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Entries in this journal

SPECIAL FATHERS DAY

Love And Care For Each Other. It is once again Fathers Day, so I pulled out your favorite coins. I have been feeling your presence quite strongly of late. This year is special because you are now with the centerpiece of my life. The daughter-in-law whom you loved so much is now with you. I feel both of your spirits watching over me. You are not alone this Fathers Day, Dad. Diana is with you, and you are both in my heart. Love and care for each other. Happy Fathers Day, Dad!!! I love y

COLLECTING SOLO

Missing My WING WOMAN My wife and life partner of 41 years has passed away. She was my second set of eyes and best consul in coin purchases. Diana was always enthusiastic about MY hobby and attended shows with me. She enjoyed looking at the collection with me, and after her illness, it was one of the fun activities that we still shared. After 13 years of illness and disability, she is now with her Mom and my Dad. I will miss her in numismatics; I will miss her more in my life. God has
Wissahickon Collection

Wissahickon Collection

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APPRECIATION BREAK!!!

A Pause To Cure My Acquisition Fever. Stop And Appreciate The Roses In My Numismatic Garden.From time to time, I find myself buying coins; viewing them briefly; placing them in the safe deposit box; and immediately searching for the next purchase. The search and acquisition becomes more important than the coin itself. Recently, I have begun to recognize signs of this behavior coming on with me, again.So, I go into a forced slow-down mode:-I search for coins as usual.-Write out a list of all th

THE TOES ARE IN A LITTLE DEEPER

I Added The 1909-S This Week. My venture into the Indian Cent series continued this week as I found a nice MS-61 Bn example in a dealer's inventory. It arrrived today, and I am more than pleased. The coin is a nice even reddish tan color with smooth surfaces and a nice strike. I really like the look of my mini-collection, and have enjoyed the search. However, I have not yet been bitten by the BUG. So I will stick with the plan to stay ankle deep before making a collecting commitment to

DIPPING A TOE INTO NEW WATERS...

Can Be Intimidating! Every collector begins collecting a new series, at least once. As I approach uncharted waters, I feel the concern of making mistakes due to unfamiliarity, as well as the usual cautions related to adding new coins to my collection. These questions race through my head: -Is this a series for me? -Do I really like these coins? -Does their history/ reason for minting excite me? -Are the coins readily available, and affordable to me? -And on and on. I am now exper
Wissahickon Collection

Wissahickon Collection

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THE REPLACEMENTS ARE COMING!

What Took You So Long? I completed my set of Barber Quarters on January 18, 2007, and wrote a journal entry about it. In June, 2008, I sold my 1915-S MS-63 NGC quarter. It was a lustrous, well-struck, white coin with light gold tint. So why sell it, you ask? The coin had a small spot on the obverse that just bothered me. Whenever I viewed the coin, my eye always focused on the spot. So, I sold it and began looking for a replacement. 15-S is not a rare date, so I thought, this should be a
Wissahickon Collection

Wissahickon Collection

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MEMORABLE COIN SHOW MOMENT

A Walter Breen Encounter I was reading the PCGS coin forum, and ran across a thread entitled, OUTSIDE THE ROPES Coin Show Moment. That started me thinking (always a dangerous thing). I recalled attending a show sometime in the late 1970/ early 1980 time period. And I do not recall the exact location; either Cincinnati, Philadelphia, or New York. My memory is really vague on both time and location. I got in a hotel elevator to go to the show site, and as the door was closing, a very large
Wissahickon Collection

Wissahickon Collection

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COIN PRIORITIES

Mother Nature Has A Way Of Clarifying One's Life Priorities! As Hurricane Sandy approached the Northeast, my focus was on gathering emergency supplies; insuring the safety of my wife and myself; securing our home; and praying a lot! Coins never entered my thoughts. In the aftermath of SANDY, I focused on checking property damage (we were both safe); contacting my insurance agent; and checking on friends; and offering up prayers of thanks for us, and concern for those less fortunate. I had
Wissahickon Collection

Wissahickon Collection

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A FUNNY THING HAPPENED DURING A COIN PURCHASE

I Talked My Way Out Of A Discount! This morning, I called a dealer about two coins that I saw on his website. This is a dealer from whom I purchase regularly, but not at a volume that would rank me as one of his favorite customers. I do not trust internet pictures, so I ask for detailed in-hand descriptions, and compare the words to what I see on my monitor. My standard format is to review strike, luster, marks, color, and finally, overall eye appeal. As we reviewed the first coin, he com
Wissahickon Collection

Wissahickon Collection

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WHAT A DOLLAR WOULD BUY....

