My Bio

[MikeKing]

OK, I'm a bit bored. Been hanging around the computer too much today.

Actually started navigating the new registry setup and did something I would never have done..normally...but I felt inspired.

 

I actually wrote a bio.

 

Here it is:

 

I've collected stamps, coins, and currency, since I was a kid.

At different points in my life, I've turned to them when things were tough.

There are a lot of really really fine collectors that I've met here and on the NGC board (and the PCGS board that I was banned from). It's been such a great experience.

Thanks to my fellow collectors!

 

Plain and simple.

[MikeKing]

OH, and P.S.

 

*spoon* you PCGS!

[EZ_E]

My bio would echo the same sentiments and you'd be on the top of my "good guy" list.

 

We've been on these boards for awhile now. It seems that time and opinion sifts the undesirable users from the ranks. There are many new boardsters that will pass muster and are rank high on my list of respect. The few who prefer pettiness over positiveness won't last long if history repeats itself.

 

To those mature, positive boardsters: much respect out to you. To those who prefer hate, discontent and pettiness: take a walk across the street!

[michael]

my bio...................

 

I've collected stamps, coins, and currency, since I was a kid.

 

There are a lot of fine collectors that I've met here and on the pcgs board. It's been such a great experience.

Thanks to my fellow collectors!

 

[WinstonWare]

I would echo the sentiments that collecting has been a helpful diversion for me when other areas of my life were less stable. I would also say that fellow board members have been the single greatest asset towards my collecting knowledge.

 

Okay that’s all the sentimental side I’m showing for this year

[bsshog40]

Here's mine!

I started collecting mainly circulated coins about 30 yrs ago. I had all my coins stolen, so now I have gotten back into the collecting about 2 yrs ago. I started collecting Mint proof sets. I don't know where these jeffersons came in but I'm going for them now as you can see. I have a heart for the S.E.'s and Morgan Dollars. I feel I have been able to aquire a decent collection so far considering my budget. I'm always looking to buy something I don't have. One of these days, my goal is to aquire a nice St. Guadens Gold. The forum was a great find for me, as to the help I get with coins and the extensive knowledge I have received from it's members.

Well I noticed that others were including professions. I grew up in So. Calif, moved to texas about 25 yrs ago. I've been in the Cable TV business for 20 yrs now and am a Plant Manager here in Stephenville, TX. (Cowboy Capital of the World). I also collect harley Davidson item and Dallas Cowboy items. Most of my collecting has been with my coins lately tho'.

[michael]

 

super great thread

 

this thread should be a requirement before you post again on these boards

[Oldtrader3]

Most serious colectors that I have met in the past (40) years have been dedicated, knowledgeable, focused and open to sharing with others. That is why I enjoy this hobby so much.

[rbrown4]

Just shy of the half century mark, happily married with two lovely daughters. Born in Texas, grew up in Oklahoma currently live in Northern Virginia. Geology degree and currently employed as a North America Director of Operations for a Fortune 100 Environmental Company within a specialized unit of the company.

 

I joined these boards in an effort to learn about coins, coin collecting and basically acquire the tools and/or assistance to be able to fairly accurately determine the extent and details of my Fathers Collection begun over 70 years ago. I chose NGC for certain reasons and now that I am here, I am very satisfied with my choice of forums and especially the unlimited and amazing breadth of knowledge and experience available on here.

 

Many thanks to all that contribute in these forums. It is a pleasure to participate, learn and contribute. I look forward to continuing this journey and further expanding the varying degrees of relationships and common interests available out here.

 

Personnally I collect minerals, fossils and raise orchids as another hobby. My next endeavor will be to become as involved and do the same thing with my Father's antique Light Bulb Collection. Sounds odd, but true - even has some Edison Originals.

 

Thanks,

 

Rey

[pendragon1998]

Hi Rey,

 

Sounds like you have an interesting life. I minored in geology myself - always enjoyed it, and if I had come into it earlier in my college career, I might have ended up as a geologist. My favorite areas were coal petrology, peat sedimentation, and palynology.

