I am shocked and saddened by Mike's sudden and unexpected passing. While we never met personally we shared a few PM's. He was freely giving of his knowledge, friendly and always had the time to help. A huge void will be left on these boards and in this hobby. My first contact with Mike was on the NGC boards when they handed out birthday wishes when ever a member's birthday came around. We shared not only the same day and month, but also the same year. Every time my future birthdays roll around I'll toast Mike with a shot of Jameson Whiskey. Here's to you Mike!
Ahhhh, that's right, Elbesaar!
How many times he snipped Barbers on eBay back when bidder ID's were still public, and before I joined this forum. One of my gameful adversaries in the hunt.
Elbesaar again
Then putting him with that name later on, and reading with such transparency about his acquisitions, he just seemed to have so much fun.
We're all born MS70. I'm about a Fine 15 right now.
I am so sorry to read about Mike's passing. I only met him once, at a Baltimore show in 2012, I think. Broadstruck introduced us at the show, and later we 3 went out to dinner. Mike was funny, outgoing, and generous with his knowledge. He always seemed to be working on a new set of coins, and his enthusiasm was contagious. Such a loss. He will be missed by many.
We hurt, whenever we lose one of us. That's why it's good to love one another. Just went to see Paul McCartney live the other night. He brought this subject up in his dialogue with the crowd before he sang a love song he wrote for John Lennon, after Lennon died. He reiterated how we should express the love while we are here, but guys just don't do that sort of thing (he said), and we don't. And it sure isn't possible to say or show it after they (brothers/bandmates/partners/etc., ) are gone.
My condolences to family, friends and loved ones.
Very sad. My condolences to all that were close to him.
PNG member, numismatic dealer since 1965. Operates a retail store, also has exhibited at over 1000 shows. 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.
I crossed paths with him several times at shows - the brief encounters were always about coins and his knowledge was amazing. He always had a huge uplifting smile and you just immediately felt at ease in his presence. I admired his passion for collecting and was always impressed with his barbers.
@Broadstruck said:
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.
@Broadstruck said:
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.
My condolences to Mike's family and friends. From all the nice things written here he must have been a truly special person that touched many lives. Thank you Dave99B .... your post touched me. My condonlences to you as well.
I didn't know mike but I felt like I did from the amount of time I spent reading his posts on barber coins . His input on this forum will be sorely missed .
Like many others here I never met Mike but we exchanged a few PMs as I bounced potential acquisition ideas and auction questions off of him. I am sad to hear how suddenly he passed. I know he was working on several date sets to commemorate the birth years of his ancestors in addition to his Barbers. In his honor, here is a 1917 (for his father):
Well, %$^^%$ and &$#@! This really does suck. While I never met him in person, we did exchange many a PM. Very cool and knowledgeable collector who will be missed.
I hope that VP Biden's "moonshot" approach to finding a cure for this dreaded disease begins to bear fruit soon! A lot of promising developments with immunology are encouraging, but the progress is slow.
As I approach the 2-year anniversary of losing my wife Martina to cancer, I can say that losing a loved never gets easier! RIP Mike, and sincere condolences to his family.
What we've got here is failure to communicate.....
One way to honor our memory of Mike is to continue his threads on Barber coins and others he kept going.Why, my avatar is the bottom reverse of my former 1892-O micro O half that was PCGS MS 63, a coin that Mike ended up buying when I upgraded the coin for my registry set. He also had owned my former Pryor AU55 micro O half. He bought and sold a LOT of coins in his life.
Here is an update that Mike's cousin posted on Mike's Facebook page. RIP Mike. You are so missed already.
Dave
My name is Paul Feeney and I am Mike's 1st cousin. Mike passed away this Monday at 6:40 am at the Rehab hospital in Naples. He was diagnosed on 9 July with metatastic pancreatic cancer (lungs & liver). He told me he thought it could have been pneumonia before that but he wasn't feeling well for a couple of months when I was there last week with him. His funeral will be 5 August (Saturday) from Fuller Funeral home on Tamiami in Naples and then to his parents grave site. Myself and another friend of his Anita M were able to be with him to visit and got to take him home for a couple of days and be with Max and Ginger. Mike's passing at this time was unexpected to us and his health care team. He wasnt eating alot even though Anita and I took him to dinner at a restaurant near his house two day/evening last week. Mike still maintained his sense of humor and he said he was not in any pain but was very tired. He was extremely happy that he was able to get Ginger and Max back to a home that would love and look after them. He said that it was a ton of worry off his shoulders. I know our family will miss our oldest cousin and you will miss your dear friend.
Always looking for original, better date VF20-VF35 Barber quarters and halves, and a quality beer.
Ouch! I never met Mike, because he was on the other side of the country, and neither of us travel far to shows, but we've exchanged many PMs for a good ten years on this forum. Guys like Mike and Bear are what I think coin collecting should be all about.
