An old friend of mine started a thread about this over on CU. Thought it would be fun for the folks here. I'll post mine a bit later.
The day I got to hold a 1964 Peace Dollar... (just kidding unfortunately) I don't have any wow story that immediately comes to mind. I have good number of years to get one though, unless I become famous in a news article about a bungee jumping mishap. I did find this in a dealer's inventory mixed with all sorts of common stuff: This is very rare. I'm aware of one other example. Besides the tokencatalog page I created, you'd be hard pressed to find even a mention of its existence. It's not in the Missouri Token Book, it's not in "Strawberries In The Ozarks" by Ernest Langer, it's not in any token clubs' newsletters or journals and was unknown to any Missouri or Picker Token collectors I know. And there it was, the strawberry token equivalent of an NE 3 pence, in a "junk" binder for $10. I couldn't buy it fast enough.
Making my first discovery and subsequently getting my first article published about it. "Published numismatist" was not on my bucket list. Second most memorable was purchasing my profile coin in a PCGS UNC Details - Cleaned slab, having ANACS crack it, remove the lacquer, and straight grade it SP62. I guess I was a little naive before that about how "infallible" a TPG actually is.
Meeting Paul Cunningham at F.U.N in 2005. Bought a dozen military tokens from him. Tried several times to meet Dave Bowers. His table was all books. Unfortunately, there was always someone there whenever I went by and I had to work that night.
Finding a 1921-S Wheat Cent in change back in 1990. My 8th grade language arts teacher had a contest in class and for each correction we found we got a penny.
I am a loner. Probably why I like hibernating with my coins. Two years ago I got talked into going to FUN with @lordmarcovan. We have done it two years running and I find I look very forward to it coming around again.
My most memorable experience is when my son Aiden found a token from the early 1900's while we were metal detecting an old homestead. He was only about 13 years old at the time. Till this day, it is still the oldest piece we have found.
You do that, and take out your phone and show me this post to remind me, when we meet. It’s a free lunch voucher. On me. Even at the eye-wateringly ridiculous convention center food court prices. *The food court at the FUN show took their pricing strategy from every movie theater concession stand in the country, and decided to go next-level from there…
For me it's between two experiences. Both were while metal detecting Finding my first and only Seated Quarter Finally finding a Spanish Reale after searching for many years
Now, to address the topic in the title. What has been your most memorable numismatic experience? I’ve had a number of exciting adventures in my 50 years in the hobby, and I covered some of the high points (as well as some of my personal bio) in this December 2023 interview.
My most memorial coin moment was the first time I identified a specific variety of Seated Half Dollar. At the time I only had Breen to go by but the experience reshaped my entire view and approach to coin collecting. Since that first time, circa 1997, I have identified and had certified dozens and dozens of Seated coins. James
At 14 working the Volunteer Fireman’s Field Days at the hotdog/hamburger & soda tent as cashier. 3-5 firefighters doing food service. All I asked was to exchange $ for coin finds. 1916 D Merc VF made it home that night. Had to sell all my teen collection to buy a mobile home at 21. The dealer I sold to was murdered and many of his coins stolen. https://share.google/f4j9ifs0L44GhOzfJ
I will double down on @lordmarcovan lunch offer and invite you along to the steakhouse I dream of all year long awaiting the next FUN excursion called Delmonico’s…. On me.
Not too many stick out as memorable. I got in a coin club that was doing some coin investing. The government/state shut it down early calling it a pyramid type venture BUT that's where I got my first gold coin.
