thank you for all your kind words. "i am going to make myself a holder so i can put a coin in it. On the tires of my car i am going to put some sanding paper. Then i am going to place the holder on my car so that it hits the tire. I think after a drive of an hour the coin will be clean enough" I have no idea what this is about, but that is about how we could best describe him, he always had a weird sence of humor, but it was always a laugh to have him around. thank you Herman
I was wondering about Koen, why he had not replied to my private messages. I considered him a friend and enjoyed the short time we had together on Coin Talk. I was shocked and saddened to hear this terrible news. My thoughts and prayers are with the family. May the Lord receive him with open arms.
my thoughts go out to his family. he will be missed. i got to know him on another forum, and there just wasn't anything you dislike about him. truly, this world lost a wonderful man.
Herman - this was your brother joking about a method to clean coins. Cleaning coins is something that should normally not be done to coins, and your brother was just expressing his great sense of humor. I'm still in shock - I'll miss reading his posts.
Dear Friends who cared about Koen and enjoyed his presence on this forum. I have talked to lucyray and we would like your help. Koen wanted to share his love of coin collecting with his children, and he actually was having some good father/son moments with the hobby, as I am told and understand. Koen can no longer share with his children in person. What remains of his collection will be held for the children, as their heritage. Koen's brother has said that he would like to do that. I think that the best course to honor Koen's memory would be to provide another historical coin or two for the collection that will eventually be passed on to those children and some coins the children can enjoy while they are young. The idea is two-fold, and any contributions for either of these will very much be appreciated, as a gesture by Koen's CoinTalk friends to help to keep his memory alive for his family, which includes them knowing of his interests and passions. I will be collecting donations people are willing to give to me: the purpose will be to buy one or more coins. The coin I am looking to buy is a nice Morgan Dollar. I believe this to be the one that Koen was thinking of when he told his brother about a coin he wanted. Koen mentioned on one of his threads a PCGS graded Morgan Silver Dollar that he was attracted to, but since it was on eBay, by the time he could get the money for it, it would be gone. My goal is to get approximately 175.00 in total donations by May 16, at which time I will purchase a graded Morgan dollar to be sent for his children. Any monies not going directly to that will be used to buy an additional coin or two, likely silver coins of the 1800s that can be sent at the same time. In order to do this, I would like people here that are interested in contributing to PM me for my email to be used as the way to get the fund. There is no "suggested" amount to be given, and I don't want anyone to feel like they "have to". You don't. But I would like to have you take part in having this goal of Koen's met. Additionally, by doing this via paypal, that ensures that I can provide anyone an accounting of any monies received for this purpose. There is a cut-off date for donations, which is May 16th. That is because I need the money in hand to make the purchase. Secondly, if you wish to honor Koen's memory in another way, lucyray will be the point person for that. Simply send US coins (common ones or even any one you would like for Koen's kids to have) like Koen got from several of us when he was alive. He really delighted in the random acts of kindness he received from CoinTalk members here. It can be even just one or two coins, like a couple states quarters or something. Koen kept a list in his postings of what he had, so if you want to try not to duplicate it, you can check there to see what he had. Please PM lucyray for an address and get those letters or small packages out to her by May 20th. She will then, on May 26, mail me the items and I will then mail out everything to Herman, for Koen's kids. Understandably, the family is going through a lot, but Herman has said he wants to be able to share some with the kids. So if you choose to send a coin or two, please put down on paper a few points about the coin, so that Herman will know what it is, so that Herman can share with the children. Any packages to lucyray received after May 26th, will be returned to the sender. Any donations to the Morgan and other silver coins will be returned to the donor if received after May 16th. These cut-off dates are neccessary to be above-board in this, and I hope you agree. I will be contacting one or more dealers through CoinTalk or another forum, and hopefully be able to get a quality Morgan, so that the coin can be agreed on prior to the day donations close. That is the plan. This appeal does not preclude you doing some random act of kindness (numsimatically speaking) in Koen's or anyone else's honor - if you choose to. Please PM lucyray for her address if you want to send some coins of your choosing. Please PM me for my email address to use on PayPal for donations I will be using to purchase the Morgan. If any small funds remain after purchasing the Morgan and other silver coins, as appropriate, it will be used to cover some of the postage to Belgium for the package. The plan is that coins (or other numismatic items) received by lucyray by the 26th of May will be sent to me by her, and will be combined with the purchases I make, and sent in one package to Herman to save and share with the children as they mature, as appropriate. My hope is that Koen's legacy to his kids include a love of coins. Kasia This is being posted only on two posts: In Memory of Koen, and Accident. I may be PM'ing people to see if they want to donate, but that will not be wide-spread.
