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Who are your top five personal heroes/mentors in numismatics?
oreville
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Who are your top five personal heroesmentors in numismatics?
Mine are :
1) Q David Bowers - The Boy Wonder of Numismatics back in the 1960's. My childhood hero of all times. I used to run to the mailbox every Friday afternoon after school just to read his column in Coin World. He was more of a hero to me than Superman or anyone else.
2) Ambassador & Emory Mae Norweb - The Ambassador and the grande dame of numismatics. First met them in 1971. She was my heroine. They were the greatest. Surprisingly, they brown bagged their lunches in downtown Cleveland when they made their weekly visit to their coin collection.
3) David Akers - Mr Gold. The greatest compiler of Coin Trends for CW ever. The nicest person a youngster could ever meet. I always thought he was Mr. Paramount. If I had become a dealer, it would be to be just like him.
4) John Albanese - met him in the early 1980's then put him on a pedestal so high, i did not finally climb it until 4 years ago. The world famous gold coin grader 2nd to only David Akers in my view.
5) Bob Merrill - Heritage. The best and nicest auctioneer EVER. What a nice sense of humor. I wanted to be as affable as him.
David Hall could have been in the top 5 except he was usually on the West Coast. He simply changed the hobby as we know it for the better with his 2x2 blue envelopes and sealed plastic then trumped even those with PCGS slabs and grading service. But being that he was on the west coast most of the time, I never had a chance to hero worship David.
Mine are :
1) Q David Bowers - The Boy Wonder of Numismatics back in the 1960's. My childhood hero of all times. I used to run to the mailbox every Friday afternoon after school just to read his column in Coin World. He was more of a hero to me than Superman or anyone else.
2) Ambassador & Emory Mae Norweb - The Ambassador and the grande dame of numismatics. First met them in 1971. She was my heroine. They were the greatest. Surprisingly, they brown bagged their lunches in downtown Cleveland when they made their weekly visit to their coin collection.
3) David Akers - Mr Gold. The greatest compiler of Coin Trends for CW ever. The nicest person a youngster could ever meet. I always thought he was Mr. Paramount. If I had become a dealer, it would be to be just like him.
4) John Albanese - met him in the early 1980's then put him on a pedestal so high, i did not finally climb it until 4 years ago. The world famous gold coin grader 2nd to only David Akers in my view.
5) Bob Merrill - Heritage. The best and nicest auctioneer EVER. What a nice sense of humor. I wanted to be as affable as him.
David Hall could have been in the top 5 except he was usually on the West Coast. He simply changed the hobby as we know it for the better with his 2x2 blue envelopes and sealed plastic then trumped even those with PCGS slabs and grading service. But being that he was on the west coast most of the time, I never had a chance to hero worship David.
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The owner of the Childs 1804 - the only set I'd pay to see
John Albanese & Laura Sperber for their work at CAC
Amon Carter
My great grandmother who gave me a trade dollar she'd saved in her teapot & My adopted grandfather who taught me to buy the best quality
David Hall
John Reich
Dave Hall
Don Willis
Steve Tompkins
Sorry I could only pick 5
In no particular order:
1) Albanese/Sperber
2) Andy Skrabalak
3) Jim Halperin
4) michael
5) TomB
Here's a warning parable for coin collectors...
Cardinal (Bust Dollars)
Sunnywood (Morgan Dollars)
Dale Friend (Bust Halves)
TradeDollarNut (Seated Dollars)
OnlyRoosies (Roosevelt Dimes)
Lifetime Achievement Award: David Hall
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
Benjamin Franklin
David Rittenhouse
Christian Gobrecht
Teddy Roosevelt
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
<< <i>Do the following people count?
Benjamin Franklin
David Rittenhouse
Christian Gobrecht
Teddy Roosevelt
Augustus Saint-Gaudens >>
Absolutely! I had considered 4 of your 5 (excepting Gobrecht) in formulating my answer.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
2) Bongo Bongo
3) Mr. Taco
4) Myself
5) Bongo Bongo- oops, he meant that much to me
Clapp
Norweb
Garrett
Morgan
Jack Lee
Living
Bob Simpson
Lloyd Gabbert
David Hall
John Love
Needless to say I love Morgan Silver Dollars
Member, Society of Silver Dollar Collectors.
Looking for PCGS AU58+ 1901-P, 1896-O, & 1894-O
<< <i>Like dpoole, I have trouble relating the term "hero" to numismatics, but I have met a lot of wonderful and very respectable people, several of whom have been mentioned in this thread. At the risk of offending someone by omitting them, I will stop here. >>
Ditto. The term "hero" should be reserved for a numismatist that runs into a burning building to save a coin collection.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Bill Nagle
Dave Schweitz
Martin Paul
Colonel Jessup
Bob Reithe
Edited to add:
A special mention of Ye Olde One and his registry sets of seated coins, probably the finest seated quarter set ever assembled.
(There are many others, but I have to go along with Oreville's mention of Bob Merrill as the most engaging and entertaining auctioneer in the business.
Instead of listing alive or dead like Realone, I will go with banned and not banned.
banned
Mark Feld (two time loser)
Laura Sperber
Roger Burdette
not banned ( I need to have an elimination heat to weed this list down)
John Albanese
Larry Shepherd
Gregg Bingham
Rick Sear
Dave Schweitz
Bill Shamhart
Dave Wnuck
John Agre
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
In my early years, my mentor was Gerald Brown (although he probably didn't realize it). He was a quiet collector who taught me a lot about how to look at coins for their quality. His eye was impeccable and his patience was immense.
