Rest In Peace MFH

Broadstruck

I was just informed that Mike had passed away yesterday

Mike was a good friend to many of us who he meet here on the boards. He almost instantly reached out to say hello once I joined. This lead to a decade long friendship which consisted of thousands of PM's, emails, phone calls, We attended many shows together and dinners which always ended making for many late nights. Although Mike's main passion was the Barber series he was extremely knowledgeable on most all. He deeply loved all US coinage and over the course of his many decades collecting attempted and completed many sets.

I thought I could write more then this however have been frozen at the screen as I'm just deeply saddened about Mike's passing. I'll miss our conversations and all the laughs we shared. This hobby has lost one of it's greats as beyond being a serious collector Mike was always willing to help anyone mentoring many.

I will miss him dearly especially his sense of humor since as sick as Mike was on his way to the hospital with what he thought was pneumonia took it upon himself to alert me that Realone posted a thread missing me.

Rest in peace my dear friend

http://www.fullernaples.com/tributes/Michael-Hayes

MonsterCoinz

RIP

silverpop

RIP

Justacommeman

OMG this comes as a real shocker. I had to read this several times for it to sink in. Thanks for the alert and RIP Mike.

Condolences to family and friends

mark

coinsarefun

OMG! this is a terrible shock. I couldn't believe what was written. Condolences to his entire family and the coin community has truly lost a great person and collector.

DCW

I am beside myself. The hobby has lost a true collector and a good man.
Rest in Peace, Michael.

Kove

I always enjoyed seeing Mike at the big shows. Very nice guy. Very sad news.

keyman64

This really comes as a surprise. It is difficult to believe. He was much too young.
I hope there is someone in his family or close network that will take proper care of his collection.

oih82w8

Heartfelt condolences to those left behind.

brg5658

Wow, I, as others, had to read this multiple times to make sense of and believe it. Vary sad news.

DIMEMAN

I have known about his condition since earlier this month and was hoping somehow they could rid our dear friend of this deadly disease. I have many memories of times with Mike and could write all day. One of our favorite jokes with each other was kidding each other about our age. When I would post a thread about a Barber Dime I had just bought he would reply...."Oh another coin for your birth year set" . And of course I would come back and say "no Mike it is for your graduation from college set" . It's so hard to realize he is gone. As I mentioned in another thread I just spent a few days with him at his house in Naples during the winter FUN show. We celebrated his 70th birthday and had a great time going to the show together. I was able to see his entire collection of coins in person and what a special time that was. As others have mentioned he was a great person and great collector and I will miss him dearly.

Rest in peace Mike.

tradedollarnut

Damn. RIP

Walkerguy21D

A great guy who will definitely be missed by many!

roadrunner

Sorry to hear this. A shocker. RIP Michael.

messydesk

OH, NO! Great guy. Loved his Barbers, loved passing knowledge on to YNs. I chatted with him frequently at shows, and now and then in between. My condolences to his family and all his friends here.

divecchia

I did not know Michael, but would like to extend my condolences to his friends and family.

Donato

gsa1fan

RIP MFH

Unknown

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bolivarshagnasty

Spent an hour with Mike a few FUN shows ago. What a pleasant man to visit with. Sad to hear the news.

Sunshine Rare Coins

A terrible loss. RIP.

1tommy

Sad News. I got to meet Mike at the Fun Show a Few Years back and Always Enjoyed His Post and His Vast Knowledge of Coins. My Condolences to all His Friends and Family.......RIP MFH

CoinCast

Mike truly embodied what coin collecting is about friends and fun. Though us YN's were much younger we loved hanging out with Mike at Summer Seminar and annoying him with our group chat messages. For a few of us younger numismatists this is the first friend we have lost and there are few that will ever be missed as much. Mike was one of the nicest and most fun loving people I have ever meet and honestly like Broadstruck I can't really put much else into words. Rest in Peace Mike.
-Luis

jdimmick

I agree, such a great guy in the numismatic community. He will surely be missed

TomB

Terrible news. Mike was always so full of life. He will be missed by many.

zippcity

My sincerest condolences to family and friends.

Bochiman

Never met Mike in person, but we corresponded, always friendly, on the boards many times. Really nice guy.

I know he had divested much of his collection. I hope things went well for him before this sad, and untimely, passing.
My most sincere condolences to his family

GotTheBug

.

Jimnight

RIP

NewEnglandRarities

Very sad news. RIP Mike

lkeigwin

Damn, that's sad. We lost a great one.
Lance.

littlebear

With deepest sympathies........
Larry L.

cameonut2011

RIP. I'm shocked and will keep him and his family in my prayers. I'll miss his Barber coinage posts.

jughead1893

RIP

Lakesammman

Thanks for letting us know - had no idea. He will be missed.

Dave99B

Very sad news. Terribly sad news.

RIP Mike, you were a class act my friend. God Bless You...you will be missed by many.

