold the complete set in 1995. I needed to expand my numismatic knowledge and looked for a tougher challenge; knowing I could never keep up with Bill Walser, I decided to start a complete US type set. I am interested in numismatic history and have an extensive collection of reference books including every Bowers catalog. I also enjoy identifying coin pedigrees. I am also a collector of French Burgundy wines and a car enthusiast. "Once a collector always a collector." Jim Swan
Good idea Mitch, I've read everyone's thread and am impressed by the diversity of the group.
I graduated from Brown University in 1978 with a BA in International Relations. Opened stores in 7 states for a major jewelry retailer (am a certified gemologist). Joined IBM and sold mainframes in Texas in the 1980s/early 90s. For the last 7+ years have been with a firm that assists clients in negotiating large outsourcing transactions with IBM, EDS, CSC, Lockheed Martin, etc. Am now the Chief Knowledge Officer (whatever that means!).
I've been married for nearly 18 years with two great kids, a son, 14, and a daughter, 11 (they still like their parents, although I'm worried about when they start to drive ). My wife and daughter have 4 horses and I have a Ford tractor (to move the manure ).
I started collecting with my Dad in 1971 when the Ike dollar came out and have been enjoying the hobby, off and on, ever since.
I stayed in college just long enough to get an obsolete degree in Computer Engineering, then fled back to the real-life job I had already obtained in high school working for an educational software company.
A group of us left there to spearhead retail "edutainment" children's software in a small company. I worked variously as a developer, manager, and designer, helping that company grow substantially and win various highly-coveted pieces of lucite. (Also implanted subliminal "buy Ikes" advertisements in all your children's brains in anticipation of future career, sorry parents!)
I left that company at the start of the Internet revolution, co-founding a software startup with a couple other guys. Luckily our three-headed management team was able to skillfully avoid cashing-in on the IPO boom of the time, saving me from becoming a filthy rich unsufferable boor (though it was eventually sold privately).
From there I went solo, doing software consulting design and development, typically coming in at the last-minute to salvage overdue projects at larger companies.
Along the way, I developed the Supercoin web site at a time when coin dealer sites were either non-existent or very primitive. Images were quite a novelty and instant payment by credit card unheard of. I figured a well-designed site would be a great way to sell small portable high-value items with nation-wide reach (it was) and make good money doing it (it wasn't). I did make a go of it full-time for a while, but it required being more of a general-purpose dealer than I enjoyed, and have since scaled back to coins that are also of personal interest.
For the future... it's not yet clear but I'm currently exploring some interesting ideas in the securities markets. Definitely will be something with a more respected title than "Coin Dealer", though... perhaps "Ambulance Chaser" or "Petty Larcenist".
Who am I? Hmmm. I am a person who passed up full scholorships to USC and Stanford to drift the US. 48 of 50 states covered.minus alaska, and washington. I had a brief encounter with the US military. I was offered "whatever i wanted to do" I later began a crash course in tax accounting, and buisiness management(dropped out) as for past employment i have been a restuarant manager,a high steel worker, fabracated plastics,a wholesale salesman,and a list that shows my lack of interest in anything for very long. Due to the working of steel i am now 33% disabled(so the doctors say). I had been a stay at home dad for 3 years, and about 6 months ago re-enetered the work force. My kids are 11,8,and 5.
Past interest/hobbies include street racing, muscle and sport(for the law enforcement people onboard... i don't drive anymore)I ran good 1/4's on the street(low 10's), but preffer mountain roads!Sustained high speeds also!I have collected coins on and off since 1975. Astronomy,geology,and history were also interests to me.
I like philosophy,deductive reasoning, and theroey.(see no time for a real job)I have in the past year taking music back up as a past time. I play guitar and bass. I work well with computer hardware, and have been attempting to learn as many OS' as i can!
maybe someday i will grow up...But until then my goal remains the same... Professional Tourist!!!
Lets See!! OK,Spent 5years in the Marines 1961 - 1966 thats done.Went to school and went to school some more. Walked drove and thumbed across the USA.
Married and stopped moveing.Work for a health screening organization in Michigan as Program Manager.
Love cars FAST ONES mostly my board name gnjoe,the gn stands for Grand National. I have a 1987 Buick GN,1986 Jaguar XJS Chevy. 350 powered,a 1997 Impala SS and a 1965 Dodge 440B1.Coins and Astronomy then Fish Keeping round out my time.
I belong to the NHRA,AAAS,AARP,and Mensa. This is my first post but I have picked up much information from this board. Thanks Great Thread.
Nice thread and very interesting set of people, quite a few military, I'm impressed.
I graduated with a BA in Political Sci from Berkeley where I also played Lacrosse. Did a bunch of goofus jobs the most interesting was an archaeologist in hawaii.