a Morgan dollar, that was what the name was, now that i read it i remember. You guys are really going to do that for him (his kids)? I did not know my brother left such an impression here and in other forums. But please do not feel like it is something that you must do, it is nice if you would do it, but do not feel as it is an obligation to do so. My English is not that good, so some things you are saying are not really clear to me, but it warms my heart and that from our family to see how loved he was. Again i would like to thank you all for the support in these difficult times for us. I live in the same house as he did (here in Belgium we call it a "kangaroohouse" which means that there is one house that is habitat-ed by different members of the same family with for every part of the family its own living-room, bathroom, ... So everything around me reminds me of my brother. At this moment i am looking at his books that he used to sort his coins and other collectibles, for me it is all Chinese, all the things he wrote down about it is like he was using some kind of secret language. But if there was something he was passionate about then it was his collection. It is really nice you want to help to keep his collection alive for his kids , but again, do not see it as an obligation please. Thank you all again Herman
it is of course very sad to hear of your brother's passing...i am fairly new here so i cannot say that i knew him but whenever someone dies, especially someone with kids, it is a hard thing all around......i wish you and your family the best of luck in pulling together to make this trying time a little bit easier....my dad died when i was nine and the hardest thing for me was that our family didn't have any relatives ( uncles, aunts, grandparents) around so it felt really lonely......so if you want to honor your brother in the best way make sure you are there for his kids if they are young as they are probably really scared and lonely......RIP Koen, God Bless!
Herman, God love ya, we just may make a collector out of you. I think Koen would like that..... Kasia? PM soon coming your way.
Sir, of course it is not an obligation. Your brother was a kind man, considerate, had a great sense of humor, and we really are all saddened by the loss. I PM'ed Lucy within a couple of minutes earlier today when Kasia first posted, now I am trying to decide whether to send a nice US coin in or money, or both. I appreciate you wishing to not be a burden sir, but its not. We truly enjoyed your brother's company. Chris
This is by far the worst news I have gotten in a while. Koen and I had exchanged several PMs and I was amazed at his love for US coinage. He was a humorous, kind, smart young man and I am deeply troubled by his passing. Thank you to Herman for taking the time to log on and inform us. You will be in my thoughts and prayers and may God bless you by sending the Great Comforter to your doorstep. ~lincolncent
Very sad to hear this news! Tragic. It's always a shock to learn that a forum member has left us. Thank you for letting us know. I did not know him well but I saw him around here often. I would like to make a small contribution towards a nice Morgan for his kids. I'm sure Matt (Lost Dutchman) would be willing to sell a good, slabbed Morgan for him. PM on it's way Kasia. RIP Koen.
Although I did not know Koen personally I always enjoyed reading his posts. He will be surely missed. -Justin
Dear people of this website, Today we have received a flower-basket in the name of this website. Thank you again for all the support in these difficult times. Thank you Linda and Kasia to make this all possible. The family really appreciates what you did and are doing in remembrance of my brother. Regards Herman
Thank you for the information. And to all thank you again for the support. I will write down the complete story of what happened in the near future, but now it is still to hard for me to do so. Thank you again Herman