Back In The Fifties. Last night, I had another of those WAKE UP WITH A MEMORY OF THE PAST moments. When I was a kid, my parents could not afford many luxuries. So Mom and Dad made a big deal out of little extras so that they became special. One such SPECIAL was sirloin steak with button mushrooms on Sundays. Mom was great at making creative inexpensive meals all week, so steak it was on Sunday! With the drippings, she made a light gravy that I loved. I have no idea what was in it, excep
Wissahickon Collection

Wissahickon Collection

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WHEN IS IT TIME TO SELL?

How Do You Know? For a number of months, I have been contemplating disposing of a large segment of my collection. Over the last 2 or 3 years, my interest in my Morgan Dollar set has waned significantly. The set has been complete for, oh I do not remember how long- 5 years?; 8 years? I ceased seriously looking for upgrade pieces some time ago. Seldom do I look at the set (1 or 2 times per year), and I stopped examining the coins for VAMS years ago. As I thought more about selling, I viewed
Wissahickon Collection

Wissahickon Collection

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SECOND DAY AT ANA

A Little Buying; A Little Selling; A Big Giveaway! Today, unlike yesterday, I arrived at the train station with plenty of time to spare... and I remembered to pay for the parking. I moved to the edge of the platform as the train approached. The problem is, the train never stopped; it just sped through the station! So as yesterday, I took the second train. Upon arrival at the show, I immediately found Mike Printz and introduced myself. We talked for awhile and I gave him 6 coins to put on

FIRST DAY AT THE ANA!!!

Barely put a dent in my TO DO List. I got off to a shaky start. Made it to the train station platform about 5 minutes ahead of the train. With 2 minutes to arrival, I realized that I hadn't put money in the meter for parking! I dashed through the under track tunnel (the pay box is on the other side of the tracks, of course.), paid the machine just as the train arrived. Ran back under the tracks, and heard the train depart just as I was directly under it. Oh well, it's only a 30 minute wait

PREPPING FOR THE PHILLY ANA SHOW

Making A List; Checking It Twice. Here we are- one week and counting until the start of the ANA show. I have been giving lots of thought to what I want to accomplish next week. Here is my planning process, so far: -Checked the show calendar to see what days I want to attend. -Created a show Want List. -Created a show For Sale List. -Created a list of Show and Tell Items. -Cut back all lists to a manageable size! Daily checking of Lot-3221 in the Heritage Signature Sale: An 1895-

GOODBYE DM MERRILL ASSOCIATES...

Hello Wissahickon Collection!!! It's time for a name change. My wife and I retired, and ceased operating the company more than a decade ago. As anyone who has formed and operated a business can attest, it becomes a major part of one's life. So when I joined the coin registry, it felt like a natural transition to transfer the company name to the coin collection. It has been a very successful strategy at weening me from the business. But now, and for some time actually, a name change refle

A DEDICATION TO DAD

Happy Fathers' Day, Dad!!! All day, I've pondered what I wanted to say to Dad. Today is a beautiful day. I watched TV; went for a drive with my wife; cooked dinner; and frequently thought about Dad. A number of great thoughts and memories floated through my mind, but nothing grabbed me as a keynote for this journal entry. Then, at 9:35 tonight, it struck me! It wasn't ONE thing about Dad that was so significant in my thoughts. It is the sum total of small, seemingly insignificant experie

DELAWARE HALF MOVES TO DESK ONE MORE TIME

Third Time Will Hopefully be The Charm. On two previous occasions, the University of Delaware Football teams have played for the National Championship: 1-AA. This year the Women's basketball team has had their best season ever. Ranked 7th in the national polls; 30-1 record, with their only loss to #5 Maryland; undefeated in their conference; and a 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. Their first round game is Sunday evening in Arkansas, so once more my Delaware Commemorative Half will sit in a p