I am currently a Principal Appraiser with the City & County of San Francisco, happily married for 6+ years with a 3 year old (Henry).
Matt Thomas
"the world is full of kings and queens, they blind your eyes and steal your dreams, it's Heaven and Hell"
Will were to start - I'm a member of the U S Navy been doing this for 18 years. Still not sure if it's time to retire next year or not. I have been stationed in Norfolk Virginia - San Diego Ca - Yokasuka Japan - Lakrhurst New Jersey - back to Norfolk Va - and now I'm at Pax River Maryland. I still live in Norfolk so I drive back and forth on the weekends it's a 3 1/2 hour drive but I own a home and the wife has a great job. I have been married for 12 years and have two step-kids 30 and 28 both are married. The oldest is also in the Navy and they just had there third child Sat. My Youngest stayed in Jersey fell for a Jersey girl and the rest is history. He gave us a scare on Sept 11, His comp. was in the south tower ( 23 floor ) he only works at the main office once in awhile and we were on vacation in South Dakota it took us awhile to find out anything but he was not there that day. I'm from the great state of Wyoming by the way. I have been collecting off and on for quite awhile now. I have dicided to limit my collecting to Half Dollars and have been slimming down my collection to make money to buy slabbed Kennedy Halfs. I also quite smoking new years day in a deal with the wife I get to pocket the money so Now my set may grow a bit faster. I also a diehard NASCAR fan ( Kyle Petty ) don't make alot of races now just getting to expensive and I like bowling aleast the ball comes back to you and you don't have to chase it down just to hit again LOL.
Braddick: I lived in Encinitas for three years and thats were I met my Wife. 1988 - 1991
U S Navy Retired 22 years - ENC(SW) Ret. - Travling Nuclear Maintanence Contractor - Working Indian Point Nuclear plant Buchanan New York
BS Mechanical Engineering '86. Waited for a few years until we were working 70+ hours a week and went back for my Master in Manufacturing Management. Head of Engineering for our division (large Tier 1 supplier to the Big Three). Just recently fell back into the coin thing after a 25 year or so hiatus. It's good to be back.
Thought I might as well throw my two cents in. Another accountant - Duke Univ.(yes i love basketball) married, two daughters, two grandchildren. Run a company that manages Doctor practices that test for heart disease. Collected coins as a child in the late fifties, then again in the late seventies, early eighties and finally started again about five years ago. This time though I can afford to buy the coins I only dreamed about years ago.
I own and direct a debt collection agency in the San Diego area. Our client base is nationwide and specialize in Timeshare, income property, and installment contract debts
Flash; I have always tried to avoid the cameras, but I have made one appearance on the Discovery channel. TLC has also done a lot of filming at the hospital I work in, "Real ER", or something like that.
What a great idea! Nice to get to know more about everyone.
Spent my High School years and early College years studying Mechanical Engineering. Then I ran headlong into what I refer to as "the math wall". I lacked direction in College and dabbled in everything from short story writing to photography to Shakespeare.
I finally quit school and went into the professional photo finishing industry. I worked in many areas, color and black & white printing, flat art copy, sheet film duplication and photocompositing. At one point I did all the 35mm still film reproduction for Lucasfilm, and have spent some fine evenings at screenings at Skywalker Ranch.
Around 1995 I purchased my first computer and taught myself HTML. I've been working as a Web Interface Developer ever since. I've worked on sites for companies such as Charles Schwab, AMD and Handspring. My last web position was with a company called Cyberplex who is based in Toronto, Canada. Our offices were (luckily) in Sausalito, Ca. just north of San Francisco across the Golden Gate.
Unfortunately, I'm currently unemployed, which really cuts into your coin buying. But leaves me time for other things. I'm a sometimes mountain biker, an avid Auto Racing Fan (especially Formula One), a voracious reader, an semi-advanced abstract photographer, a begining IPSC Action Pistol Shooter, and have been known to attend Renaissance Faires in a kilt sporting a sword, an alias and a 1560's mentality (who would have guessed!).
For those of you who were in the Navy, I live a stone's throw from the ex-Mare Island Naval Shipyard where two generations of my girlfriend's family worked.
Being 20 minutes from the Napa Valley, I've developed a love for good Cabrenet. I'm a frequent wine taster sometimes collector and a fixture at a few of the closer cellars. I also believe that Champagne isn't only for special occasions.
