Leon Hendrickson, founder of SilverTowne, RIP
I just read on Facebook that Leon Hendrickson passed away today. He founded SilverTowne back in the mid 20th century and was a Trading Giant in numismatics. He was past President of the PNG and a friend to hundreds, maybe thousands of coin dealers. He attended coin shows and always showed the greatest respect for his customers; always giving them the best price and service that he could. Much more will be said. Rest in Peace, Leon :'( 
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.
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He was a nice guy and a gentleman!
Professional Numismatist, Retired. 55 year member ANA. Former ANA Senior Authenticator. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and ANA Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner of the PNG's 2026 Robert Friedberg Award for "The Enigmatic Lincoln Cents of 1922," Available now from Whitman or Amazon.4 -
Very sad news. Leon will be missed by many. He was always there to help out. RIP
Joseph J. Singleton - First Superintendent of the U.S. Branch Mint in Dahlonega Georgia
Findley Ridge Collection
About Findley Ridge0 -
I always liked Mr Leon. He was a fixture and legend at the big Michigan Shows
RIP sir
mark
Walker Proof Digital Album
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......1 -
Sad news, condolences to his family.
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He was one of the best.
The world is a poorer place without him.
RIP
tempus fugit extra philosophiam.0 -
My condolences to the family.
Leon was a great man! He was the very first person to hand me an actual 1794 dollar to look at, long before I could ever afford one! I will never forget his kindness and generosity, and I will always remember holding that 1794 dollar!
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Very sorry to hear this,,,,,, have visited his shop many times,,,,,,, RIP Leon,,,,,
GrandAm
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I only met Leon perhaps twice at shows over the years, but his name has been a household word in numismatics for as long as I have been involved with the hobby. My heartfelt condolences go out to his family and to all who knew him. May he rest in peace.
They that can give up essential Liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither Liberty nor safety. Benjamin Franklin0 -
I never met him but his company had a large and profound impact.
You were a giant in the hobby and enriched the lives of many. RIP Leon.
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To David and the rest of the family; many of us here remember Leon with great fondness.
A life to be celebrated by many."People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." - Geo. Orwell4 -
Great loss...what a terrific fellow
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Met him a few times when selling silver to him. I live about an hour from SilverTowne. RIP.
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Mr. Hendrickson was a nice gentleman and his brother, the retired banker, was also a great person to sell gold and silver to. R.I.P. Sir.
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He was a good guy and very likable. My sympathies to his family.
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Sounds like a tremendous loss. Rest in peace
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RIP Mr. Leon...Thank You for your service!
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very sad news, my condolences to Mr. Hendrickson's family and friends.
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Peace
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Sorry to hear the news, my condolences.
Searching for bust quarters.....counterstamps, errors, and AU-MS varieties, please let me know if you can help.0 -
Leon was a legend. I don't know of anyone nicer. He will surely be missed by many. I was glad to work there for the time I was able to. Rest in Peace.
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The times I spoke with him I was quite impressed at the gentleman he was.......
Autism Awareness: There is no limit to the good you can do, if you don't care who gets the credit.0 -
Bought many a gold coin from Leon in the late 70s and 80s. He was a pleasure to deal with and always had a smile for you. Condolences to his family. May he rest in peace.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
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Super nice person. He will be missed. I can remember like it was yesterday him helping my kids when they were little at his table at a big show. There were people all around and large transactions going on and Leon was sitting there showing my boys some silver and treating them like they were the highest rollers at the show. Great guy.
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Very sorry to hear the sad news.
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Condolences to his family and friends left behind.
oih82w8 = Oh I Hate To Wait _defectus patientia_aka...Dr. Defecto - Curator of RMO's
BST transactions: dbldie55, jayPem, 78saen, UltraHighRelief, nibanny, liefgold, FallGuy, lkeigwin, mbogoman, Sandman70gt, keets, joeykoins, ianrussell (@GC), EagleEye, ThePennyLady, GRANDAM, Ilikecolor, Gluggo, okiedude, Voyageur, LJenkins11, fastfreddie, ms70, pursuitofliberty, ZoidMeister,Coin Finder, GotTheBug, edwardjulio, Coinnmore, Nickpatton, Namvet69,...0 -
He was indeed a great person and very knowledgeable! I saw him save a very knowledgeable major dealer's butt by informing him the very nice VF 1797 Half he had just purchased was counterfeit...a very good counterfeit! This was at the Phili ANA show in 2002.
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Condolences to the family.... RickO
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PNG Leon Hendrickson Statement
“The Professional Numismatists Guild was saddened to learn of the passing of long-time member Leon Hendrickson of Winchester, Indiana. Hendrickson joined the PNG in 1970, served as the organization’s president from 1985 to 1989 and received the PNG Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003. He was one of the first members approved as a PNG Accredited Precious Metals Dealer when the PNG-APMD program was created in 2015,” explained PNG Executive Director Robert Brueggeman.
“Leon was a giant in the profession and hobby. He was a good friend to so many collectors and dealers across the country. Our condolences to his family and friends,” said PNG President Dana Samuelson.
"If it happens in numismatics, it's news to me....1 -
Leon would come to the Hawaii coin shows in the 70s and would treat everyone like royalty, he will be missed
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Sad news. Condolences.
If you do what you always did, you get what you always got.0 -
Leon was a great guy and a great dealer.
