A wonderful remembrance gift!

[cpm9ball]

For those of you who didn't know, Rey Brown loved to collect railroad-related coins and medals. Several years ago, I spotted such a medal offered at auction by one of my "French Connections" that was quite unusual. I thought of Rey, contacted him and he was definitely interested. Rather than have him take his chances in the auction, I contacted the seller and made him an offer before any bids were placed which he accepted. Upon receipt, I forwarded it along to Rey.

 

The medal definitely needed some TLC. I took some photos (albeit not too good) of it before sending it along. Later on, Rey started a thread asking for advice on how to clean it. I believe it was Hoot who suggested that he give it a good soak in virgin olive oil. Anyway, I'm posting photos of the before (mine) and after (Rey's) so you can see this medal once again.

 

After Rey passed last year, I mentioned to Bobby (bssgog40) that I really wished that I could buy the medal from his estate as a token of remembrance. Bobby was kind enough to get in touch with Rey's girlfriend, Donna, and she refused to sell it to me. Instead, she wanted me to have it as a gift. I received the medal yesterday with a note enclosed. It read, in part, "It's my pleasure to give this medal to you. I know in my heart Reynolds would have wanted you to have it. Enjoy & take care, Donna"

 

There is no indication on the medal who designed it or whether it was struck at the Paris Mint or a private mint. I wish I knew. It appears to be either bronze or copper, 50mm and weighs 63.9gms.

 

I want to thank Bobby for his help, and I will be forever indebted to Donna for her kind gesture.

 

Chris

[physics-fan3.14]

That's awesome.

[x2rider]

I think that is whats called Karma

 

 

Amazed at the diffrence after a soak (thumbs u

[kryptonitecomics]

Glad you were able to get it (thumbs u

[bsshog40]

Glad ya finally got it Chris! Looks nice too!

[James_OldeTowne]

This is... hands down, THE BEST thread I have read in a long time. Chris, thanks for the marvelous sentimental thoughts. I miss Rey, and all the other passed members.

[cpm9ball]

This is... hands down, THE BEST thread I have read in a long time. Chris, thanks for the marvelous sentimental thoughts. I miss Rey, and all the other passed members.

 

Thanks, James!

 

I miss all of them, too!

 

Chris

[Coindude]

Good work guys. Glad it's in the hands of someone who can truly appreciate it.

[rrantique]

This is... hands down, THE BEST thread I have read in a long time. Chris, thanks for the marvelous sentimental thoughts. I miss Rey, and all the other passed members.

 

Thanks, James!

 

I miss all of them, too!

 

Chris

 

 

(thumbs u

[jesbroken]

I agree with James, what a heart warming post. Well needed. Thanks Chris for sharing. So many to miss this last year, especially. Rey was one of the best. I truly regret we never met face to face.

Jim

[JStull]

That's a very touching story Chris, and an awesome sentiment from his g/f.

 

 

[$ilverHawk]

Very nice history, Chris. I agree with X2rider, good karma coming back to you.

 

Cherish the gift. Choo Choo.

 

Carl

[ldhair]

Thanks for posting this Chris and thanks to Bobby as well. Rey was a special guy. If it's ok I'll add to the story.

 

Just before we lost Rey, Bobby helped me get this to him. I got the most heart warming email from Rey, I have ever had. He was still so positive and in love with the hobby. Still miss him.

 

[cpm9ball]

Thanks for posting this Chris and thanks to Bobby as well. Rey was a special guy. If it's ok I'll add to the story.

 

Just before we lost Rey, Bobby helped me get this to him. I got the most heart warming email from Rey, I have ever had. He was still so positive and in love with the hobby. Still miss him.

 

 

I glad you did, Larry, and if any others wish to add something to this thread about Rey, I would look forward to learning about their "personal glimpses" of Rey.

 

Chris

[bsshog40]

I remember Rey writing me a letter some time ago. Of course we had been talking about coins and he was interested in my Sae's that I collected. He had mentioned the fact that he had never owned one. So after I had gotten his letter, I had an extra 2005 SAE that I sent him. He said after finally seeing one in-hand, he was gonna have to get more. Don't think he ever did tho' but I know he had one to start with. (thumbs u

[supertooth]

No doubt about it Chris. It is a good thing to mourn. Here on the NGC forums we have lost some number of friends over the last year or two.

 

For me, a lot of it was their YOUTH that bothered me the most. I sat and couldn't make myself even answer the posts for either Rey or Lou [ IGWT ]. It bothered me greatly that they were soooooo young----full of life---in their 40's.

 

In Rey's case it was hard because I had talked to him so much about his Dad. He appeared to simply cherish his Dad both while he was still alive and after his passing. It just didn't seem "fair" that Rey should die so young----while his Dad had lived past 90.

 

But, it is a sign of respect that we still talk about these folks. It shows that they meant something to us. Each of us truly mourns them in his or her own way. Their lives----by our mourning---have continued powerful meaning. They left us with many good thoughts of who they were in life.

 

May we continue to think of them fondly. Bob [supertooth]

[cpm9ball]

No doubt about it Chris. It is a good thing to mourn. Here on the NGC forums we have lost some number of friends over the last year or two.

 

For me, a lot of it was their YOUTH that bothered me the most. I sat and couldn't make myself even answer the posts for either Rey or Lou [ IGWT ]. It bothered me greatly that they were soooooo young----full of life---in their 40's.

 

In Rey's case it was hard because I had talked to him so much about his Dad. He appeared to simply cherish his Dad both while he was still alive and after his passing. It just didn't seem "fair" that Rey should die so young----while his Dad had lived past 90.

 

But, it is a sign of respect that we still talk about these folks. It shows that they meant something to us. Each of us truly mourns them in his or her own way. Their lives----by our mourning---have continued powerful meaning. They left us with many good thoughts of who they were in life.

 

May we continue to think of them fondly. Bob [supertooth]

 

........and it is sooooooo good to hear from you, my friend!

 

Stay well!

 

Chris

[Oldtrader3]

Rey and I are/were both gold collectors, retired engineering types, former mining industry folks and westerners. We emailed each over back and forth quite a few times over the years on this site, talking about and showing each other any new gold coins that we had recently acquired or were interested in. Bob, (Supertooth) is also a former gold coin collector who also is my age and retired.

 

Plus, Rey and I both got sick about the same time and commiserated with each other about that. Unfortunately, Rey's illness took his life and mine almost did but not quite. Both of us stopped posting here for awhile while because of illness. The last time that I heard from Rey was just before he died and I was very saddened by the news of his health and the prognosis.

 

I miss Rey and considered him a friend with whom I shared several interests with. I am getting to the age where many of my closest friends have passed away in the past several years and almost all of my remaining close friends have had serious illnesses in the last several years. Unfortunately, this is part of the human condition in this pale of life on earth.

[ldhair]

Rey and I never knew each other till we were both trying to understand how to use the bucket to post images here. Once we got to talking it turned really strange.

Both our family's lived near each other in Texas and we both knew this same small town banker that had a great collection. When Rey went to school in Oklahoma at OU, I was just a few miles away in a different school. When he moved to the DC area, he was living minutes away from several school friends of mine that had moved there from Oklahoma. I went there on trips but didn't know he was there. There was more I can't think of. One of those small world story's I'll never forget.

[cpm9ball]

I also enjoyed the story that Rey and Mark Feld related to us. Mark is related to B. Max Mehl and Rey's father was a friend of Mr. Mehl.

 

Chris