I've also been known to enjoy a good cigar, and mix a mean margarita.
wow intelligent i'll say... i am a impressed..especially with the diversity..i am a non high school grad..who now owns a large chain of stores..in the so. calif area..i started my business with 1 store 20+ yrs ago and grew the chain over time..now have about 20 with another 10+ that i have sold/franchised to others..i have always loved collecting and have several top registry sets.. coins are my main hobby though i also like blackjack and driving way to fast in sports cars..glad to be part of the hobby and have learned lots from folks over the yrs. collecting.. great topic,bruce scher
Hmmmm Guess I cant avoid this any longer....here goes. I work for a General Contracting company as a Project Manager (sometimes I wonder too), I have been here since it was started, 8+ years. I did the navy thing, truckdriver thing, but the most exciting thing I did was work in Kuwait, to assist in putting out all those fires (Dang we did it toooooo fast). I was field supervisor over the equipment assignments, which also included setting up drilling rigs and new camps. Now, I started collecting at the age of 6 (1966), and have not stopped, been ripped off a couple of times, but started all over again. I have a circulated collection of almost all the US sets, from Indian cents to Morgan Dollars. All are complete, except for the morgans....need 12 coins. I will work on that later. But for now, It's MERCURY TIME! Still married after 21 years, (sometimes I wonder about that too)lol. Well that wraps it up for me...... Have fun and take it easy on me.....
Hi all! I retired from the US Air Force In 1994, if it had a switch or indicator in the flight deck I fixed it. Spent two years beach buming it in Hawaii working part time in a bike shop. Now I repair Laser and light lens copiers in central NY. Been collecting since I was too young to remember. Finally completed the Lincoln and am trying to get all the proofs. I need 6 mattes and the 1936 to finish that. Also have all business strike Jeffs in BU. Now working on FBL franklins.
DAN
United States Air Force Retired And Would Do It Again.
Well, I'm not over here much, but it is very interesting to hear you folks' background. So many G.I.s. It's funny hearing about all of you ADP, Telecom, IS, IT, Comm-Comp, etc types on the forum. I wonder how many of us may have crossed paths in the past.
I went into the USAF in Nov'77 as Security Policeman and did just about everything in the field, except Dog handling (Entry controller, Flight patrolman, Law Enforcement Specialist, SP Investigations, Emergency Service team member); then I cross-trained into telecom which merged with ADP, which became Comm-Computer Sys and so on. Held quite a few diverse positions in that field too, from teletype operator, Comm-center supervisor, Acquisitions Management, and retired from the Intelligence Support Agency (can't say much more than that for another 67 years )
I am thoroughly impressed with this group and it is clear why some of US are as opinionated as we can be, but all in all, it's good to learn a bit more about you all - of course, some of you have piqued my curiosity to the point that I wish we could meet face to face.
Again, I'm flabbergasted at the varied backgrounds, but there seems to be some commonality among the majority (besides numismatics ); many, many self starters and folks successful in their own right. Hardly anybody who seems to be laid back and unchallenged in life. Good stuff.
Well I attended college on a baseball scholarship and that just didn't work out, went to trade school in heavy equipment and diesel mechanics and finally started working in the automotive field as an auto tech. Did that for about 10 years and decided I needed a change so I went to work at a fossil generation plant (coal fueled power plant). That lasted about 3 years and seen the writing on the wall so I landed a job in the chemical industry and went to work at a Chemical plant. I'm a Chemical operator, we produce dl methionine an amino acid, a feed additive used in the poultry industry. I've been at this job for about 12 years and probably won't be changing jobs any time soon I hope. Other than being around some really nasty chemicals it's a good job and I like it. I started collecting coins at age 18 and give it up for about a 10 year period. Then about 3 or 4 years ago I got back in and wished I had never left.
Injured my way out of a wrestling scholarship. Decided to join dear old dad in the flooring/contracting business. Went to school to specialize in commercial flooring, and now am a commercial flooring contractor installing specialized flooring in hospitals, clean rooms, MRI areas etc. Co-owner of some commercial real estate, and maintainence man du jour for my wifes preschool/kindergarten centers. Golf and coins are the non-family passions in my life, although golf has been put on the back burner since my 3rd child was born. 4th on the way by the end of March. Not bad for 7 years of marriage! Going to be moving in a week, to larger accomodations, to house my hockey team, er uh family Have collected off and on for the last twenty years. Have had some form of a collection for just about every issue. Mostly type now, favoring seated coinage, classic half cents, and Buffalo nickels.