I remember attending a show in Dearborn many, many years ago. My 'show' was going to consist of moving a double row box of BU Morgans. Leons table was so busy, I decided to shop the box on the floor first. Everyone, without exception, wanted to cherry pick a few coins out of the box. No one wanted to buy the deal. After making my way around the room, I saw that Leons table had finally calmed down and he was sitting there by himself. I walked over with my box and offered it to him. He was casually thumbing through it and occasionally pulled out a coin for a look. I remember thinking that this show just wasn't going to work for me like I planned. "What am I looking at here ?", he says. "Fifty-eight hundred dollars" , I tell him. He continues skimming through the box. Soon he says "I could have sworn you said fifty-six hundred dollars"......"I did", I say. He handed me the money, we thanked each other, and I went up to my room and ordered room service.
The world of numismatics is less without him..........5 -
RIP Leon, you had that special way with people, All that met you are better off. Prayers for the family I know your loss is great but be proud you had him as an example in life.
Avid collector of GSA's.1 -
RIP Leon. I remember meeting him at the Long Beach Coin Convention in 1987 when he became a life member of the Beverly Hills Coin Club. He never bragged about it nor tried to solicit any of our members. Great, honorable guy.
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One other thing I remembered about Mr Leon. All his crew seemed to genuinely love the man. That speaks volumes. He was always the first person I looked for at the Michigan shows and the first person I asked about when I didn't see him
mark
Walker Proof Digital Album
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......1 -
I ALWAYS loved doing business with him (and his fam/crew) and chatting it up. He could be a joker too. Some of the stuff he said had me rolling at times (when customers weren't around). Beyond fun to do business with him including the short time they were doing auctions not too far away from Silvertowne. Oh how I HIGHLY underutilized our potential to do business together even though I'm sure it is well into 6 figures, should have been high 7s at a minimum (and that wouldn't have even come close to HIS potential. His knack, imo, wasn't numismatics, it was putting deals together and numismatics was just ONE of the areas in his life he and his wife chose to share their greatness and ability to keep things simple if not without boundaries. ALL of the highest dollar coins (and quantities) I've handled have been through their Company. I could tell numerous stories and share amazing coins I've had the privilege to handle; unfortunately never over 7 figures. My loss.
My advice to you ALL, is if you are fortunate to be in the presence of someone like Leon, push hard. Put yourself and them to the line and over. Do it with positivity, creativity and generosity without bounds.
I post today to share this item I came across and thought how wonderful it would be to share.
<--- look what's behind the mask! - cool link 1/NO ~ 2/NNP ~ 3/NNC ~ 4/CF ~ 5/PG ~ 6/Cert ~ 7/NGC 7a/NGC pop~ 8/NGCF ~ 9/HA archives ~ 10/PM ~ 11/NM ~ 12/ANACS cert ~ 13/ANACS pop - report fakes 1/ACEF ~ report fakes/thefts 1/NCIS - Numi-Classes SS ~ Bass ~ Transcribed Docs NNP - clashed coins - error training - V V mm styles -7 -
Friend of mine visited Leon with his 1870-1873 CC quarters and asked if he could take a picture of them along with Leon's 1873-CC No Arrows quarter (one of five known). After the formalities were over my friend asked "how much for the 1873-CC No Arrows" to which Leon answered, "no, the question is how much for YOUR coins."
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@Coinosaurus said:
Friend of mine visited Leon with his 1870-1873 CC quarters and asked if he could take a picture of them along with Leon's 1873-CC No Arrows quarter (one of five known). After the formalities were over my friend asked "how much for the 1873-CC No Arrows" to which Leon answered, "no, the question is how much for YOUR coins."I am glad that your friend didn't get it.
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Here's Leon's store card.
I believe this was done by Henry Alvin Sharpe.
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Len was a very amicable person. He would give anybody the time of day. It's really sad what happened to Silvertown after he passed. :'(
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Huh?
I thought he passed away 5 years ago.
A Collectors Universe poster since 1997!1 -
Leon loved his 1804 Dunham / Dexter Dollar.
He liked it so much he created the following.
Check out the ribbon on the reverse.
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It's great that Leon owned the 1804 Dexter Dollar and a 1873-CC No Arrows Quarter. What other great coins did he own?
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stellas, pan-pac $50s, aluminum(s), 1795 1c s-79, obviously many others but i'm on fumes here.
since he is the founder i'm probably listing a couple that someone else within the company bought but is at least listed as co-owner.
@oreville - he did. i posted a (imo) very neat pic of him and his wife "certified" by CGC i saw the other day.
<--- look what's behind the mask! - cool link 1/NO ~ 2/NNP ~ 3/NNC ~ 4/CF ~ 5/PG ~ 6/Cert ~ 7/NGC 7a/NGC pop~ 8/NGCF ~ 9/HA archives ~ 10/PM ~ 11/NM ~ 12/ANACS cert ~ 13/ANACS pop - report fakes 1/ACEF ~ report fakes/thefts 1/NCIS - Numi-Classes SS ~ Bass ~ Transcribed Docs NNP - clashed coins - error training - V V mm styles -1 -
@oreville said:
Huh?I thought he passed away 5 years ago.
Somebody forgot the "OLD THREAD ALERT"
Professional Numismatist, Retired. 55 year member ANA. Former ANA Senior Authenticator. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and ANA Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner of the PNG's 2026 Robert Friedberg Award for "The Enigmatic Lincoln Cents of 1922," Available now from Whitman or Amazon.1 -
:'(
WayneKennedys are my quest...
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