Mike pinged me on the 7th saying he was boarding the dogs, and checking himself into the hospital for what he thought was pneumonia. I've been nervous ever since. He PMed me again on the 14th thanking me for all the good thoughts.

I never met Mike in person, and that's clearly my loss. He encouraged me many times to come to the FUN with him, but work, life, etc. kept getting in the way. We shared a deep love for Barber coinage, and he was truly a wealth of knowledge on that subject. I will miss his PMs. But more than that, he was just such a nice guy.

A few years ago I lost two of my brothers within 28 days. That was a rough month. Mike heard of this and somehow found my number, and called me. I was very sad, but that one call meant the world to me, and I told Mike that. It really turned me around. I will forever be thankful for that phone call.

Mike Hayes, you were the best. Rest in peace, friend.

Dave

LindeDad

RIP old friend.

jesbroken

I was not aware Mike was ill. I never met Mike personally, but spent many emails and texts with him. I never was a fan of Barber coins until I built Mike a virtual album to house his Barber halves and his gorgeous commemorative half set. I so enjoyed seeing such beautiful collections and his passion for U.S. coins and while only having his photos to handle, I got a feel for the beauty of the Barber Halves. So sorry to see another member pass. God bless him and his family. Thank you Mike for the education.

dogwood

Last night, as I posted in the Barber thread, upon hearing this news I read all 10 years worth of pm's between us.
Thank you Mike.

He reached out and developed so many friendships.
He'll be missed.

johnny9434

my condolences to all those involved.

alohagary

RIP

Dave99B

BarberFanatic

Nooooo! Mike! I am absolutely heartbroken.

crazyhounddog

I am so sorry to hear this news. He was a very good man and will be missed.
Rest In Peace brother.

Boosibri

Very sad, great forum member

valente151

The past few weeks have been so heavy and hard as Mike began a fast slide. Mike was one of my best friends in the numismatic world. We would walk the floor together at shows, lot view for hours, share a meal and lots of drinks, and often roomed together at shows. I first met Mike in the summer of 2012, in Colorado Springs during Summer Seminar, as Mike was helping Glenn Holsonbake at his table at the inter-session coin show. As was normal for mike, he also had some coins of his out for sale, and I bought a sweet 1921 Peace Dollar for my type set from him.

After several months, we became close friends, over the past few years sharing coin related texts daily. I would visit him in Naples, helping him by photographing his coins for him. As a college student who transplanted alone to Florida, it was nice to have such a reliable and generous friend. Mike lived alone in Naples and would invite me to Thanksgiving, Easter when I didn't go home to Maine, and I'd drive down from Orlando and we had a great time. He had two dogs, Max and Ginja and loved them dearly. He loved Jameson Whiskey, calling it mothers milk.

One of my favorite things about mike was his passion as a collector and love for his collection. One of my favorite things was spending hours, several weekends a year, going through his coins with him. I'd mention one coin in particular that stood out and he'd go, without looking at it, "oh yeah! That's a nice coin. I occasionally buy a nice one." He had ambitious goals and could tell you what grades and examples he had for any denomination of the barber series. He also had an interest in seated material, and collected superb coins of the years 1889, 1890, 1917 and 1921 for the birth years of his parents and grandparents. He loved coins with Blue rim toning. Mike was truly a collector, he never bought a coin just to flip it and he was never afraid to take a bath when he wanted to change his focus a little. I remember mailing him a bar of soap after one particularly rough Heritage sale of his.

Mike'a sense of humor was exuberant, we would go back and forth with one another. As an inside joke between him and a couple other YNs, we would refer to him as Chief. Mike was a mentor and asset to so many YNs and other collectors, always willing to go above and beyond to teach others. Mike always used to tell me that he was counting on me to take care of him once I was "out of med school and making good money."

My heart breaks, it's hard to imagine buying a coin in the future and not texting him a picture of it. I'll miss him dearly. Having a Jameson on ice for you tonight, my friend.

TomB

Interestingly, I picked up my daughters from a basketball camp shortly after posting to this thread and on the way home I told them what happened with Mike. As we were discussing his passing, we passed a car on the highway with personalized plates that had..."MFH".

Walkerfan

I'm shocked. I pm'ed him several times and we became instant friends. He was very knowledgeable, passionate, friendly and was a great advisor, as I really valued his opinion. Life is so fragile.........RIP, Mike F. Hayes. I will miss you a lot..........

asheland

I'm very sorry to read this.
RIP

Bankerbob56

What was Mike's illness? Apologies if I missed it.....

oih82w8

Thank you Dave99B and valente151, it is good to place a face to Mike, which I never met, but he was a fountain of knowledge. Condolences to his family, friends and forum-mates.

Broadstruck

@Bankerbob56 said:
What was Mike's illness? Apologies if I missed it.....

Mike went to the hospital on July 7th for what he thought was pnemonia however it was cancer which had already spread throughout three organs.