WoW! I am impressed. I'm another blue collar guy. After 6 years in the USAF as a 431 Crew Chief on C-130's, OV-10 Bronco's, and O2A Skymasters I went into the reserves where I was a heavy equipment operator for a while, and climbed telephone poles for a while. After I got out in 82, I drove long haul for a couple of years, opened my own painting and sandblasting company that did fairly well for a couple of years, and have been in the Plant Operations and Maintenance business since. Currently am a power plant operator for a fortune 500 company working in manufacturing, and have been in the same position for going on 13 years. I started seriousely collecting in the early 90's when my grandmother gave me some coins my father had sent her from all over the world during his 26 years in the Army and AF. I also collect and study all types of paper money, foreign and US, but am especially into MPC's since I got 2 my dad sent my grandmother. I am also currently working and am about 60% complete on a MS Morgan and Peace set, and have been into the high grade modern registries also. My wife Dawn and I have been married 13 years and have 5 children, 25, 20,18,16, and 12 :confused It's a hers, mine, and ours deal, and is a great family. She is an aircraft painter at the local Air Force Base, helps me with money to buy coins with, and I help her with money to go play bingo with. We have a part time "hobby" farm of 40 acres (hunting paradise) in eastern Okla. along the Arkansas River, and enjoy attempting to grow pecan, and fruit trees. I also dabble in firearms, and old marbles. ;
AKA kokimoki the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed Join the NRA and protect YOUR right to keep and bear arms To protest against all hunting of game is a sign of softness of head, not soundness of heart. Theodore Roosevelt [L]http://www.ourfallensoldier.com/ThompsonMichaelE_MemorialPage.html[L]
after graduating from purdue ( industrial economics ) i played linebacker for for the houston oilers in 1973 to 1985....it was great because i was what i call a " tweener" where i played with the "old school" such as joe namath , johhny unitas and dick butkus... and the new school ( back then) such as warren moon, joe montana, dan marino and one still playing bruce mathews....id take the old school thankyou as they had alot more fun as a team ......todays players forget there is no "i" in team.....anyway i retired and transitioned inot my carwash and lube store business that i started as a player and thats what i do now......ive been collecting for almost 30 years and thru my many contacts in this hobby i have learned this business from top to bottom and thru the same contacts i have aquired numerous stellar coins along the way
gregg bingham
my goal is to find the monsters and i go where they are but i sometimes miss some.... so if you have any and want to sell IM THE BUYER FOR THEM!!!
out of rockets ...out of bullets...switching to harsh language
Served in the US Army from 1952 to 1973 retired from the service and took a job as a cabinet maker from 1973 to 1995, and retired again this time to doing nothing. I started collecting seriously in 1973 primarily toned Morgans.
If It doesn't have great eye appeal, I don't want it.
Comments
Tom
Great thread. I am retired from the US Army and am now the Manager and Superintendant of 2 Navy Golf Courses at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown Virginia and I can say I spend everyday at the golf course and thats not all bad.
PCGS THE ONLY WAY TO GO
Ed
I am new to this group, but thought I would join in on this thread. I am a Registered Nurse specializing in the field of Dialysis for the past 12 years. My ambitions far exceed my bank account, but I don't let that stand in my way. BOB
I was a native Californian and graduated from the University of California at San Francisco. I have lived in Utah for more than 20 years.
I am one of the few remaining "Computer Dinosaurs". I joined the USAF in 1965 and they made me a computer programmer (IBM 1410/Honeywell 800), when 64K was a lot of memory and had no idea what a "computer programmer" did. I have spent my entire adult life working with business applications (payroll, inventory, etc.) on mainframes. I worked for Drexel Furniture Co. (3 years), Nello Teer Construction Co. (3 years) and the State of North Carolina (27 years and retired as a Senior Applications Development Project Manager on March 1, 2001.
Other than coins, I enjoy NASCAR racing (Jeff Gordan), golf (mostly high 80's) and classic vehicles (in the last few years I have owned a 1969 SS396 Camero, 1967 SS396 Chevelle and now have a 1972 customized SS454 Chevy truck.
I have been married twice, the last 26 years to a wonderful lady named Lorraine and have one son (29), two step-sons (38 and 40), and four grandkids.
I started collecting coins about two years ago with raw Morgan dollars, moved to Silver Eagles (full set of both raw MS and Proofs) and Proof Sets. Now I am mostly collecting PCGS slabbed registry coins (see my sets below) and trying to adjust to the lower retirement dollars. Being a member of this board is very educational and enjoyable (lots of great people here).
This is great Mitch,
Larry
20th C. Type Set
1976 Proof Set
I have had about 4 careers already at the ripe old age of 30.
First off, I left college at the age of 20 (no degree, studied CS at the University of MN) and spent several years working both property maintenance and as a clerk at a gas station/grocery store. Over 5 years I worked my way up to area manager (supervised 12 stores) for the gas station company and then left due to long hours and lack of further advancement opportunities.
After that I held a variety of contract positions dealing with network administration and Oracle database migration for Fortune 500 companies, and then worked in production, testing and automation for a semiconductor manufacturing company.
In 1999, I moved to California and began my current business of starting companies for a living with some college buddies of mine. I am currently the Chief Strategist for a Dallas area software company that we sold one of our companies to, and I am in the process of building two other technology companies in my spare time, as well as offering product marketing and strategy consulting services to companies in the wireless business space.
