It's My Ten Year Anniversary!

[TomB]

Not for me and my wife being married, rather, for me being back into coins! On this date ten years ago, October 13, 1994, I walked into American Coin and Stamp in Clifton, NJ and stayed for about two hours. I talked coins with the shop owner, whom I hadn't known was a former grader for NGC, and walked out after buying a 1921 Morgan and 1922, 1923 and 1925 Peace dollars. All of them were MS61/62 and the group cost me $48. It was exhilerating to walk down the brightly, sunlit sidewalk with those heavy dollars in my pocket!

 

That was the start. I decided I would go to that shop once a month and buy $50-$100 in coins each time. Before my next visit I had procured a Red Book and an ANA Grading Guide to help me out. My monthly plan lasted only through January, 1995, when I discovered the Parsippany, NJ monthly show. At that point, it was off to the races!

 

I have to admit that I was a scattershot and poor collector, not yet a numismatist and with little focus and not much discipline until an epiphanic moment ocurred in late 1998. Since then, it seems that many things have been crystal clear.

 

For those of you whom are sentimental about the first purchase of coins...don't worry...I sold those baggy dollars on ebay long ago.

[spy88]

.....an epiphanic moment ocurred in late 1998. Since then, it seems that many things have been crystal clear.

 

Tom, care to elaborate on this or is it off limits since you didn't explain it in your thread?

 

I for one, would be very interested in knowing this "moment"!

[Wihlborg]

A wonderful story Tom, and although you may have started out as a poor collector, like most of us have I might add, today you are a far cry from a poor collector. You my friend have become a true numismatist since that October day ten years ago, and one that I am proud to know.

 

Happy Anniversary!

 

John

[truthteller]

Congratulations!

 

 

 

TRUTH

[chinook]

Congrats Tom. I wish you many more years of intimacy with your hobby.

[Hoot]

A true numismatist you are, Tom. Glad that the bug skeewhacked you those many years ago, as I am many of the forum members. Your contributions are ample, although your statistical capabilities still suck.

 

Hoot

[EVillageProwler]

TomB, congrats on your 10th. You're a good guy, despite what some of the others say!

 

 

EVP

[kryptonitecomics]

Tom who

 

 

 

 

Congrats on hitting the big 10th Aniversary or your numismatic rebirth

 

Now lead some of the rest of us scattershot collectors to the promise land

[Narmuriel]

All right Tom! I just hope I can be as knowledgeable as you when I hit my 10th anni. Only 9 years, 6 months to go!

 

Best of luck to ya in keeping the love alive!

[michael]

 

michael

[braddick]

Coin collecting would be poorer without your influence. Congratulations Tom on the first ten. Here's to another.

[toyonakataro]

Judging from your knowledge, I thought you've been into this hobby for decades

[thebeav]

That's neat Tom......When you think about it, how lucky we ALL are !!

Paul

[goose3]

Judging from your knowledge, I thought you've been into this hobby for decades

 

 

that surprises me too.

 

I honestly thought you have been doing this for most of your life and were the next Eliasberg or Pittman lurking around the boards.

[jom]

Congrads Tom! I just had what you could call my 12th "anniversery" so I know what you mean. And, believe me, my first purchases at first were pretty dumb..far worse then some cheap Dollars. Sometimes I think things haven't changed much since then....

 

jom

[TomB]

Thank you for all the positive replies, it is truly nice. Some comments on the responses might be in order. This post will go into some detail on the first post to me, the next post will go address the other comments.

 

David, I had not meant to be so cryptic when I wrote about the "moment". When I started collecting again I was in grad school at Columbia University, as such, I had very limited funds. During the next few years of aimlessly wandering the coin bourse, I had moved up to Providence, RI to work in a hospital, had gotten married and had built a house in CT. I still bought coins, but I didn't buy the right coins. I had an accumulation of stuff that was not rewarding, yet I knew that there was so much more out there in this hobby/industry.

 

The 1998 autumn Baltimore show was in mid-November and I had not planned on going as I had to work late. Around 10:00 pm I decided that I had to go to the show and so I called a friend of mine, who lives in the Poconos (PA) and told him I would join him at the show. He told me to come down immediately and spend the night with him and his family. Obviously, I got in very late.

