It was a usual hot summer Thursday morning, when Mutt headed out for the Swap Shop. Jeff is not with him, too hot!
Arriving just at 6:AM, the sun was not hardly up. Very few people were there and only a scattering of dealers. Remembering his plan is to get exercise, Mutt headed for the back. The first dealer he knew was Larry of Dusty Treasurers. He said he did not have any thing for Mutt, but was glad to say hello. In the next isle, another dealer said good morning. He again said he didn't think he had anything of interest, as last week he said someone had bought all of his coins. Mutt did see what looked like a medal, in the still dim light. The dealer said it was two ounces of silver with a gold overlay. Some kind of a religious medal. He mentioned he had bought it when the new movie about Jesus was showing, thinking it would be a related item. "How fast they forget" was his comment? "I've got $14 in it". "You can have it, just bail me out". Mutt thought it would be a good way to break the ice and made the buy.
A Tribute to the World's Greatest Artists by John Pinches - Medallic Art Medals in Gold Plated Sterling Silver dated 1976
The famous medallists John Pinches created a set of Medallions for the Franklin Mint, depicting one hundred of the greatest works of art of all time. Each medallion is a beautifully engraved rendition of the original, with very sensitive cropping to suit the round format of the medallion. These are large medallions, diameter 50mm, and containing over 2 ounces of Hallmarked Sterling Silver with Gold overlay.
Well to finish the story. Mutt brought out his numismatic purchases of the day, which became of great interest to his small audience. Another man came along (later identified as the Director of the thrift store, the Rev. Jack Fountain. The shop is connected to the church next door). After talking about Mutt's numismatic interests and the Ft. Lauderdale Coin Club, Jack went to his office and came back with a small bag of about thirty foreign coins. Mutt proceeded to identify them from the 80's and early 90's, from Great Britain, France, Spain, and Italy. One was from Morocco dated AH 1415. Jack said he had been a missionary in Tunisia, remarking that all the Arabs are living in the fourteenth century anyway. In the hoard were coins for Barbados and Australia too.
After hearing about the clubs project to give these odd type coins to the Boy Scouts, he donated all of them and even went back for three North American Fishing Club medals.
