Coins and Friends

[cpm9ball]

Pat is a real good guy! Although he isn't actively collecting coins any longer, he still gets involved from time to time. Last year, a close friend of his who also collected passed away, but before his time had come, he instructed his wife that she should contact Pat to dispose of his collections. Knowing the widow would probably need the money and not wanting to burden her with long, drawn-out eBay auctions, Pat bought everything from her and actually paid her a better price than she would have received from any of the local dealers.

 

I met Pat about one year ago under somewhat comical circumstances. He had some items at auction on eBay and I won one of them. I paid promptly with Pay Pal, and not long after, I received an e-mail from Pat. He stated that he would refund the shipping charge, if I wanted, since he only lived a couple blocks from me. And so it has been that Pat has come to visit on numerous occasions, and I have been buying some of the widow's collections from Pat.................for the same price that he had paid for them. I've always looked forward to Pat's visits. It wasn't just about the coins! He really had some great stories to tell about some of the dealers around the state when he was actively collecting and searching for good buys. We'd sit on the lanai and I'd listen to him for hours.

 

Of course, Pat knows that I like Morgan's and VAM's. He still had a stash of Morgan's left over from his collecting days, but he never cared about taking the time to search any of them for varieties. (By the way, it was Pat who sold me that 19-coin roll of 1882-CC Morgan's last year that produced five recently-discovered VAM's.) Anyway, Pat kept saying that he was going to dig out his stash and bring them over one day so I could look through them for any I might want to buy. Last Friday, he paid me a visit and he brought with him 142 Morgan and 13 Peace dollars. About 70% of them were MS, 20% ranged from VF to AU and 10% are the poorest of the specimens.

 

Well, I caught Pat completely off guard when I asked him how much he wanted for everything. He fully expected me to cherrypick the good ones. Now, why should I do that and leave him with the rest to try and somehow unload? In a way, it's like the policy I developed many, many years ago when I was playing pool and gambling all of the time. I never played friends for "serious" money. I wasn't going to be responsible for taking their "rent money" from them. After 5-6 hours of looking through Morgan's and listening to more of Pat's stories, we settled on a price and Pat went home.

 

He returned early Saturday morning to help me clean out the garage. Mind you, the garage is BIG, and Mom and Dad never threw anything away. (Cleaning the garage was Pat's idea. Believe me, it was the furthest thing from my mind.) Pat brought with him six Kennedy halves that he mentioned to me the night before. My curiosity was aroused, but we had a lot of work ahead of us. So, I looked at them briefly and we set to the task of sorting the junk that Pat would eventually haul away in his Chevy Suburban to throw in the dumpster at his sign shop, the things he would donate to the Kiwanis Thrift Store and Dad's old tools and some fishing gear that I gave to Pat. He enjoys fishing and he LOVES old tools!

 

By late afternoon we had finished cleaning the garage and all the junk was loaded into Pat's car to haul away. Once again, we were on the lanai relaxing and I was listening to more of Pat's collecting stories. When it finally came time for Pat to leave, I asked him how much he wanted for the Kennedy's and he replied, "Nah! They're a gift!" Here is a guy who just spent his entire day off helping you clean your garage, and now he is giving you a gift. I'm at a loss for words.

 

Here are two of those Kennedy's:

 

1982-P, "No FG"

 

1982-P, "Plugged" Tail Feathers. This coin also has a neat obverse die clash with the rays extending from the base of the neck.

 

I haven't finished checking all of the MS Morgan's for varieties, but this is what I found so far:

1878-S, VAM 2, "TIUST" - 2 each

1880-S, VAM 3, Large mintmark

1884-CC, GSA, VAM 2, Doubled "18" and first "C"

1884-CC, GSA, VAM 3, Doubled "18" with die break

1884-CC, GSA, Unknown VAM, Doubled first "8" and first "C"

1884-O, VAM 5, Filled "O" - 3 each

1884-O, VAM 13, O/O - 2 each

1884-O, Unknown VAM, Doubled "1" - 3 each

1884-O, Unknown VAM, Doubled "1" and "tail" on bottom loop of "8"

1921, VAM 1, Extra Berry - 7 each

 

Now, does anyone have any ideas about what I should do with these?

 

Chris

[bsshog40]

Nice story Chris. It's hard to find good friends nowadays. So many people are caught up in thier own everyday lives that no one seems to have enough time to meet thier own nieghbors anymore. It's also an added bonus when your nieghbor that becomes a friend also has the same hobby. Kind of like golfing, fishing, etc.. buddies. I think it's a lower percentage of being able to find a numismatist friend that is your nieghbor though. great story!!

[Stanley]

Chris,

Good friends are hard to come by these days. Congratulations

 

Good friends who come to help you and ask nothing in return but give you gifts are priceless.

[MunkyMan95]

Wow! I knew Pat was a great guy, but I didn't know that he was a Saint!

 

I wish that all of my friends were like Pat!

 

As to the morgans, carry a few in your pocket and hand them out to young kids, maybe at a local preschool, or a Kindergarten.

[rrantique]

Chris you have a true friend, one in a million, thanks for the wonderful story.

 

BTW i'm sure Pat feels the same way about you

[zrlevin]

Pat Braddick?

[EZ_E]

 

As to the morgans, carry a few in your pocket and hand them out to young kids, maybe at a local preschool, or a Kindergarten.

 

Probably not a good idea.

 

And...

 

Like Pat is a good friend to Chris, so Chris is a good friend to me.

 

Ok, big hug, you ol' lug!

[supertooth]

Hello Chris-----You were like a kid at Christmas time with all those Vams and half dollars. Just like buying a whole collection sort of unexpected like. As to the nasty ones---give them out to some kids who understand what you are giving them. Or---sell them as scrap and buy another decent Vam. You take care. Bob [supertooth]

[michael]