Written by Q. David Bowers, Chairman Emeritus
Last week’s World’s Fair of Money
in Chicago, the summer show of the American Numismatic Association, was perhaps
the best ever in my memory. Activity was intense from beginning to end, as
thousands of collectors, dealers, and enthusiasts attended. Our auction sales
set many records and covered just about every category from ancient coins to
modern, plus paper money, tokens and medals. A particular highlight for me was
the John J. Ford Collection, which I attended in part. The offering was absolutely amazing, with duplicates and triplicates
of some tokens for which single pieces have not been on the market for years. I
have never seen anything like it. I feel confident in saying that a generation
hence the sale will be remembered as one of the greatest numismatic
opportunities of the 21st century.
The bourse with many hundreds of
dealers was active as well. I was busy with the auction, attending programs,
giving several talks, and otherwise involved, and did not make the rounds of
all the bourse dealers as I would have liked. I did, however, see a lot of
activity and everyone seemed to be smiling.
Several weeks in advance of the
convention, Chris Karstedt insisted that I save 1 pm to 3 pm on Thursday
afternoon for an important meeting for the top management of the firm. Much to
my surprise when I entered the room it was a celebration on my behalf -- for 60
years as a rare coin dealer. A beautiful cake was on view and was soon mostly
eaten, refreshments were provided, and all had a good time. I like to think
that I am aware of my surroundings, but this caught me completely by surprise,
especially since Chris enlisted the help of Mary Burleson and Charles Anderson
of Whitman Publishing who played their roles to a tee!
It was in 1953, indeed 60 years
ago, that I became a part-time dealer in rare coins while still in Junior High
school. I had caught the coin-collecting fever a year earlier and was thrilled
with the prospect of finding a 1909-S V.D.B. cent in circulation or some other
rarity. This didn’t happen, but I did look through a lot of coins and filled
out, or nearly so, several sets in blue Whitman folders. My budget was limited,
and my dad said that if I had large expectations I should set about finding a
way to afford them. So, I began dealing part time, spreading the word locally,
visiting people who had coins for sale, and also attending the Wilkes-Barre
(Pennsylvania) Coin Club. I enjoyed reading, and club members were delighted to
provide me with back issues of The
Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine, The Numismatist, and other journals, plus
auction catalogs and, occasionally, books. There was not much national interest
in collecting such things and most had little or no value. Today, of course,
the situation is vastly different. At the recent ANA convention I attended the
Numismatic Bibliomania Society meeting -- a gathering of collectors of
out-of-print books and catalogs -- where enthusiasm prevailed and comments
reflected the great strength of the modern market for such things.
It was in 1955 that I attended my
first American Numismatic Association convention, held that year in Omaha. I
was not old enough to belong to the ANA, as one needed to be 18. However, I was
allowed to have a table after my dad guaranteed my transactions would be
covered if necessary, and Lee F. Hewitt, who published the Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine, wrote a letter stating that I had
been a very reliable and well-respected advertiser. The rest is history, as
they say, and the recent Chicago convention was the latest in a continuing long
string.
I look forward to next year, also
in Chicago, and having a nice time.
No comments:
Post a Comment