Jay North, star of "Dennis the Menace" numismatic television series, dies at 73
WillieBoyd2
Posts: 5,248 ✭✭✭✭✭
Jay North, who starred as the towheaded mischief maker on television's "Dennis the Menace" for four seasons starting in 1959, has died.
Many of the "Dennis the Menace" episodes had stories related to numismatics and coin collecting, usually involving Dennis's neighbor Mr. Wilson.
Jay North holding Whitman coin albums
https://www.brianrxm.com
The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin
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Comments
Yep...I remember. Nice Post...
Bummer, rip Dennis, sorry to hear that
Many may not know that Jay North, as a child doing the show, his hair was actually strawberry red, so they bleached his hair blonde for the show!
Steve
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
I really enjoyed that series when I was young. Jay didn’t have a great interest in acting as an adult. I saw him in a low budget movie years ago. It somewhere in a set among my DVDs.
Why bother? It was filmed in black and white, after all! 😆
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Shades?
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
Jay North’s ‘Dennis’ character was an obnoxious wise-ass kid, with a numismatic bent.
Unfortunately, I too was 7 years old when the show started - and thought Dennis was a good role model.
30+ years coin shop experience (ret.) Coins, bullion, currency, scrap & interesting folks. Loved every minute!
i always loved the episode about his Penny Collection
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfdkkfmzO3g
I remember the episode with the parking meters. Dennis and Tommy managed to find three 1914-D Lincoln cents and gave one to Mr. Wilson.
There was another episode involving an 1895 Morgan Dollar. I don’t recall all the details other than Mr. Wilson writing out a $500 check near the end.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Also, 1907 $10 Indian, rolled edge w/periods and one episode about a 1919-D Merc (which looked like a Barber dime up close).
fka renman95, Sep 2005, 7,000 posts
Heck can you imagine being able to pick up an 1895 Morgan - in any condition - for 500 bucks? Even adjusted for inflation at ~$5000 that's an absolute steal
I never realized so many shows focused on coins!!!!!!!!
I wonder what the backstory was to include coin collecting in the story scripts. I remember the shows with fond memories of a simpler times.
OMG ... My Mother was Right about Everything!
I wake up with a Good Attitude Every Day. Then … Idiots Happen!
Those were the Golden Days of coin collecting when we found our coins out of circulation.
Apparently, one of the script writers was a coin collector.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
apparently he was abused by his tv handlers an aunt and uncle , forced to work long days , slapped around when he flubbed his lines etc.
so pretty much like all child stars except he managed to move past it by leaving the industry .
Those were the days. Dennis,Beaver,Rickey Nelson.
Jay North as Dennis The Menace got me energized on collecting cents at the same tiime my grandpa gave me my first 1878-S uncircukated silver dollar in early 1960 when I was still 6 years old.
I adored Dennis The Menace and I emulated everything he did.
Thank You for your service.
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Jay North
I was sorry to hear this. He was an entertaining kid and I loved the show when I was a kid. He is was the same age as myself.
RIP Jay North
RIP Dennis. I hope you’re collecting coins and driving Mr. Wilson crazy in Heaven.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
More innocent and wholesome times.
This is eerie. We are the same age, and also were on the same Cartoon Express show hosted by Engineer Bill at age six.
I answered some questions properly, won a Lionel Train Set, and was the most popular kid on the block for the rest of the year because of it. Never had any other interests in the Industry. And unlike North, my hair was actually platinum blonde at that point in my life.
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."
Coin-themed TV programming in the 60's was perhaps merely a reflection of the great popularity of coin collecting back then. Obsolete coinage was easy to find in circulation, and roll collecting was common. Silver dollars were available at the bank. And it didn't hurt that the public's attention was drawn to coinage when the Kennedy half was introduced and clad coins appeared. Coin World was stuffed with classified ads. As I recall, it also had a section dedicated to coin trades.
Like oreville, I was 6 in 1960. I was just beginning to collect thanks to my maternal grandfather.
It was a fun decade ... in numismatic respects, that is. But I never saw a single episode of Dennis the Menace. I did, however, see enough TV to have huge crushes on Patty Duke and Barbara Eden.
Whit
The Coin World trade section was called "Trading Post". I placed ads in them way back when.