TOOTH FAIRY MONEY

Another Childhood Memory A recent trip to the dentist triggered a childhood memory. Mom and Dad did not have much money when I was growing up. My less than straight teeth, today, attest to the fact that braces were financially out of the question. There was no paying a dentist to pull baby teeth, so Dad made a game of the extraction process. He tied one end of some string around the loose tooth and the other end to the door knob. I do not remember the game, but somehow he would get Mom a
Wissahickon Collection

Wissahickon Collection

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A COMPLETED TRIFECTA

Achieving Interim Goals Is Fun! I always had a bit of completeness compulsion. It shows up in my focus on finishing any sets started. Some sets are too expensive, so type sets and mint sets are a satisfying alternative. Some large sets take a while. With these, I sometimes set interim goals to satiate my desire for completeness. In the past, prior to my desire to collect the entire Liberty Nickel series, my goal was to collect an uncirculated set of what I called my Trifecta: the 1885,
Wissahickon Collection

Wissahickon Collection

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THIRD PLACE

Can Be Nice, But... I have been searching for an attractive 1926 Peace Dollar for a couple of years. A number of coins were scanned; many I found to be unattractive, or priced wrong, or something just was not quite right. I came close to making a purchase on a couple of occasions, but as of the new year, I am still looking. Thursday night I was looking at the Pinnacle website, and there was a new listing of Peace Dollars! They are absolutely beautiful!!! I viewed these coins again and again
Wissahickon Collection

Wissahickon Collection

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THIRD PLACE

Can Be Nice, But... I have been searching for an attractive 1926 Peace Dollar for a couple of years. A number of coins were scanned; many I found to be unattractive, or priced wrong, or something just wasn't quite right. I came close to making a purchase on a couple of occasions, but as of the new year, I am still looking. Thursday night I was looking at the Pinnacle website, and there was a new listing of Peace Dollars! They are absolutely beautiful!!! I viewed these coins
Wissahickon Collection

Wissahickon Collection

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LOOKING BACK AT 2011

I Am Back/ A Rising Tide Lifted My Boat! Recently, my mind was running through the past year: they seem to be spinning by faster, these days. I began to ponder, "What were MY significant numismatic events of 2011?&"; The answer, I believe, condenses to 2 things. First, this year marked my return to active collecting after a 2+ year hiatus. Early 2011 purchases of a 1927-D $1.00 and a 1912-S Liberty 5 cent served as catalysts to reignite my numismatic fire. In addition, the 1912-S led
Wissahickon Collection

Wissahickon Collection

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ALOHA, HAWAII !!!

Merry Christmas To Me! I've long admired the design of the Hawaian coinage. Years ago, I purchased a book on the coinage; researched its history and pricing, but never purchased any of the denominations. They were all too expensive to indulge my cursory level of interest. Then I saw a 25 Cent piece, this week, that "called to me". I could resist no longer, and placed a bid. Tonight, IT'S MINE!! The coin is a very pretty, white coin with great luster and a strong strike. Both sides ha
Wissahickon Collection

Wissahickon Collection

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I CHOSE TO REVEAL

My Fears Were Unfounded! On June 17, 2011, I wrote a journal entry entitled,"TO REVEAL OR NOT TO REVEAL", in which I expressed my concern about revealing my coin hobby to my bridge club friends. Well, today, I revealed. I read to them another journal entry, "OUT OF THE ATTIC", (2-5-09) which is a story about my family history. In addition to reading the story, I shared with them pictures of my grandpa, working as a butler; my grandmother on her college campus in the early 1900"s; my great
Wissahickon Collection

Wissahickon Collection

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MEMORIES FROM THE '70'S

Technology Changes Expectations Jeff Garrett's article about "Guarantees in the coin market, today" in NGC's Weekly Market Report, started me thinking. Thinking about my coin collecting experiences in the 1970s. I remember Coin World Mail Bid Sales. These were a listing of coins with NO descriptions; just grades. There were sales by 10's of dealers every week. No description; no pictures; just raw coins listed as: XF AU BU CH BU The ever popular Select BU Gem BU I made my
Wissahickon Collection

Wissahickon Collection

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