I currently am building a CNS Type set, and I am very slowly working on a MS64 and better set of Buffalos. I also collect modern first edition novels.
RELLA
who boasts of twenty years experience in his craft
while in fact he has had only one year of experience...
twenty times.
Keith
I am a retired blue collar guy. I worked for a major oil company, at a petrochemical plant in SE Ohio for 35+ years. Worked my way from lowest class operator to Supervisor of operations and maintence in the Utilites section.
Married to Bev for over 20 years, 4 daughters, one stepdaughter and one stepson, all grown and gone, most of the time...lol. And 9 grandchildren to spoil.
I got back into collecting in 1996 and am working on a raw Morgan set, Proof Kennedy Registry set and other US coins in circ. and BU.
I am totally impressed with the quality of the people on this forum and really enjoy most of the give and take in daily dialog.
***quarterjack*** I will look you up at the Strongsville show. My wife and I will be there all three days.
What a diverse group!! Interesting, many members have a military backround-is there some connection between the military and coins that might make it more likely today that military men/woman would collect coins than non-military? Maybe a topic for another thread?
Fewer attorneys and doctors than I thought. I always heard that doctors tend to be avid coin collectors?
I expected to hear from more stockbrokers. Is Dragon the only active stockbroker among us that can set up a new account for those, like myself, that could really use his help (Dabigkahuna-do you trade your own account only now?)
Pmh1nik: What type of martial arts instructor are you? My kids are brown belts right now in Korean Tae Kwan Do and expect to get their black belts early next year.
Wow, what a great group of forum members! I hope we hear from more of you who decide to introduce yourselves to us
I am originally from Pittsburgh, BA in accounting Penn State (1980) and MBA from UConn (1986). I spent 7 years in the service, enlisted and commissioned, early 70s and early 80s. I have worked in finance for a number of large firms and for 10 years I did start ups, turn arounds and fixes for non profits (at no pay pretty much).
I have been involved with computers since grad school where I combined computers and finance. A couple of years ago I moved back into computers full time and via a long circuituous route, I ended up at the U.S. Mint as a Systems Analyst in the Finance area, specializing in PeopleSoft support.
I collected coins when I was young, but poverty got in the way. I restarted my collecting a year and a half ago and while I collect a number of different series, I am focused now on my No Bands Mercury collection.
I retired at 50 and currently live in North Carolina.
I have a BSEE from Stanford and an MBA from UT at Austin. Before retiring I spent 25 years in Chicago managing the futures, foreign exchange and bullion trading for several large brokerage and investment banking firms.
I addition to coins and my observatory, my other interest is 3D animation.
_____________________
My Other Hobby
09/07/2006
Cameron Kiefer
we have a boy (goose4 age4) and a girl, age 1.
I also just found out there is going to be another (the 3rd and final) in September!
I have worked as a Police Officer in my City here in Ohio since early 1994. (almost 1/3 of the way towards my retirement!!!)
what are the times on this strongsville show Quarterjack or Beartracks?? And where is it exactly?? is it worth an hour drive?
I'm either a 4th or 5th generation Californian (I can't remember if my great-great grandparents or great-great-great grandparents forst moved to So' Cal'). I lived a completely selfish life for years, studying what I wanted with no consideration of how it would affect my potential career. I worked after school during high school to save for my future, started college, took two years off of school to live in Japan in the late '80's, went back for another year of undergrad work, spent all the money I'd saved to finish my last year of undergraduate studies in Japan and got my BA in Japanese Studies. Then I decided to get my MA in 16th Century Studies (i.e. the Reformation). I worked for a few years in LA to save up for grad school, then, when that wasn't working too well, went back to Japan to work three years and saved enough. I worked on my MA while first working as an English teacher, then as a market analyst, then as a car salesman. After I got my MA I considered going on for a doctorate in 16th century Japanese history, but I met my wife-to-be and realized I needed to get a job. Now I've left that behind and am a wireless telecommunications consultant. I've been happily married for the last 4 years and have a two-year-old daughter. My wife says I can get my PhD after I retire.
I first started collecting Lincoln cents, common date Morgans, Mercury dimes, etc. back in the mid '70's. I picked up odds and ends after that but didn't have any clear collecting goals. I got back into collecting after reading up on silver dollars, trade dollars, seated liberty coins, etc. For the past year I've been dealing in coins part time and moving into the dark side. I collect all the weird stuff other collectors avoid while dealing in 19th century type coins that at least some collectors are interested in.
BTW, I was never in the military but grew up with an interest in military aviation since my dad was an aircraft engineer.
Obscurum per obscurius
Great thread,
Tim Schmitz
I am a certified Project Management Professional and work as a Sr. Project Consultant for a Fortune 200 company. I travel all over the world, reviewing multi-million dollar IT projects and providing oversight, counsel and advice. Have lived in Northern Utah, Oregon (Portland area), Arkansas (Little Rock area) and twice in England (southwest and London area). Currently work from my home in Southern Utah. Have visited 48 states and 40 countries.
