It was 1966, I was in Dayton, Ohio at NCR computer school studying programming in COBOL1. Two week had almost ended; soon it would be time to return home to Florida.
Like a good husband and father, I thought of gifts to take home, so when the class let out early one afternoon, I walked from the Sheridan Hotel, where the classes were being held and where I was staying with about twenty-five other hotel industry people, down the street to the local large department store. Rikes was the name, and after making a jewelry purchase, adding a new gold charm for my wife’s bracelet2, I looked around for a gift for my 10-year-old daughter. I found a very nice orange off the shoulder leather handbag for Andria.
What should I get my six-year-old son? The store had a rather large stamp and coin department. Andria and I had both done stamps, she collecting Israel stamps and I, as a teenager years earlier, remounting and adding to my father’s stamp album. But none of us had ever looked at coins, except the usual penny boards that most young boys start with, out of pocket change.
So, I made a six-dollar investment in six modern mint sets for my son. I can now tell you, that this started a hobby and lifetime pursuit to become a numismatist.
My interest in Modern Dime Size Silver Coins of the World began over twenty-five years ago, quite by accident best told by this little story once used for an exhibit at a coin show.
"Once upon a time, there was a very busy executive far far away on a business trip. Thoughtfully, before returning to his native land he visited a local emporium in search of gifts. Gold for his Fair Lady, leather goods for the beautiful daughter and foreign mint sets for his young son.
"Now as time went on, this bright young man of seven years became an enthusiastic collector with weekly trips to centers of knowledge; the local coin stores in search of souvenirs of far-a-way lands - all from the junk bowl.
"Dear Old Dad soon started calling himself a numismatist and proudly showed off to his friends and neighbors his new Crown collection3 and with his Fair Lady they joined the local Council of Collectors.
"Now the beautiful little Daughter wished to join the clan with specialization mirroring her father, but being of limited budget, spotted the shiny little coins of Dime Size Silver that true to the cataloguers adjustment for size were like her Dad's in all respects except size and cost.
"Thus the Collection of Dime Size Silver Coins of the World came into being. True to their young ages other interests soon replaced the learned endeavors, leaving Dear Old Dad to carry on the new pursuit; to study and catalogue Modern Dime Size Silver Coins of the World4, and they all lived happily ever after".
1 - In 1966, we were getting ready to install our third computer, 16k memory.
2 - Years later then gold was at $800 an ounce, she accidentally sold the charm bracelet to a local antique dealer for $3,000. Beginners luck, as the metals market crashed a week later.
3 - A local coin dealer, before his retirement had traveled around the world, accumulating world crowns from banks and bazaars. He told me, "I had to be careful of counterfeits. But, if I collected a well-circulated coin, it would not be a counterfeit." Thus, my first collection was a hundred vg world crowns at $3.00 each.
4 - Modern Dime Size Silver Coins of the World, the title of my 600 page e-book issued in 2003 on Cd-rom.