 

The next night I was told about an astonishing collection of toned coins that were available and I drove into mid-PA, following directions that were given to me over the phone, to a small supermarket to await the dealer. We met at a supermarket because he lived in such a remote area he was afraid that I would not find his house. He had me follow him to his house where he brought the coins out. They were all in Kointains that had gone yellow with age and the Kointains were in flips that had the original dealer's name, grade and price on them, written in faded pencil.

 

It was incredible! We sat up all night talking about the coins, looking at them and laughing about how gorgeous they were. We were exhausted, so I slept on his couch for two hours and then we went to eat breakfast. I asked how much for each coin and he wasn't certain, he would have to work up a sheet of prices. I then asked how much for the entire collection and he was stunned and he admitted that he thought he made a mistake by buying the coins in the first place as he thought they would never sell! He told me the price he paid and asked if he could make 5%. I was delighted.

 

The quality of the collection was something I had never seen before, and the sheer number of fabulously toned coins, available at one time, was something I have not seen since. This was a 61-piece toned coin collection that had been put together from the mid-60s to the mid-80s by a toned coin connoisseur; I had accidentally hit the mother load. The quality of the collection was so high that when I sent my first batch of them in to PCGS I received three MS67 grades on the 1951-S Washington quarters. This is noteworthy because at that time PCGS did not give out the MS67 grade to Washington quarters. In fact, the PCGS population for this date and grade went from six to nine just from my submission. I also received two MS67 grades for 1949-D Washingtons, and the population changes were similar. The coins weren't just high grade, they had amazing color and were high grade.

 

At the moment of deciding I would buy the collection, I went from buying coins, in a price conscious manner, that were generally average, lifeless and/or dipped white to searching for and attempting to buy coins that were superb. I started to seek out wonderfully toned pieces and paid what was then aggressive prices for them, these same coins now sell for upwards of 50x what I paid for them just six years ago. At the same time I decided that original, attractive and problem-free circulated type coinage was also what I was interested in. Fortunately for me, I was able to buy substantial coins before the market explosion in both niches.

 

The passion that I felt for these two niche markets drove me to learn as much as I could about many other areas of the hobby/industry. I have found that as I learn more about them, I want to learn even more about every aspect of numismatics! This has all led to my central belief in coinage that can be applied to any spectacularly original piece-

 

A monster is a coin that costs much too much to buy, but is still a bargain.

[TomB]

Okay, if anyone is still awake, I will attempt to drone on somewhat less this time.

 

A sincere thank you to all who have written such nice things in this thread. It may not be possible, but my head might have become even bigger at this point, and my wife will be in grave danger of suffocating when she gets home as the size of my head will have pushed all the air out of our home.

 

I would like to think that I have a platonic relationship with numismatics, as opposed to chinook's use of the word intimacy. I think that Hoot may have inadvertantly tipped his hand and let out the secret that he has many alternate IDs on this board with his statement-

Glad that the bug skeewhacked you those many years ago, as I am many of the forum members.

True, my statistical capabilities still suck, but, in my best Maxwell Smart voice

The experiment has started; Beyesian, binomial be-damned!

Hoot will know what that means. EVP is one of the many members whom I have had the pleasure of meeting numerous times, and he only writes such nice things because he wants a certain, oxidized TD that I am holding hostage. KC, my advice is at the end of my previous, enormously large post! Toyo's and John's response is similar to that of many I have had when I first meet folks at shows. Mark Feld, for example was amazed that I was as tall and trim as I was when we first met several years ago. He was also astounded that I was in my mid-thirties (he had thought much older) and at how much hair I had! In truth, I think he feared that I had a wild muskrat living on top of my head and that it was about to jump out and ravage him. Of course, as per jom's statement, I am afraid that I do not learn my own lessons all the time.

[GP_]

great story, thanks for sharing

[bigmoose-migration]

TomB, Congratulations on your 10th Anniversary back in coins. It has been a true pleasure getting to know you over the past few years, starting with a certain Baltimore Show a while back. Even before I got the chance to look through your "box of 20", I knew you had to be special when you told me that you get to look through NJCoinCrank's material at the big shows( he doesn't let just anyone look through his stuff, you know). I am looking forward to getting together with you at the next show. I just hope that the waitress doesn't spill any drinks on you the next time we get out to dinner! TomT.

