Who are you?

I’m Paul. Born and raised in NYC until Uncle Sam decided he needed my services in 1972 (SP4, U.S. Army 72-74). Got married right after get out of the Army and just celebrated our 50th anniversary. My kids favorite saying is “what is he into now?”. From flying (private pilot, instrument rating, commercial drone pilot) to firearms, knives, numismatics, various musical instruments (none really well), motorcycles to martial arts (little guy in the middle) I’ve always tried to keep learning new stuff. I’ve worked for the same company for 42 years (now part time consulting) and have no plans to retire. Beyond all the hobbies my real joy are my 4 kids, 15 grandkids and 10 great grandkids.

My wife and I taught so we were able to live in this in other places summers.
I worked on a shrimp boat from N.C. To Texas for a couple of years leaving job applications at county departments of education near ports that we used—I got an offer to teach in New Bern, N.C. Before all that I was raised as a hillbilly in Mitchell Co. NC, but my father moved us to Palm Beach and then to the outskirts of Orlando. I stagnated in that high school job because of an attachment to the water. I sold everything and moved to Chapel Hill to get advanced degrees. I taught in Spain, and at UNC until I decided that I was too mature to pursue tenure any longer so I got a job at a high school down the road, and with all of that experience with the state I retired at sixty.
I’m building a racing simulator, and I do stonework too.

Hey guys, I'll be wearing this same tie dye shirt at the FUN show. If you see me, stop me and say hello!

@OAKSTAR said:
Hey guys, I'll be wearing this same tie dye shirt at the FUN show. If you see me, stop me and say hello!

[photo not quoted]

I'll bring quarters.

AUandAG, beautiful toning and the coin of a lifetime! Being the very first dollar minted at Carson City, it's the ultimate heirloom.

I’m Phil. I first joined the board in 2002 under the handle Darkhorse, then for many years I was PCGSPhoto during my tenure there. Here’s an outtake of me and my boy during my photoshoot for my GreatCollections headshot last year. I love this kid.

@SeattleSlammer said:
My son and my bike, that about sums it up. ☮️⭐️

That's a great pic, David.

When did your son start drinking coffee?

☺️

@dsessom said:

@asheland said:
Great thread!
My name is Terry, and I’ve been on these forums forever and I consider this place home as far as coins go.

I work in a coin shop, so it’s my livelihood as well.

Here I am with my cat Molly.

THAT is one chill cat, Terry!

I know! That’s one of the pictures that I really love because of that. You can see it in her face.

Funny thing, sometimes the way she sits, she has this look in her face like she’s disgusted and it’s totally not the case but just the way her face is it’s quite hilarious:

I'm Alex, and I suppose I'll be the youngest member to post in this thread as a member - I think Phil's son takes the cake for being youngest in the thread.

Got into coins with the gift of an Ike dollar, and I guess that I was stubborn enough to stay. When I'm not busy with life and college, I usually fill that time with coins, which now is usually photography.

Lifelong collector, with a couple of life breaks along the way. Retired utility exec, 35 years with the same company. My lovely bride of 35 years doesn't get coins, but she gets that it's something I enjoy. This coming April, will have been on the Boards 20 years (hard to believe). Played the Registry game for a bit, don't miss it. Love the history and the "wonder where that's been and who's held it" of an old coin. I enjoy golf, fishing, coins, woodworking, and genealogy. Please don't make me rank them. This picture is me fishing off the back porch, wondering why I missed that par putt on 18 and if last night's ebay snipe will look as nice when I get it in hand. : ) I am thankful for these Boards - they are an invaluable resource [that I think we sometimes take for granted].

I feel like I'm with my flock of middle age white guys with cats

Yes, that’s a surprising theme among this sample of numismatitioners.
Old white guys with guns, sure.
But, cats?

I’m Mark Feld, @MFeld and previously @Coinguy1, here on the forum.

I got into the dealer side of rare coins, only because someone unexpectedly put the idea into my head - more about that, shortly. I started collecting at an early age (about 8). And growing up in Manhatten, I went to Stack’s on many Saturday mornings with my younger brother. It was such a thrill to look into their cases, examine coins that were sitting in display trays, and even bid in their auctions, on occasion.

My enthusiasm for collecting ebbed and flowed over the years, and for reasons unknown to me, took off again when I was in my 20’s. One day, while in my third year of law school and still not sure whether I wanted to take up law as a career, I had a phone conversation that paved the way to my career in rare coins. I was talking to a salesperson at New England Rare Coin Galleries (owned by a some guy named Jim Halperin 😉) and out of the blue, he said something along the lines of “You should think about going into the coin business. You’d like it and you’d be good at it.”

Until I heard those words, I’d never once considered rare coins as a profession. But once I heard them, that was it. I interviewed with New England Rare Coin Galleries and Steve Ivy Rare Coins and received offers from both companies. After a tough time making a decision, I chose Steve Ivy Rare coins. Since graduation from law school was just a few months away, I went ahead and finished, got my degree and passed my bar exam. It sure was hard to make myself study for the “bar”, knowing I wasn’t going to practice! Roughly two weeks later, in the summer of 1979, I was off to Dallas to begin my career in numismatics.

During the past 45 years, I’ve been extremely fortunate to have had some wonderful jobs and experiences, including handling more than my fair share of amazing coins. I’ve worked for Steve Ivy Rare Coins, Heritage, David Hall, Mark Salzberg, Pinnacle Rarities, as a grader at NGC and had my own coin business. And I didn’t plan any of it!

In the past, other than coins, I’ve collected tin windup Popeye toys from the 30’s and 40’s (with their original cardboard boxes, when possible) and Martin Brothers pottery.
It’s been far too long, but I love to snorkel. I also love to go to concerts to see my favorite artists from the 60’s and 70’s who are still performing. Sadly, their numbers are dwindling. But that makes each concert experience even more special to me.