Just Over a Year Ago We Lost One of the Bright Young Lights in Numismatics
TomB
Posts: 21,597 ✭✭✭✭✭
I apologize to Chad for not having this thread up on the one year anniversary of his passing, but I must have allowed day-to-day life to get in the way of posting this thread for him.
Chadler Alan Williford, better known to us as Chad, SilverEagles92 or munkeyman95, passed away April 30, 2010 at the age of seventeen years. Chad had joined us on the NGC and PCGS boards several years previous to his death and grew not only as a numismatist, but also as a young man in that time. I was fortunate to have an early interaction with Chad that led us to send messages to one another fairly frequently and allowed me to watch as he became more logical, analytical and passionate about numismatics and from afar to see him grow. Chad liked to play around on the boards and some might have interpreted that as lacking discipline or a serious nature, but he was able to apply himself to many subjects and would have been spectacular at near anything he could have chosen if given the chance.
When I read that Chad had passed away I could not believe it; could not believe that someone so young and talented and vibrant with such passion and potential could be gone without recourse. Unfortunately, this was the case. I bookmarked his obituaries at Apex Funeral Home and the News & Observer. I never met Chad in person and his life in North Carolina was a bit removed from mine in New England, but I do visit his obituary on occasion to have a short moment of silence. Sometimes I even speak to him briefly.
Early in Chad’s online numismatic journey he purchased an exquisitely original Capped Bust quarter from me. The coin was raw and I had only shortly before that time obtained it from a show in MA. He loved the coin and surprised me by not only having it sent to PCGS for certification, but also by paying to get TrueView images taken. The coin was graded by me as a G6 and by PCGS as a VG8, but that didn’t matter to either of us because we both thought it was a simply gorgeous piece of American history. He was concerned about the planchet flaws near the edge, but I told him PCGS would grade the coin. Later, he needed to raise some quick cash and so the coin was sold, but he regretted selling it and posted on the boards that he missed the coin and that it might have been his favorite piece. Opportunity knocked on his door and he purchased the coin again, only to be forced a short while later to again list it for sale. I purchased the coin from him, but told him to keep the coin as a gift from me to him; he was quite touched by the gesture. Later, in another financial pinch, he was again forced to sell the coin. The last time he sold the coin was shortly before he passed away. I posted a thread on the boards asking for assistance in obtaining this particular piece and was finally able to reacquire this favorite coin.
Today I bring this coin to shows with me and whenever I have a table it is displayed in the middle of a case with “NFS” (Not For Sale) listed under the slab. Invariably, this causes multiple show patrons to ask about the coin wondering if it is a difficult variety or what the story attached to the coin might be. I then tell them about this young man whom I knew, who had so much to live for and was so well equipped to handle a variety of challenges, but who never had the opportunity to explore the world and find his niche. It has brought tears to the eyes of strangers, has led to handshakes and to quite moments. Chad might be gone, but he is not forgotten and I hope he is on a greater journey. Good bye, my friend, and take care.
Chadler Alan Williford, better known to us as Chad, SilverEagles92 or munkeyman95, passed away April 30, 2010 at the age of seventeen years. Chad had joined us on the NGC and PCGS boards several years previous to his death and grew not only as a numismatist, but also as a young man in that time. I was fortunate to have an early interaction with Chad that led us to send messages to one another fairly frequently and allowed me to watch as he became more logical, analytical and passionate about numismatics and from afar to see him grow. Chad liked to play around on the boards and some might have interpreted that as lacking discipline or a serious nature, but he was able to apply himself to many subjects and would have been spectacular at near anything he could have chosen if given the chance.
When I read that Chad had passed away I could not believe it; could not believe that someone so young and talented and vibrant with such passion and potential could be gone without recourse. Unfortunately, this was the case. I bookmarked his obituaries at Apex Funeral Home and the News & Observer. I never met Chad in person and his life in North Carolina was a bit removed from mine in New England, but I do visit his obituary on occasion to have a short moment of silence. Sometimes I even speak to him briefly.
Early in Chad’s online numismatic journey he purchased an exquisitely original Capped Bust quarter from me. The coin was raw and I had only shortly before that time obtained it from a show in MA. He loved the coin and surprised me by not only having it sent to PCGS for certification, but also by paying to get TrueView images taken. The coin was graded by me as a G6 and by PCGS as a VG8, but that didn’t matter to either of us because we both thought it was a simply gorgeous piece of American history. He was concerned about the planchet flaws near the edge, but I told him PCGS would grade the coin. Later, he needed to raise some quick cash and so the coin was sold, but he regretted selling it and posted on the boards that he missed the coin and that it might have been his favorite piece. Opportunity knocked on his door and he purchased the coin again, only to be forced a short while later to again list it for sale. I purchased the coin from him, but told him to keep the coin as a gift from me to him; he was quite touched by the gesture. Later, in another financial pinch, he was again forced to sell the coin. The last time he sold the coin was shortly before he passed away. I posted a thread on the boards asking for assistance in obtaining this particular piece and was finally able to reacquire this favorite coin.