 

Orchids are also cool. I'd like to get into them, but my money and time are pretty much spoken for at this point in my life. Maybe on down the road...

[Coinguy19]

This pretty much sums up me.....

 

I've collected coins and currency since I was probably about seven years old and love coins for their history. This fall I will be attending Northeastern University to pursue a degree in physical therapy. Hopefully, I will continue to be interested in this hobby as there lots of great people on this board.

[123cents]

I have collected so many things over the years I can't mention it all at this time. When I was in the 2nd grade I started to collect stamps and did this for about 2 years and then lost interest.

From the age of about 10 I really started to like coins. This was in the late 50's and you still got a lot of neat coins in change at this time. I remember my uncle giving me a shiny Walking Liberty Half. I loved that coin and kept it for quite a while. I remember getting a few Standing Liberty Quarters in change. Most were pretty worn but I loved the eagle that was on the reverse.

After I grew up I collected many things such as pocket watches, old car memorabilia, old currency and bought and owned some nice classic cars.

In the early 90's I got interested in collecting coins again. The first collection I put together was a 7070 type set. These were not high grade coins but I had a lot of fun finding each one and adding it to the collection till I finished it.

As of this time, my interest is in capped bust halves and seated dollars but I love all coins especially the the 19th century coins. Carl.

[physics-fan3.14]

I'll play:

 

I started collecting coins from the time I was 1. Seriously. My grandpa gave me a Proof 1986 Statue of Liberty Silver Dollar for my first birthday, and I have been collecting ever since. I am now working on a Franklin FBL set, and a French Colonial set, starting with Morocco. I was born in Rhode Island, and we moved to Charleston, SC, when I was 8. I am now 21, and I will be graduating with a degree in Engineering Physics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in about a week and a half. After that, I am trying to get a job as a rocket scientist.

 

Jason Poe

[EZ_E]

Congratulations, Jason.

 

I just did an MRI on an 86 year old guy who was a rocket scientist in the '50's and '60's. I still think it incredible that vacuum tubes and mechanical contactors sent men to the moon. I once read a comparison on the total byte capacity of the Apollo equipment to a modern computer. It's not much.

 

I collected coins seriously as a kid from around 1974-1979. I even spent fifty bucks in Christmas money on a 1914 D Lincoln cent that was VG/F if I remember correctly. I didn't get back into collecting until 2002. I had a year following a steep learning curve but I really got my numismatic education from the NGC boards and from personal relationships with some forum members. I have true affection for many boardsters (old and new). I am indebted to them for their friendship, their willingness to share their knowledge and as a source of some wonderful type coins.

 

I spent 6 years in the navy as a nuclear propulsion electrician after high school and then went to UNLV afterwards to study radiological sciences. I've now been an x-ray/cat scan/MRI tech for 14 years: a decision that I've never regretted. I love my job!

[Oldtrader3]

My brother is a geologist (MSGeology, McGill Univ). He mostly does consulting now, like most geologists working in Canada.

[jgrinz]

heheh I am sorry but this sounds like a ...

 

"Hello My name is Michael and I am a Coin addict.I have been addicted now for some 21- 22 years now. I was an addict early in my life, around 10- 12 years old, when I collected Rocks(aka Minerals) / Butteryflys / Stamps and Coins.I am sure I personally funded Littleton Stamp and Coin for the following decade. I quit as I didn't have the time ... And My parents Divorced ... My Collections got lost in the shuffle ... I went through quite a few years without even thinking about anything ... literally ... I mean anything ( drugs were involved ). When I met and got married to a wonderful girl that I schmoozelled off another guy I said this would be neat to get one of these to commemorate the event ( 1986 Silver Eagle ) fresh and new like my Lifes new Beginning with my New Wife ( Carol ). (Skip a few beats) Lets just say I have a very patience wife and through all my collecting interests since our marriage she has not said a word ( My Coin Collecting interests where formidable ... UNTIL I told her recently ... " I AM DOWNSIZING " ... I could see the $$$$$ in her eyes. She knew as well as I though that being SMALL Self Employed Business person "MRB_Retirement" is all there is after I am done ... SO ... 50% is going back into a more Structure Coin Collection AND MY WIFE IS GOING SHOPPING"

 

Thank you for listening ... Love each and every story

 

Carry On ..

