Most of us have reasons why we collect what we do ...and love what we collect ....in this Journal I share mine ....

In the summer of 1965 my father added a couple lines to a letter that my Mom had written to me while I spent a few weeks at my cousin Jimmy's farm on Maryland's beautiful Eastern Shore . He wrote " when you get back home ..I have something I want to give you " . Of course as an 8 year old boy my mind raced with visions of candy canes and sugar plums and I couldn't wait to get home to see what Dad had for me .

A couple weeks later ,on the day after arriving back home ,Dad called me into his home office , a room I was never allowed in without permission and can not honestly remember going into before ...or after that day . As I peered up at my father across his huge mahogany desk , he opened a drawer and removed an El Producto Cigar Box ...walked around to me and placed it into my waiting little hands . It was filled with a coin collection !! Nothing grand of course by today's standards , but the biggest in the known world at that particular time !!!

It was the single most memorable nice thing that Dad had ever done for me , or would ever do for me in my lifetime and I treasured these coins for many many years .

And ...what will be no big surprise to readers...there were ALOT of Washington Quarters in this treasure box....and I quickly grew to love the design of this denomination more than any other . Over the years as my fortunes have ebbed and flowed ...my collection has likewise seen better and worse days too . But my love for these quarters has only grown . After years of TALKING about starting a Washington Quarter Registry Set I have finally embarked on doing just that .

As I write this in early March 2010 I have listed about 24 coins , I should point out that I have many absolutely wonderful examples , several of which sit quietly waiting in PCI slabs to be recertified by NGC as I can afford to do so .

Among them are a 1932-P listed as MS-67 , a 1939-D listed as MS-67 , a 1942-S listed as MS-65 and a 1949-P listed as MS-66 .

I mention these only as a point of reference ...I am very curious what NGC's eventual grade on some of these gems will be

and I will be sharing my future thoughts on this subject.

So the listing of my Registry Set is likely going to span a couple years before I am done ....but I can tell you I am already enjoying the concept , looking forward to listing the next coin , and learning more still about a hobby that has limitless potential . Thanks for Reading