I saw this album in the bottom of a box at the bank and thought I would bring it home for a day or two...

Greetings Collectors,

The set pictured is one that goes back with me to the early eighties. I haven't seen these since they were deposited in one of my boxes years ago. It was in a box I don't go into very often because most of the coins are raw and the majority of the box is rolled and boxed silver bullion. I had even forgotten this set was in there. But I had to get to the bottom (of the box) because of the newly purchased rolls of Kennedy & Franklin halves and along with returning the 25 rolls of silver eagles now that the quest for getting all the rolls was over with. I had put off organizing this box because of the weight. It could not be lifted, much less carried to one of the little bank examining rooms. I could actually count the times I've been in it on one hand in the last 6-8 years. But it turned out OK even though I had to have one of my little teller friends "camp out" with me in the vault for about 20-30 minutes. She said "I didn't know you collected coins". She said her dad collected coins and every now and then she would get a neat or strange piece. Sometimes she had even gotten some silver dollars. Most were Ikes but she said occasionally she would get the "silver" silver dollars. I showed her a raw Morgan and a raw Peace dollar and she "right away" said it was like "that", pointing to the Peace dollar. But anyway, I was actually keeping her from her work and I didn't want to spend the afternoon there so I grabbed a couple things, this Walker album being one, and I took some rolls of Morgan & Peace dollars just to look at, since I had them out, and wrapped up my business there, for this trip anyway.

Looking at this Walker set which has a second page, that is filled with more Walker, Barber & Franklin halves, I started to remember how the set came about. There was a small coin shop back in the day that I would occasionally stop in and buy some rolls of misc silver and/or a gold coin here and there. I got to where I would look in the cases where the dozens of different coins were, most were in "stapled" 2x2's, and I just started getting a date here and there til I had the short set. It's items like these 20 coins that bring back memories of my starting back into collecting after having taken 10-15 years off since the "grade school" days. Each one of these are no better than AU, with maybe a MS-60-61 sprinkled here or there. I had a few of these old halves from my starting days as a collector back in the 60's. Can't remember which ones but the whole mediocre set is very special and while it would not bring much of a premium beyond a bullion price, if any, this is a set I will probably have 'til the day I die. It's moments like these and also remembering moments of days long gone by that make this hobby so rewarding.

I hope everyone's week is going well and that all of you are having "fun with your coins". I know I am. It's just sad that they have to stay "locked up" 99% of the time and it's only on certain occasions I can bring one or two home for a short visit. Happy Collecting!

WKF