I've been collecting coins since I was a boy - over 30 years. Have become much more serious since 1998 as my available time and resources have improved. It is still a thrill to acquire rare coins that I used to read about in the Red Book as a 10-year-old boy. I used to wonder how anybody could afford a Trade Dollar, or a $3 gold piece, or a Flowing Hair Dollar or a Lesher "dollar". Now I own these and others - magic!
Born and raised in New York City and suburbs and started collecting coins in 1960 when I was 7 years old. I received my coin collecting merit badge in 1966 on the way to my Eagle Scout earned in January 1867.
I graduated from Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio) in 1975 (I feel old here) with a B.S in Accounting and also an MBA in January 1877 and became a CPA in November 1977. Currently a CPA in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. But with the Enron mess that is nothing to crow about.
I am also a Certified Fraud Examiner and am in practice in New York.
Married nearly 22 years to my beloved wife who is now a full time Judge with 2 teen girls who drive me crazy.
I have loved collecting coins for over 40 years now and practically try to do it all. Too much to see, too much to do, and also fear completing the set of my dreams as the famous quote (guess who) applies so well to me and many of us is:
"Having, after all, is not such a pleasing thing as wanting; it is not logical but it is often true."
I treasure the people I have met in the hobby (especially the Norwebs when I was in Cleveland), the Pittman family to the everday collector to most of all, the kids who have that gleam in their eyes when discovering for the first time.
For some life lasts a short while, but the memories it holds last forever.
-Laura Swenson
In memory of BL, SM, and KG. 16 and forever young, rest in peace.
Retired Navy Air Traffic Controller (1998 w/24 yrs). Married 25 yrs to another sailor, who will retire next year! I've been with Northrop Grumman the last year as a Shipboard Air Traffic Control Systems Integration Engineer. Big fancy title for providing contractor services to Navy customers requiring shipboard air traffic control advise/solutions.
Originally from California (family settled in Santa Clara County in 1850), but presently call Maryland home.
Thoroughly enjoy collecting, but to be honest - the hunt is just as enjoyable, AND MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE!!
Bill
I'm really an Endocrinologist. Graduated Tufts Med '96. Now practicing Endocrinology in Boston.
Endo
Been collecting since I was 9 when my grandmother showed me her cigar boxes full of all kinds of old coins.
Daryl
In 1975 I founded a motorcycle dealership in Downers Grove, Il. Today the dealership has national recognition due to our participation in professional Supercross and motocross racing. Former national champions, Doug Henry and Steve Lamson started their careers with our Team DGY during the late 1980's and early 1990's. Today DGY Motorsports represents the Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki franchises.
I started my interest in coins in 1955. In 1995 I completed a mint state, full head (except overdate, I had the only MS65 overdate, and the 1927-S in MS66) set of Liberty Standing quarters. The set was PCGS except for the 1926-S and was the 3rd or 4th finest set at that time. Larry Whitlow sold the complete set in 1995. I needed to expand my numismatic knowledge and looked for a tougher challenge; knowing I could never keep up with Bill Walser, I decided to start a complete US type set.
I am interested in numismatic history and have an extensive collection of reference books including every Bowers catalog. I also enjoy identifying coin pedigrees.
I am also a collector of French Burgundy wines and a car enthusiast. "Once a collector always a collector."
Jim Swan
I graduated from Brown University in 1978 with a BA in International Relations. Opened stores in 7 states for a major jewelry retailer (am a certified gemologist). Joined IBM and sold mainframes in Texas in the 1980s/early 90s. For the last 7+ years have been with a firm that assists clients in negotiating large outsourcing transactions with IBM, EDS, CSC, Lockheed Martin, etc. Am now the Chief Knowledge Officer (whatever that means!).
I've been married for nearly 18 years with two great kids, a son, 14, and a daughter, 11 (they still like their parents, although I'm worried about when they start to drive
I started collecting with my Dad in 1971 when the Ike dollar came out and have been enjoying the hobby, off and on, ever since.
Chris
A group of us left there to spearhead retail "edutainment" children's software in a small company. I worked variously as a developer, manager, and designer, helping that company grow substantially and win various highly-coveted pieces of lucite. (Also implanted subliminal "buy Ikes" advertisements in all your children's brains in anticipation of future career, sorry parents!)
I left that company at the start of the Internet revolution, co-founding a software startup with a couple other guys. Luckily our three-headed management team was able to skillfully avoid cashing-in on the IPO boom of the time, saving me from becoming a filthy rich unsufferable boor (though it was eventually sold privately).