 

Mike

[EZ_E]

Mike, give Carol my phone number (555-1234) in case she ever fires you. She sounds like a great person!

[rbrown4]

Oldtrader3,

 

The world of Geology can be feast or famine. I graduated just before the bottom fell out of the oil so never got into that aspect of it. Just some geotechnical and environmental related type work.

 

But I have a mineral and fossil collection to show for my college so I'm happy.

 

Rey

[jgrinz]

Mike, give Carol my phone number (555-1234) in case she ever fires you. She sounds like a great person!

 

Nice thought Vic but she says she is only attracted to those with a small business ( )

 

Haven't quite figured that out yet ...oops ... now I get it ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

hahahahahah very funny !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(jokers )

[Oldtrader3]

Rey: My brother has worked mostly in gold and base metal mines, not oil. In addition to Canada and the U.S., he has worked in Surinam and Bukina Faso. Almost all of his classmates from McGill have have also contracted Malaria from working in the tropics (Borneo, Africa, etc.).

[EZ_E]

 

Nice thought Vic but she says she is only attracted to those with a small business ( )

 

Haven't quite figured that out yet ...oops ... now I get it ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

hahahahahah very funny !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(jokers )

 

 

[cpm9ball]

I've mentioned some of this before. I will repeat it for those of you who may not have been here to read it, and I'm adding a little more.

 

It was a game of pool that got me started collecting coins. I began playing pool at the age of nine, and I had a natural talent for the game. When I was ten, I was playing 9-Ball at the local poolroom with another boy, Joe Clement, who was sixteen. I won $5 from him and when it came time to pay up, he gave me four one dollar bills and a silver dollar. This was 1957, and I had never seen a silver dollar. I went straight to the bank where I had a savings account, and I asked the teller if she had any of the silver dollars like the one I showed to her. She spread a stack of them across the counter, and I picked out four more. One of them caught my eye because it was the year that my grandmother was born, 1893. And so it was that whenever I won any money playing pool (I rarely lost!) I would go to the bank and get more silver dollars. By the mid-60's, I had accumulated several hundred, but pool was taking most of my spare time. So, I sold my collection for what I thought was the tidy sum of $4,000. By the way, my recollection of that '93-CC was that it would have graded AU55/58 or so by today's standards.

 

Fast Forward>>

 

In September, 1968, the NASA program at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD was advertising for applicants. You had to have an AA Degree, and if they accepted you, they would pay for the remainder of your college education while you worked OJT. Even though I was short a few credits, I applied, because I was really interested in the Space Program. I wanted to be an astrophysicist. I spent three days taking their tests, and I breezed through them. I was always good when it came to taking tests. That is how I schlepped through high school and still graduated in the top 10% of my class even though I spent most of my time in the poolroom. Anyway, I was accepted but it was too late to enroll for the fall semester at the University of Maryland. I was scheduled to begin classes in the spring. However, I received a draft notice in October, 1968 and the officials at Goddard told me there was nothing that could be done because Viet Nam had a higher priority than the space program. The sad part of it all was that during my tour of duty, I never left the States.

 

Fast Forward>>

 

In the early 90's, I got back into coin-collecting. One late night, I was watching (now I know better!) the coin segment on QVC. One of the items was a "special" of thirty Morgan dollars for $199. I thought back to the late 50's and early 60's when I collected the Morgans so I bought them. Yeah, some of them had been harshly cleaned, but there was at least one decent coin....an 1879-S, 78 Reverse, Top 100 in AU55. I had to submit them to NCS because they were turning black from the accent ring of the AirTites in which I put them. Nine of the thirty ended up in NCS holders for improper cleaning and the rest were graded by NGC. I still have all of those QVC Morgans, but it started me going again and I've been upgrading whenever possible.