See http://www.doubledimes.com for a free online reference for US twenty-cent pieces
If you are talking heros, well, right now it would have to be Mr. E. D. King from Savannah, GA who saved all his original packaging from his original issue commem purchases. These were used extensively throughout Swiatek/Breens book. I still don't know anything about the man, but someday I hope to know more.
My local 5 are:
1. Lester White - Lester has been involved in numismatics, both as a dealer and show promoter for decades. He invests time in collectors at shows and at his shop in Westminster, MD.
2. Shortgapbob (Robbie) - Our own Shortgapbob has a passion for the collector that is hard to match! His knowledge is far above his years and collectors love to visit with him. I can sit and talk for hours with Robbie!
3. LeRoy Jones - Aberdeen Coin Gallery, Aberdeen, MD. LeRoy invests time in educating everybody who asks, whether it is in his shop or at shows.
4. Guy Whidden - Guy has been around along time and never tires of helping young and old collectors alike. He is a collector, of not only coins, but guns and antiques as well.
5. Richard Nanson - Always willing to help any collector with his knowledge. Passionate about his coins and loves to share the story about finding a 1955 double die as a kid.
My National level 5 are:
1.
2.
3. Leon Hendrickson
4. Andy Skrabalak
5. Q. David Bowers
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
<< <i>
<< <i>Do the following people count?
Benjamin Franklin
David Rittenhouse
Christian Gobrecht
Teddy Roosevelt
Augustus Saint-Gaudens >>
Absolutely! I had considered 4 of your 5 (excepting Gobrecht) in formulating my answer. >>
Glad to hear it! My numismatic heroes tend to be the ones involved in creating coins. WIthout them, there would be no hobby.
1) Truthteller
2) Jim Stoutjestyk
3) Mark Feld
and from this forum,
4) Roadrunner
5) Bill Jones
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."
Alynne Skrabalak
Shane Canup
Nick Cascio and Jim Green
Dennis King
How about:
B Max Mehl
Wayte Raymond
R S Yeoman
Ken Bressett
and Q. David Bowers
BHNC #203
PCGS U.S. Coin forum
NGC U.S. Coin forum
Coinzip forum
Coin books I have read
My local coin club
Garrett - I remember first reading about the Garretts and the Bowers' auctions of their collection when I was a kid.
Roper - formed the finest colonial type set ever, in my opinion...every coin is just awesome.
Ford - amazing collection of so many fabulous coins...yet not one US Federal issue.
Pittman - closest to the "average" collector; mortgaged his house to buy at the Farouk sale - that takes balls and passion.
Eliasberg - obvious reasons, but he was very wealthy and bought whole collections intact to get his complete collection. Still an awesome achievement.
<< <i>My Grandmother >>
LOL
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
<< <i> << My Grandmother >> LOL
<< <i> There's no laughing out loud here KennyH I'm dead serious. She had stacks of nearly completed whitmans from cents to silver dollars. A very serious person she kept notebooks and sorted early date Lincoln's into plastic tubes. She gave me my first coin books and taught me how to press a shiny Lincoln into the book using a towel and a round wooden cloths pin, so you didn't leave a fingerprint. PS I know I should have said Mark Feld but I chose my Grandmother.
Oh, and Edward Howland Robinson Green
He is somewhat of a numismatic folk hero for me.
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
R S Yeoman
John J Pittman
...And a couple of living ones.
There are eight or ten who could comprise my complete list but the others are deceased as well.
Thank you kind Sirs
Best wishes,
Eric
<< <i>Hmmmm.
The owner of the Childs 1804 - the only set I'd pay to see
John Albanese & Laura Sperber for their work at CAC
Amon Carter
My great grandmother who gave me a trade dollar she'd saved in her teapot & My adopted grandfather who taught me to buy the best quality
David Hall >>
TDN,Have to add you to this list too!
Heroes easily Steve Ivy and David Hall
I give away money. I collect money.
I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
Ray Czahor (Philippine numismatics)
Ken Krah (NGC grader, world coins)
Ray Mercer( early grading mentor)
David Bowers (all his books!)
Karl Stephens (world coin dealer)
Special mention to Ken Bressett and his "Redbooks"
Krueger
<< <i>I won't use the word hero but these are folks that have helped me along. Some up close and personal as mentors and friends and others from a distance. MJ
Instead of listing alive or dead like Realone, I will go with banned and not banned.
banned
Mark Feld (two time loser)
Laura Sperber
Roger Burdette
not banned ( I need to have an elimination heat to weed this list down)
John Albanese
Larry Shepherd
Gregg Bingham
Rick Sear
Dave Schweitz
Bill Shamhart
Dave Wnuck
John Agre[/q Well my friend,i have to go with six of the same slections,and could add about 4 more,2 now deceased,when it comes to color.,and Dave is great too!
Albert Bonan
Albert L. Bonan
Lester Merkin
Harvey, Ben, and Norman Stack
Mike Brownlee
Stan Kesselman
Ernie Seneca
Jim Ruddy
Dave Bowers
Bill Wilkerson
Ed Shapiro
Dan Messer
I firmly believe in numismatics as the world's greatest hobby, but recognize that this is a luxury and without collectors, we can all spend/melt our collections/inventories.
eBaystore
Bob Campbell gave me a needed push, some years ago!
I choose (in no particular order):
* Lucien Bazor
* the Wiener brothers
* Karl Goetz
* Lovett & sons
* James & Laura Fraser
Honorable mentions:
* Clark & Gruber
* Joseph Lesher
* Thomas Elder
* Montroville Dickeson