From there I went solo, doing software consulting design and development, typically coming in at the last-minute to salvage overdue projects at larger companies.
Along the way, I developed the Supercoin web site at a time when coin dealer sites were either non-existent or very primitive. Images were quite a novelty and instant payment by credit card unheard of. I figured a well-designed site would be a great way to sell small portable high-value items with nation-wide reach (it was) and make good money doing it (it wasn't). I did make a go of it full-time for a while, but it required being more of a general-purpose dealer than I enjoyed, and have since scaled back to coins that are also of personal interest.
For the future... it's not yet clear but I'm currently exploring some interesting ideas in the securities markets. Definitely will be something with a more respected title than "Coin Dealer", though... perhaps "Ambulance Chaser" or "Petty Larcenist".
Due to the working of steel i am now 33% disabled(so the doctors say). I had been a stay at home dad for 3 years, and about 6 months ago re-enetered the work force. My kids are 11,8,and 5.
Past interest/hobbies include street racing, muscle and sport(for the law enforcement people onboard... i don't drive anymore
I like philosophy,deductive reasoning, and theroey.(see no time for a real job)I have in the past year taking music back up as a past time. I play guitar and bass. I work well with computer hardware, and have been attempting to learn as many OS' as i can!
maybe someday i will grow up...But until then my goal remains the same... Professional Tourist!!!
dan
OK,Spent 5years in the Marines 1961 - 1966 thats done.Went to school and went to school some more. Walked drove and thumbed across the USA.
Married and stopped moveing.Work for a health screening organization in Michigan as Program Manager.
Love cars FAST ONES mostly my board name gnjoe,the gn stands for Grand National. I have a 1987 Buick GN,1986 Jaguar XJS Chevy. 350 powered,a 1997 Impala SS and a 1965 Dodge 440B1.Coins and Astronomy then Fish Keeping round out my time.
I belong to the NHRA,AAAS,AARP,and Mensa.
This is my first post but I have picked up much information from this board. Thanks Great Thread.
I graduated with a BA in Political Sci from Berkeley where I also played Lacrosse. Did a bunch of goofus jobs the most interesting was an archaeologist in hawaii.
I am currently a Principal Appraiser with the City & County of San Francisco, happily married for 6+ years with a 3 year old (Henry).
Matt Thomas
Will were to start - I'm a member of the U S Navy been doing this for 18 years. Still not sure if it's time to retire next year or not. I have been stationed in Norfolk Virginia - San Diego Ca - Yokasuka Japan - Lakrhurst New Jersey - back to Norfolk Va - and now I'm at Pax River Maryland. I still live in Norfolk so I drive back and forth on the weekends it's a 3 1/2 hour drive but I own a home and the wife has a great job. I have been married for 12 years and have two step-kids 30 and 28 both are married. The oldest is also in the Navy and they just had there third child Sat. My Youngest stayed in Jersey fell for a Jersey girl and the rest is history. He gave us a scare on Sept 11, His comp. was in the south tower ( 23 floor ) he only works at the main office once in awhile and we were on vacation in South Dakota it took us awhile to find out anything but he was not there that day. I'm from the great state of Wyoming by the way. I have been collecting off and on for quite awhile now. I have dicided to limit my collecting to Half Dollars and have been slimming down my collection to make money to buy slabbed Kennedy Halfs. I also quite smoking new years day in a deal with the wife I get to pocket the money so Now my set may grow a bit faster. I also a diehard NASCAR fan ( Kyle Petty ) don't make alot of races now just getting to expensive and I like bowling aleast the ball comes back to you and you don't have to chase it down just to hit again LOL.
Braddick: I lived in Encinitas for three years and thats were I met my Wife. 1988 - 1991
">Franklin Halves
">Kennedy Halves
Here's a warning parable for coin collectors...
peacockcoins
Another accountant - Duke Univ.(yes i love basketball) married, two daughters, two grandchildren. Run a company that manages Doctor practices that test for heart disease. Collected coins as a child in the late fifties, then again in the late seventies, early eighties and finally started again about five years ago. This time though I can afford to buy the coins I only dreamed about years ago.
Joshua
Paul
I have the pop 1 1926-S MS 67 peace dollar. Would you like to own it? Also, what is the 1953-S MS65FBL franklin worth?
1-800-331-2646 Bret
Spent my High School years and early College years studying Mechanical Engineering. Then I ran headlong into what I refer to as "the math wall". I lacked direction in College and dabbled in everything from short story writing to photography to Shakespeare.
I finally quit school and went into the professional photo finishing industry. I worked in many areas, color and black & white printing, flat art copy, sheet film duplication and photocompositing. At one point I did all the 35mm still film reproduction for Lucasfilm, and have spent some fine evenings at screenings at Skywalker Ranch.