Today I bring this coin to shows with me and whenever I have a table it is displayed in the middle of a case with “NFS” (Not For Sale) listed under the slab. Invariably, this causes multiple show patrons to ask about the coin wondering if it is a difficult variety or what the story attached to the coin might be. I then tell them about this young man whom I knew, who had so much to live for and was so well equipped to handle a variety of challenges, but who never had the opportunity to explore the world and find his niche. It has brought tears to the eyes of strangers, has led to handshakes and to quite moments. Chad might be gone, but he is not forgotten and I hope he is on a greater journey. Good bye, my friend, and take care.
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Comments
EAC 6024
John
siliconvalleycoins.com
Carl.
I once read that as long as someone is remembered they are never really gone.
Think of him often and kindly and he continues to exist.
Ron
Miss ya buddy!!!
Many members on this forum that now it cannot fit in my signature. Please ask for entire list.
He sounded like a stand up guy and very bright. Extremely sad news, as it always is when life is taken away so shortly... really makes you think and appreciate the little things in life.
My heart goes out to the family and loved ones. 17 is just way, way to early to leave this beautiful planet.
TomB is top notch in my book and after reading this I had to add another notch in my book. Thank you
He was a super nice kid, I'm really sorry to hear this.
He even jumped to my defense in a BST thread once - setting someone straight for misinterpreting an attempt at a joke I made.
Text
I'm glad you are honoring his memory.
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
<< <i>I still miss the guy
Me too
Good post Tom
Greg Hansen, Melbourne, FL Click here for any current EBAY auctions Multiple "Circle of Trust" transactions over 14 years on forum
JH
Proof Buffalo Registry Set
Capped Bust Quarters Registry Set
Proof Walking Liberty Halves Registry Set
Although I didn't know Chad as well as some on here, I feel like I was an intimate part of this story now because I have owned this coin and purchased it directly from Chad. Something about the coin has a pull to it because I, too, wish I had never sold it. But in the end it was meant to be for larger things than me.
RIP Chad.
Too many positive BST transactions with too many members to list.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
Great gesture by you to have purchased the coin and let him keep it and very cool that you eventually ended up with it and are keeping it...
Thanks for bringing this memory back...
AB
I don't speak Yiddish, but there is a word for a man like you,
Mensch.
MenschFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article is about the Yiddish word. For the album by Herbert Grönemeyer, see Mensch (album).
Mensch (Yiddish: מענטש mentsh; from German: Mensch, for "human being") means "a person of integrity and honor".[1] The opposite of a mensch is an Unmensch (meaning: an utterly cruel or evil person). According to Leo Rosten, the Yiddish maven and author of The Joys of Yiddish, mensch is "someone to admire and emulate, someone of noble character. The key to being 'a real mensch' is nothing less than character, rectitude, dignity, a sense of what is right, responsible, decorous."[2]
In Yiddish (from which the word has migrated as a loanword into American English), mensch roughly means "a good person." A mensch is a particularly good person, like "a stand-up guy," a person with the qualities one would hope for in a dear friend or trusted colleague. Mentschlekhkeyt (Yiddish: מענטשלעכקייט, German: Menschlichkeit) are the properties which make one a mensch.
During the Age of Enlightenment in Germany the term "Humanität", in the philosophical sense of compassion, was used to describe what characterizes a "better human being" in Humanism. The concept goes back to Cicero's Humanitas and was literally translated into the German word Menschlichkeit and then adapted into "mentsh" in Yiddish language use.
In Modern Israeli Hebrew, the phrase Ben Adam (בן אדם
<< <i>Tom this is one of the finest threads i have read on here...Great story for a very unfortunate thing...
Great gesture by you to have purchased the coin and let him keep it and very cool that you eventually ended up with it and are keeping it...
Thanks for bringing this memory back...
AB
Seconded! Great post!
-Paul
K
Mike
TomB : you are a class act.
Commems and Early Type
==Looking for pre WW2 Commems in PCGS Rattler holders, 1851-O Three Cent Silvers in all grades
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<< <i>It's a terrible tragedy when any young person's life is cut short before he has had the chance to explore and enjoy it fully.
TomB : you are a class act. >>
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
I give away money. I collect money.
I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
Very moving post. I wish Chad's family would see your post and the out pouring of good thoughts and rememberences of Chad.
See http://www.doubledimes.com for a free online reference for US twenty-cent pieces
I can recall being young and having to sell coins I wish I hadn't, and I was reliving that in your story. Sad that he couldn't grow older and have the means to hold on to the collected treasures of his life.
That was nice.
this coin was from Chad:
www.brunkauctions.com