 

I was still playing pool, though. In 1995, I took my Mom with me to a Florida Pro Tour event. It was the first time that she had ever seen me play pool. I introduced her to some of the well-known players I knew........Steve Mizerak, Buddy Hall, Ray Martin, Steve Cook, John DiToro, just to name a few. She got such a kick out of it and had accompanied me ever since. In all, we attended more than 500 amateur league functions and more than 100 amateur and professional tournaments. Mom got to meet many of the best male and female professional players from all over the world, and most of them called her "Mom".

 

Fast Forward to present>>

 

It has been almost seven months since Mom passed, and now, my brother and two sisters are suing me to force the sale of the home I designed for Mom and Dad. (Dad passed in 1997, and he never got to enjoy the conveniences I built into the house for him.) The real estate market is really soft right now, and we stand to lose $600K-$1M if I am forced to sell now. This litigation has alienated me from my family, and I am very depressed by it. I've all but given up pool and have already sold the rosewood pool table that was in the award-winning, billiard room at the house. The carom table (for 3-cushion billiards) is also for sale. Who knows, I may have to give up coin-collecting if the attorneys have their way and suck the blood out of us.

 

Chris

[WinstonWare]

It has been almost seven months since Mom passed, and now, my brother and two sisters are suing me to force the sale of the home I designed for Mom and Dad. (Dad passed in 1997, and he bever got to enjoy the conveniences I built into the house for him.) The real estate market is really soft right now, and we stand to lose $600K-$1M if I am forced to sell now. This litigation has alienated me from my family, and I am very depressed by it. I've all but given up pool and have already sold the rosewood pool table that was in the award-winning, billiard room at the house. The carom table (for 3-cushion billiards) is also for sale. Who knows, I may have to give up coin-collecting if the attorneys have their way and suck the blood out of us.

 

Chris this is terrible. I’m so sorry that you have to go through this! I hope that it all works out in the least painful and most reconciliatory way.

[cpm9ball]

It has been almost seven months since Mom passed, and now, my brother and two sisters are suing me to force the sale of the home I designed for Mom and Dad. (Dad passed in 1997, and he never got to enjoy the conveniences I built into the house for him.) The real estate market is really soft right now, and we stand to lose $600K-$1M if I am forced to sell now. This litigation has alienated me from my family, and I am very depressed by it. I've all but given up pool and have already sold the rosewood pool table that was in the award-winning, billiard room at the house. The carom table (for 3-cushion billiards) is also for sale. Who knows, I may have to give up coin-collecting if the attorneys have their way and suck the blood out of us.

 

Chris this is terrible. I’m so sorry that you have to go through this! I hope that it all works out in the least painful and most reconciliatory way.

 

Thanks, Winston, but I doubt that things will change with my siblings.

 

"oh ba die, oh ba dah.....oh la la la la life goes on"

 

Chris

[EZ_E]

I still miss both of my moms who died last year.

 

I'm still hoping to take a road trip this summer with my daughter to visit you, Chris!

[cpm9ball]

I still miss both of my moms who died last year.

 

I'm still hoping to take a road trip this summer with my daughter to visit you, Chris!

 

I will leave for Las Vegas on June 7 and will return on June 16. Also, I will be at the Seminole Hard Rock for a Women's Pro Tour event on July 1-2 and at the Clearwater Coin Show July 6-7.

 

Chris

[123cents]

Chris, I enjoyed reading your Bio but was sad to hear about your parents and what is going on now with their estate. I hope things can still be worked out between your siblings and you.

You and I grew up at the same time. A time when you could still get silver coins as change on a regular basis. I was born Aug. 1949 and will be 58 this year.

 

Carl.

[EZ_E]

Clearwater Coin Show July 6-7.

 

That may be a date to shoot for.

[cpm9ball]

Clearwater Coin Show July 6-7.

 

That may be a date to shoot for.

 

Sounds good! Hannah and I will challenge you and JT to some pool.

 

Chris

[EZ_E]

Pool match??? I'll keep my eye out for a date drug and slip it in your Shirley Temple when you're not looking. That may give us a sporting chance.