Dave Baptista (Truthteller) Passing

tjennings · January 5, 2018 8:08PM

I don't know if the forum is aware or not but I received a call tonight from his son Josh that Dave Baptista (aka TruthTeller) died last week from cancer. Just thought that friends of his would want to know.
I got out of coin collecting a couple of years ago but he was a good friend and I was amazed at his coin knowledge. Rest in Peace, Truth.

TomB · January 5, 2018 8:12PM

Awwwwww, crap! This is awful news. For those who have not been on these boards for years and years and years, you may not be familiar with Truth. However, he was a steady contributor of knowledge, insight and whit in the late 1990s and into the early 2000s. Since then he had hopped into and out of the boards, but would always send me a message or two upon arrival and we would discuss things.

Rest in peace, my friend.

Justacommeman · January 5, 2018 8:13PM

RIP TT. What a good guy

m

Walkerfan · January 5, 2018 8:18PM

How I hate hearing this sort of news.

R.I.P. old comrade.

WoodenJefferson · January 5, 2018 9:15PM

RIP Truth

braddick · January 5, 2018 11:03PM

Loved him on the open forum too, back in the day. Such a heavy contributer in the coin arena and he was never frightened to take on the big dogs if he was challenged, yet was gentle enough to share his vast knowledge with a beginner too.

Will be missed.
Good to hear from TJ though! Wish you visited more.

TonerGuy · January 6, 2018 12:03AM

Very sad news. I remember him from when I first got onto the forums. He was a great contributor. I never met him in person or talked privately but I appreciated his insight and knowledge. Godspeed Truth...

zippcity · January 6, 2018 4:42AM

condolences to family and friends.

keets · January 6, 2018 4:59AM

I rarely comment on these type of threads but truthteller was a really good guy. when I first joined I was stunned at his frankness and the information he put out and backed up. we PM'd a little and got to know each other around the time he was moving away from the forum.

sadly, the "truth" will be missed.

Mark · January 6, 2018 6:17AM

This is very sad. TT was a prolific poster and I learned from him. I always wished he had stuck around. RIP.

ricko · January 6, 2018 6:40AM

I remember Truthteller well...here and on the open forum. He was very knowledgeable. Condolences to family and friends. RickO

thebeav · January 6, 2018 7:21AM

I'm very sorry to hear.
Condolences to his family.

shorecoll · January 6, 2018 7:43AM

I don't think I had direct conversations with him, but always appreciated his comments. Another good one gone too soon.

ElKevvo · January 6, 2018 8:03AM

RIP....he contributed a lot and I always enjoyed his posts. Condolences to his family...

K

grip · January 6, 2018 8:04AM

Hate hearing news like this.....RIP Truth.

BuffaloIronTail · January 6, 2018 8:28AM

The "Truth" can no longer be told..............

Very Sad.

Pete

66Tbird · January 6, 2018 9:01AM

@BuffaloIronTail said:
The "Truth" can no longer be told..............

Very Sad.

Pete

So true. He was a memorable contributor to the group. RIP

OldIndianNutKase · January 6, 2018 10:13AM

RIP truthteller

Dave99B · January 6, 2018 10:21AM

I really enjoyed Truth's posts, although I didn't see much from him the last few years. Sorry to now hear why. Darn it.

R.I.P. Dave.

Baley · January 6, 2018 11:45AM

An honest man, Dave was a well regarded, if controversial, contributor here for a long time, he has been and will always be missed, sincere condolences to his friends and family.
Rest in peace Truth

MikeInFL · January 6, 2018 12:05PM

RIP Dave.

ChangeInHistory · January 7, 2018 5:34AM

Sorry to hear, prayers for friends and family.
I hate hearing that we lost another good forum guy

keets · January 7, 2018 6:50AM

can anyone link an obit??

Outhaul · January 7, 2018 7:00AM

So sad. An enormous asset to the wealth of numismatic knowledge on this forum.

cladking · January 7, 2018 7:11AM

I'm sorry to hear this.

One always knew what he was thinking and he told it like it was.

RIP

Strat · January 7, 2018 10:03AM

I too received a call from Josh. Going to a coin show will never be the same for me, because I would always run into Dave in the aisles at Long Beach, Buena Park, San Jose or wherever and we would talk about the market. Dave had an incredible awareness of what was happening with the market and its controversies. I first met him in the late 1990's at Bill Spears' table, where Dave was one of the guys waiting in line to talk to Bill and look at coins. Dave also demonstrated Bill's penchant for coin conversation and sharing knowledge. As for his collecting tastes, Dave loved classic commems. We traded several nicely toned pieces over the years, and he also collected the original card stock and envelopes that stored the coins when they were shipped. He once said that commems were an easy series to collect, but one that was filled with nuances that only an advanced collector could appreciate. Now both Bill and Dave are gone, and for me, an era of learning, conversation and camaraderie have passed. Rest in peace my friend, I will miss you greatly.

Strat · January 7, 2018 10:04AM

If anyone is interested in sending flowers or attending Dave's funeral service, please send me a PM as Josh shared that information with me and asked that I pass it on to Dave's circle of coin friends.

jom · January 7, 2018 6:17PM

I had NO CLUE Dave was ill. I'm pretty sure I saw him either this last September at Long Beach or in June and he seemed fine to me. He had lost some weight in recent years but that was a good number of years ago. I'm pretty upset about this....

RIP David.

jom