What has been your most memorable numismatic experience?

Working in a coin shop while still in high school. I learned and saw so much. Of course being young and at the time and also didn't weigh much I was elected to repair storm damage on the roof of the shop. The building was an old oil field office moved into town many years prior. Picture a non-insulated wood frame building with a corrugated metal roof. The front was divided into an office and a coin shop. The back had warehouse filled with old farm tools and antiques. I was paid for my work, on and in the shop in silver dollars and sometimes gold. Wish I could have stayed there but college awaited.

 

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A friend kept calling and asking when I would be home. We finally connected and he said he had a bust dollar he wanted me to see. We walks into my living room says, "close your eyes and hold out your hand." When I opened my eyes an 1804 dollar was looking back at me. He later gave me a similar thrill with a 1894-S dime.

 

I would have walked away. That sounds so slimy. I suppose as a dealer if it was still a profitable deal you held your nose.

 

My most exciting numismatic event happened on this very forum. Around 6 years ago, I purchased the Marcus Aurelius denarius below as a birthday present for myself. After posting it in the ancient section here, I logged in a few days later to a 3 or more page thread on the coin. Apparently, I had serendipitously purchased a rare bust variety. The coin made its way to the following website catalog: romanpaulus. And it remains there today. Page 145 (page 6 of the .pdf), still cites "collection of ewomack" and "CoinTalk" in footnote 2 (screenshot below). The coin appears on page 146 (page 7 of the .pdf). This didn't add much extra value to the coin, and it all came down to mere luck, but it was nonetheless exciting to have a coin from my pile added to any catalog.




Marcus Aurelius (161-180) AR Denarius. Struck 161/2 AD. M ANTONINVS AVG, bare head right / CONCORD AVG TR P XVII, COS III in exergue, Concordia seated left, holding patera, resting left elbow on statuette of Spes set on base. 18mm 3.4gm

 

@ToughCOINS . I will also share my David Bower story but it is bittersweet.
One day many years ago I won an 1873-S VF-35 Seated Half for around $160 dollars. Going rate at the time was triple that but ANACS had failed to put the "S" on the holder and somehow, even though Heritage Tuesday/thursday auctions drew thousands of bidders; I was apparently the only one who saw the "S".
I had to brag about my win and I sent a letter to Mr. Bowers telling him about the win. I was stunned one morning about a month later. I am going out the door,(running late as usual), when the mailman hands me the mail and I SEE Q David Bowers as a return address. I was stunned. I read it standing right there in the doorway.
He congratulated me on my win and also mentioned he tweeked the nose of the person who was responsible at ANACS at the time for making such a bonehead mistake.
Now the bitter part. I left the letter on the front hall vanity, (fully well knowing my wife is sick in the head and declares anything out of placed garbage and promptly filed my letter in the trash). Which was picked up and gone by the time I made it back home. As I said; bittersweet. James

 

Mine starts out on a sad note. Our cat had got hit in front of the house and didn't make it, so my son and I started digging a grave for it near an old Maple in the yard. While digging we found an 1905 Indian cent, which I let my son keep. That day started his journey in coin collecting. Now we go to flea markets and coin shows together. So, that day gave us a father/son thing to do.