Around 1995 I purchased my first computer and taught myself HTML. I've been working as a Web Interface Developer ever since. I've worked on sites for companies such as Charles Schwab, AMD and Handspring. My last web position was with a company called Cyberplex who is based in Toronto, Canada. Our offices were (luckily) in Sausalito, Ca. just north of San Francisco across the Golden Gate.
Unfortunately, I'm currently unemployed, which really cuts into your coin buying. But leaves me time for other things. I'm a sometimes mountain biker, an avid Auto Racing Fan (especially Formula One), a voracious reader, an semi-advanced abstract photographer, a begining IPSC Action Pistol Shooter, and have been known to attend Renaissance Faires in a kilt sporting a sword, an alias and a 1560's mentality (who would have guessed!).
For those of you who were in the Navy, I live a stone's throw from the ex-Mare Island Naval Shipyard where two generations of my girlfriend's family worked.
Being 20 minutes from the Napa Valley, I've developed a love for good Cabrenet. I'm a frequent wine taster sometimes collector and a fixture at a few of the closer cellars. I also believe that Champagne isn't only for special occasions.
I've also been known to enjoy a good cigar, and mix a mean margarita.
madmike
~
~
great topic,bruce scher
Guess I cant avoid this any longer....here goes.
I work for a General Contracting company as a Project Manager (sometimes I wonder too), I have been here since it was started, 8+ years. I did the navy thing, truckdriver thing, but the most exciting thing I did was work in Kuwait, to assist in putting out all those fires (Dang we did it toooooo fast). I was field supervisor over the equipment assignments, which also included setting up drilling rigs and new camps.
Now, I started collecting at the age of 6 (1966), and have not stopped, been ripped off a couple of times, but started all over again. I have a circulated collection of almost all the US sets, from Indian cents to Morgan Dollars. All are complete, except for the morgans....need 12 coins. I will work on that later. But for now, It's MERCURY TIME!
Still married after 21 years, (sometimes I wonder about that too)lol.
Well that wraps it up for me......
Have fun and take it easy on me.....
My Dimes
<< If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right the first time! >>
DAN
My first tassa slap 3/3/04
My shiny cents
I went into the USAF in Nov'77 as Security Policeman and did just about everything in the field, except Dog handling (Entry controller, Flight patrolman, Law Enforcement Specialist, SP Investigations, Emergency Service team member); then I cross-trained into telecom which merged with ADP, which became Comm-Computer Sys and so on. Held quite a few diverse positions in that field too, from teletype operator, Comm-center supervisor, Acquisitions Management, and retired from the Intelligence Support Agency (can't say much more than that for another 67 years
I am thoroughly impressed with this group and it is clear why some of US are as opinionated as we can be, but all in all, it's good to learn a bit more about you all - of course, some of you have piqued my curiosity to the point that I wish we could meet face to face.
Again, I'm flabbergasted at the varied backgrounds, but there seems to be some commonality among the majority (besides numismatics
LSCC#1864
Ebay Stuff
I started seriousely collecting in the early 90's when my grandmother gave me some coins my father had sent her from all over the world during his 26 years in the Army and AF. I also collect and study all types of paper money, foreign and US, but am especially into MPC's since I got 2 my dad sent my grandmother. I am also currently working and am about 60% complete on a MS Morgan and Peace set, and have been into the high grade modern registries also. My wife Dawn and I have been married 13 years and have 5 children, 25, 20,18,16, and 12 :confused It's a hers, mine, and ours deal, and is a great family. She is an aircraft painter at the local Air Force Base, helps me with money to buy coins with, and I help her with money to go play bingo with. We have a part time "hobby" farm of 40 acres (hunting paradise) in eastern Okla. along the Arkansas River, and enjoy attempting to grow pecan, and fruit trees. I also dabble in firearms, and old marbles. ;
the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed
Join the NRA and protect YOUR right to keep and bear arms
To protest against all hunting of game is a sign of softness of head, not soundness of heart. Theodore Roosevelt
[L]http://www.ourfallensoldier.com/ThompsonMichaelE_MemorialPage.html[L]
after graduating from purdue ( industrial economics ) i played linebacker for for the houston oilers in 1973 to 1985....it was great because i was what i call a " tweener" where i played with the "old school" such as joe namath , johhny unitas and dick butkus... and the new school ( back then) such as warren moon, joe montana, dan marino and one still playing bruce mathews....id take the old school thankyou as they had alot more fun as a team ......todays players forget there is no "i" in team.....anyway i retired and transitioned inot my carwash and lube store business that i started as a player and thats what i do now......ive been collecting for almost 30 years and thru my many contacts in this hobby i have learned this business from top to bottom and thru the same contacts i have aquired numerous stellar coins along the way
gregg bingham
out of rockets ...out of bullets...switching to harsh language