Both of them genuinely loved collecting and accumulating knowledge about coins, and sharing this with like minded people. Just very nice people whom you could take at face value. So sad.
"Vou invadir o Nordeste, "Seu cabra da peste, "Sou Mangueira......."
I am crushed by this news. I had corresponded with Mike through PM's, and then I met him in person at ANA Summer Seminar and the FUN shows. He was a knowledgeable and passionate collector, but foremost he was a very nice person. The numismatic community has suffered a great loss. I offer my condolences to his family and many friends.
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
I hate to hear this! Mike was a friend and a good mentor. I always ran purchases by him in the Barber series before forking over the money. In fact, I had just asked him about one a few weeks ago. He will certainly be missed. He always like this coin of mine, so I will post it in his memory!
So sorry to hear this. I sold him one or two really great Barber coins over the years -- he was such a pleasure to have as a customer, as he was very knowledgeable in his series.
He will be missed.
Dave Wnuck. Redbook contributor; long time PNG Member; listed on the PCGS Board of Experts. PM me with your email address to receive my e-newsletter, and visit DaveWcoins.com Find me on eBay at davewcoins
Comments
I am shocked and saddened by Mike's sudden and unexpected passing. While we never met personally we shared a few PM's. He was freely giving of his knowledge, friendly and always had the time to help. A huge void will be left on these boards and in this hobby. My first contact with Mike was on the NGC boards when they handed out birthday wishes when ever a member's birthday came around. We shared not only the same day and month, but also the same year. Every time my future birthdays roll around I'll toast Mike with a shot of Jameson Whiskey. Here's to you Mike!
RIP MFH, Elbesaar - You will be missed.
- Bob -
MPL's - Lincolns of Color
Central Valley Roosevelts
RIP MFH...Blessings to your loved ones.
Ahhhh, that's right, Elbesaar!
How many times he snipped Barbers on eBay back when bidder ID's were still public, and before I joined this forum. One of my gameful adversaries in the hunt.
Elbesaar again
Then putting him with that name later on, and reading with such transparency about his acquisitions, he just seemed to have so much fun.
RIP Condolences to family & friends.
"Keep your malarkey filter in good operating order" -Walter Breen
My condolences to his family and friends.
I am so sorry to read about Mike's passing. I only met him once, at a Baltimore show in 2012, I think. Broadstruck introduced us at the show, and later we 3 went out to dinner. Mike was funny, outgoing, and generous with his knowledge. He always seemed to be working on a new set of coins, and his enthusiasm was contagious. Such a loss. He will be missed by many.
I never met him in person, but he seemed like a good guy from my interactions with him on this board. We are diminished.
Successful BST transactions with: SilverEagles92; Ahrensdad; Smitty; GregHansen; Lablade; Mercury10c; copperflopper; whatsup; KISHU1; scrapman1077, crispy, canadanz, smallchange, robkool, Mission16, ranshdow, ibzman350, Fallguy, Collectorcoins, SurfinxHI, jwitten, Walkerguy21D, dsessom.
We hurt, whenever we lose one of us. That's why it's good to love one another. Just went to see Paul McCartney live the other night. He brought this subject up in his dialogue with the crowd before he sang a love song he wrote for John Lennon, after Lennon died. He reiterated how we should express the love while we are here, but guys just don't do that sort of thing (he said), and we don't. And it sure isn't possible to say or show it after they (brothers/bandmates/partners/etc., ) are gone.
My condolences to family, friends and loved ones.
Never met him personally, but so sorry to hear the news. My condolences to everyone who knew and loved him.
Very sad. My condolences to his family and friends.
- Jim
Very sad. My condolences to all that were close to him.
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
I'm sorry to hear that, condolences to his family and friends.
I didn't know him, but did enjoy his insights and posts.
Wow, very hard news to take. Condolences.
Terrible news.
I crossed paths with him several times at shows - the brief encounters were always about coins and his knowledge was amazing. He always had a huge uplifting smile and you just immediately felt at ease in his presence. I admired his passion for collecting and was always impressed with his barbers.
RIP Mike
Sorry for your loss :-/
This is some of the worst news I've read on the forum in a long time. He will be truly missed.
RIP
EAC 6024
That link doesn't work for me.
I did not know Mike, but would like to extend my condolences to his Family and Friends...
POST NUBILA PHOEBUS / AFTER CLOUDS, SUN
Love for Music / Collector of Dreck
Very sad to hear. He will truly be missed. RIP Mike
Still can't believe it. RIP Mike.
My condolences to Mike's family and friends. From all the nice things written here he must have been a truly special person that touched many lives. Thank you Dave99B .... your post touched me. My condonlences to you as well.
