Coins We Love: A Peacock Named Wes
These weekly messages can sometimes be challenging to write. I was a stringer in college for a local newspaper and the editor of the sports section in my college newspaper, but that was merely because I wanted free access to sporting events and needed the money to get through college. However, I’m not a trained writer. This is just taking my thoughts from a week and trying to put them into words. Sometimes they may be interesting and sometimes boring, but generally speaking, it’s not great writing. The nice comments and compliments that we get in reply are what keep us going. Who knew we’d continue doing these for seven years?!
Anyhow, the month of travel continued this week as I found myself hitting up the New York International Show for a day on my way to central California to pick up a collection. There hasn’t been a major US coin show in New York City in years, but this show has been going on for quite some time and I’ve never had the chance to attend. I made the trip with my son to check it out for the day, and while DLRC doesn’t offer much for world coinage, it’s long been an area that we’ve thought about growing into. There are many challenges in doing that, but this event certainly spurred my interest and it’s something we’ll consider in the future. One thing to mention is that they did a FANTASTIC job security-wise. I know they’ve had some issues in the past, but I felt that they locked the show down this year and I’m sure that the dealers attending appreciated that.
After dinner with a friend from Witter Coin University and a walk by the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, we headed to California. The direct flight from NYC to San Francisco was nice as it’s something we don’t usually get to enjoy. From there we drove several hours south through a region of the state that I had never visited. If you love traveling and haven’t been to central California for a ride, you have to go. It was gorgeous! We even enjoyed a sunset on the Pacific Ocean before turning in after a long day.
Monday was spent with one of my favorite customers and his wife. I call him a customer, but the better term may be “friend”. In fact, he proclaimed himself as my adopted uncle, which I’m okay with. I’ve never met this gentleman or his wife as they don’t travel to shows, but I’ve worked with him for over a decade in building his collection. He caught the collecting gene from his grandfather who was a legendary collector, Dr. Calvert Luther Emmons. His grandfather's collection was sold many years ago (regrettably for my friend), but he never lost interest and decided to build his own collection.
In viewing the collection, it became apparent that he had a fantastic eye for viewing coins through our photos. Almost every coin had the same look with an emphasis on luster and generally staying away from toning (or tarnish, as he liked to call it). While most of these coins passed through DLRC, there were very few here that I remembered and it made the whole day of reviewing coins a true numismatic joy.
I do have to admit that the coins weren’t the best part. It was spending time with my longtime friend and learning more about him, his family, and his joy for our shared hobby. I’m sad that I won’t be working with him to continue building a collection, but I am excited and honored to work with him in the gradual sale of his coins. I think the collection totaled somewhere around 1,000 coins! I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell my friend, “Thank you for your hospitality, friendship, and for working with us. It’s been a true joy getting to know you and I appreciate you more than you know.”
But, I have to share a true “first” that occurred to me on this visit. My friend has an adopted peacock that hangs out in their backyard. I’ve seen a lot of pets and interesting things on our travels before, but this was truly different than anything I'd seen before. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that bird, because it was affectionately officially named “Wes” in honor of my travel companion son!
Numismatically yours,
John Brush
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