[EVillageProwler]

Hoot will know what that means. EVP is one of the many members whom I have had the pleasure of meeting numerous times, and he only writes such nice things because he wants a certain, oxidized TD that I am holding hostage.

 

Tom,

 

You misspelled "Bayesian". (I have a degree in Math. Pure, as opposed to you Applied weenies. Undergrad only, so I'm sure you guys still have me beat.)

 

And, I'm not nice by design. I like you 'cuz you're my first customer in my current profession and you're insufficiently_thoughtful_person enough to root for the Mets.

 

EVP

[Hoot]

Fantastic stories Tom! Thanks for taking the time to share. Hope your wife survives.

 

EVP will marry you for the TD and a night with the muskrat.

 

Hoot

[jom]

Great story Tom! I had a "similar" experience. Not that I ran into some hoard of toned coins but I did have an experience that changed the way I collected. For about the first year or so all I really did was buy raw coins for the most part. I made some mistakes but I did manage to put together a set of Ikes, Kennedy's and Washingtons. This was OK (the Kennedy set ended up toning real nice in my Dansco holders) but when I saw a really neat Merc dime at a Long Beach show I decided to buy a "real" coin for once. It is my 1919-S which I still own. My first "real" coin purchase and haven't looked back to boring old modern coins since.

 

jom

[DaveG]

Interestingly - my 12 year numismatic anniversary is coming up. I first went to the Parsippany coin show on Nov. 1, 1992 and first went to American Coin & Stamp in Clifton on Nov. 6, 1992.

 

I must say, I never would have guessed that the guy who runs AC&S was a former NGC grader - he looked to be in his 30s or so when I first met him. (Maybe graders burn out young.)

 

I was always kinda disappointed that AC&S wasn't the kind of coin shop where collectors hung out, but now I have the Parsippany show, with TomB, Wihlborg, Airplanenut and others!

[EVillageProwler]

TomB,

 

I forgot to ask... At what point did you decide to become the regular stand-in for Mike Brady? And, did this ever impact your other jobs as a wannabe research scientist and a f/t coin dealer?

 

 

EVP

[TomB]

I forgot to ask... At what point did you decide to become the regular stand-in for Mike Brady? And, did this ever impact your other jobs as a wannabe research scientist and a f/t coin dealer?

 

 

Well, growing up in the '70s that was kind of the style, you know? Sort of like that Pete Frampton-Mike Brady-Lion Mane look. At least it was pre-mullet!

 

Lab work was difficult at times, what with all the hair floating around and that pesky Bunson burner going and all. It worked out great, however, as a haven for wild animals. The problem with that is that I get this ornery guy named Hoot who comes by and starts pawing all over me saying he's looking for a titmouse nest in my hair! Oh well, he does sort of smell like Irish Spring.

 

The FT coin dealer gig might get my kicked if I didn't have...ahem...the right credentials. The positive side is that none of my slabs is scratchy as I can buff them realllllly well with this head'o'hair!

[Hoot]

Lab work was difficult at times, what with all the hair floating around and that pesky Bunson burner going and all. It worked out great, however, as a haven for wild animals.

 

With the supression of natural fires in your forest of hair, all of those "accidents" were simply beneficial. I fear you may have now cut your hair too short and unwittingly destroyed good habitat for the upbringing of your wild child.

 

The problem with that is that I get this ornery guy named Hoot who comes by and starts pawing all over me saying he's looking for a titmouse nest in my hair!

 

Titmouse!? I thought you were English, so I was seeking great tits.

What I found instead were remnants of wooly mammoth!

 

Oh well, he does sort of smell like Irish Spring.

 

Manly, yes, but Leo likes it too.

 

Hoot

[AVickery]

Hi Tom,

 

Congratulations are in order, thanks for your stories and sharing of information on the boards, you are an asset here.

 

For those who don't know Tom personally, I can tell you that his knowledge is only exceeded by his character.

 

Ok, sorry to interrupt the animal pictures.