I didn't know mike but I felt like I did from the amount of time I spent reading his posts on barber coins . His input on this forum will be sorely missed .
RIP mike
heart broken....
wow, just wow! He will be missed. But, we were lucky to have his passion in this hobby.
Sorry to hear. RIP Mike.
Like many others here I never met Mike but we exchanged a few PMs as I bounced potential acquisition ideas and auction questions off of him. I am sad to hear how suddenly he passed. I know he was working on several date sets to commemorate the birth years of his ancestors in addition to his Barbers. In his honor, here is a 1917 (for his father):
an 1891 for his Grandmother:
and of course a Barber dime:
Never met Mike in person, but he was so kind and informative about collecting, especially our shared enthusiasm for Barbers. RIP
Well, %$^^%$ and &$#@! This really does suck. While I never met him in person, we did exchange many a PM. Very cool and knowledgeable collector who will be missed.
RIP Mike.
10-4,
My Instagram picturesErik
My registry sets
Such a nice guy. He will be missed.
RIP Mike.... you will be missed by many.....Condolences to family... RickO
I hope that VP Biden's "moonshot" approach to finding a cure for this dreaded disease begins to bear fruit soon! A lot of promising developments with immunology are encouraging, but the progress is slow.
As I approach the 2-year anniversary of losing my wife Martina to cancer, I can say that losing a loved never gets easier! RIP Mike, and sincere condolences to his family.
Successful BST xactions w/PCcoins, Drunner, Manofcoins, Rampage, docg, Poppee, RobKool, and MichealDixon.
Shocked to read this. A real gentleman who I am going to miss.
Coin Rarities Online
Shocking! One of the good guys who was a great asset to the hobby and the boards here. We met only once at a show for a few moments. Sad.
Very sad to hear this. Mike was a huge factor in helping me start collecting barber coinage back in 2011. He will be missed by many.
RIP Mike. You are already missed.
Joseph J. Singleton - First Superintendent of the U.S. Branch Mint in Dahlonega Georgia
Findley Ridge Collection
About Findley Ridge
RIP, Mike! Prayers for his family.
One way to honor our memory of Mike is to continue his threads on Barber coins and others he kept going.Why, my avatar is the bottom reverse of my former 1892-O micro O half that was PCGS MS 63, a coin that Mike ended up buying when I upgraded the coin for my registry set. He also had owned my former Pryor AU55 micro O half. He bought and sold a LOT of coins in his life.
MFH Friends,
Here is an update that Mike's cousin posted on Mike's Facebook page. RIP Mike. You are so missed already.
Dave
My name is Paul Feeney and I am Mike's 1st cousin. Mike passed away this Monday at 6:40 am at the Rehab hospital in Naples. He was diagnosed on 9 July with metatastic pancreatic cancer (lungs & liver). He told me he thought it could have been pneumonia before that but he wasn't feeling well for a couple of months when I was there last week with him. His funeral will be 5 August (Saturday) from Fuller Funeral home on Tamiami in Naples and then to his parents grave site. Myself and another friend of his Anita M were able to be with him to visit and got to take him home for a couple of days and be with Max and Ginger. Mike's passing at this time was unexpected to us and his health care team. He wasnt eating alot even though Anita and I took him to dinner at a restaurant near his house two day/evening last week. Mike still maintained his sense of humor and he said he was not in any pain but was very tired. He was extremely happy that he was able to get Ginger and Max back to a home that would love and look after them. He said that it was a ton of worry off his shoulders. I know our family will miss our oldest cousin and you will miss your dear friend.
Just so sad. I always listened when he posted. It's hard to think that this is over...
Sad news indeed. He was a good man.
Ouch! I never met Mike, because he was on the other side of the country, and neither of us travel far to shows, but we've exchanged many PMs for a good ten years on this forum. Guys like Mike and Bear are what I think coin collecting should be all about.
Both of them genuinely loved collecting and accumulating knowledge about coins, and sharing this with like minded people. Just very nice people whom you could take at face value. So sad.
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."
I am crushed by this news. I had corresponded with Mike through PM's, and then I met him in person at ANA Summer Seminar and the FUN shows. He was a knowledgeable and passionate collector, but foremost he was a very nice person. The numismatic community has suffered a great loss. I offer my condolences to his family and many friends.
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
I never met Mike in person, but it was always wonderful to read his posts. He will be missed.
I hate to hear this! Mike was a friend and a good mentor. I always ran purchases by him in the Barber series before forking over the money. In fact, I had just asked him about one a few weeks ago. He will certainly be missed. He always like this coin of mine, so I will post it in his memory!
So sorry to hear this. I sold him one or two really great Barber coins over the years -- he was such a pleasure to have as a customer, as he was very knowledgeable in his series.
He will be missed.
Dang! A great guy!
My Condolences to his family and friends
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.