It’s Great To Be Remembered!

About seven months ago a phone call came into the office and the caller asked for me. The operator located me and we had a very warm conversation. He first, asked how I was and did I remember his father. Once he gave me a hint, I replied, “He is the friend and client who was forming the Keystone Collection — I first worked with him in the 1960s.” This was immediately confirmed and we talked about old times together.

In the early days of 1960 and for at least 30 years after, the father of the caller had built the Keystone Collection. It started with a desire to collect Liberty Head and Indian half eagles ($5 gold). The reason these coins were chosen was that it is the only series where all seven mints struck coins and the collector wanted to try to get as many different as he could. “That is quite a goal,” I told him. He replied, “I’ve got decades to try to do it!” Through the years he bought over the counter and at many Stack’s auction sales. He also bought from other dealers as well to find examples to fill his collection. While he waited for some dates to appear on the market, he assembled a nice group of $1 through $20 gold coins.

Inspired by the vast holdings he saw offered in Stack’s sales of the George Walton Collection, his primary focus in the beginning was to try for all the $5 gold coins of the Dahlonega and Charlotte mints. Even though Walton had many duplicates, they were gobbled up by collectors who focused on the southern mints, and remained scarce. It took several decades for the “Keystone Collector” to complete this endeavor.

Now in 2012, his son contacted me about the collection. The contract was signed the first week of May, the coins were sent to NYC by Brink’s, and they are now being cataloged and photographed. The Keystone Collection will be part of the 2012 ANA World’s Fair of Money auction in Philadelphia this August.

So, almost a half century after we at Stack’s started to serve this collector, the coins were given back to us for sale. The collector and his family appreciated all the time we spent helping him, the information and opinions we offered, and the super, great friendship we maintained.

This has happened numerous times to me and to my son Larry, as a result of our dedication and active engagement in numismatics. It is a sincere compliment to us to be remembered for our effort and the time we spent helping the collector fulfill his desires. I am immensely proud of all the collections I help build — and later sold — over the past 65 years at Stack’s.

As I said in the title, “IT IS GREAT TO BE REMEMBERED! ”