Author: Sirhc

The Day I Lost My Home but Gained a Community

Sirhc

Joe Best


The jewelers safe after the “Camp Fire”, along with remains of the family’s home.

I was a young Cub Scout when I needed a hobby to earn a badge. My dad was a coin collector, and he sparked my interest in collecting United States coins. It started like the rest of my friends, filling in the old Whitman coin folders with change out of my dad’s pocket or picking through the change of just about anyone in my family. After a while, my dad started bringing me home $50.00 bags of dimes to pick through. This was back in the late 50s early 60s. Many mercury dimes were still floating around with walking Liberty’s and buffalo nickels not to mention silver dollars. Then one day I fell hard for buffalo nickels. The design is what got me, and the way it filled the whole planchet all the way up. I remember my dad telling me that the buffalo nickel design is the most American looking coin ever minted. I agree with those words to this day.

As I grew older coins were always with me, they sunk into my bone like no other hobby I’ve had in my entire life. It was part of who I was. Like most hobbies, my collecting tended to go dormant from time to time, but coins were never very far away from the top of my interests.

I married and had two kids, a boy and a girl. My life was in warp speed as my family grew up my folks grew old and finally passed away. A few years after my dad passed on, I stumbled across my very old coin collection. It was a blast from the past as I thumbed through coins that I remembered finding with my dad. That was what rekindled a huge surge in my coin collecting again. That along with the digital macro photography that I’ve taken to like a duck takes to water because I’ve been a shutterbug most of my life.

My world spinning even faster now I have not only a son I got interested in coins but my grandson too. In many ways, coins have enhanced my life with memories made with my dad and the memories already made with my loving son.


Joe Best holds a PCGS holder that had been damaged by the camp fire, at the FUN Convention in Orlando, Florida, January 2019.

This brings me around to probably the worst day of my life when on November 8th I woke up to a red glow. The red glow was a fire way off in the distance that we’ve seen so many times. Not a big red flag, yet. The next thing I knew is this fire was not like any other fire in the state of California where I have lived since I was born in 1951, it was moving extremely fast. I had very little time to grab three armloads of mostly photo albums to my Honda. The next thing I know is I could hear explosions all around me that made the ground sake. Those were propane tanks and getting closer with every boom. The wind was blowing fire from tree to tree as the sky turned black with the power out and no cell phone use to call out to my son. I had to leave the house. My daughter and my granddaughter, along with my son in law, left my house way before I did. So, I knew where they were. It was my son and grandson. I was worried sick over cause the last thing I told him was to “just get in your truck and leave!” then the cell phones went out.

A long story short we escaped with our lives along with our animals so for that right there I thank God in heaven.

Unfortunately, my beloved coin collection was left behind. I was only able to grab a few coin albums as I was forced to abandon my main collection, which was housed in a 1942 Jewelers safe in the burning house. I had no choice as I had to run for my life and get my family out of there.


Contents inside the jewelers safe appear warped but intact.

Now without a home, we were hotel hoping like never before in my life with dogs, cats, birds, lizards and my infant granddaughter. From out of nowhere angels came to my family’s rescue in the shape of my coin family, good folks! My loved PCGS coin forum and a couple of very close friends, Jim Bowling (@jesbroken) teamed up with a sweetheart @Paradisefound to start a GoFundMe to raise funds to help us over this tragedy. It was heaven sent.

Upon returning to my home to see what remained, I was in disbelief to see the Jewelers safe. The coin holder boxes and coins holders were severely warped; however, the coins had remained protected by the holders themselves. Not only that but PCGS reached out to me and offered to restore and reholder my entire lifetime collection as a gift. They even made me a custom label based on a design my family felt most represented me, and a Crazyhounddog pedigree!

We have lost pretty much everything in this world, but these acts of love have restored my faith in humanity 100%. I also need to add that my father took me to almost every coin show he attended, and boy do I remember the coins back then! But what stands out in my mind most are the good folks that surround coins. My dad spent as much time jawboning and belly laughing as he did looking at coins. That my friends hasn’t changed. You will absolutely meet the best people in those coin circles.

With much love, I thank you all, and that’s straight from the heart.

Joe Best AKA crazyhounddog


Special label and pedigree designated to Joe Best’s ’Crazyhoundog Collection’.

A PCGS box inside the safe contains warped yet intact PCGS holders.

Warped PCGS holder with intact St. Gaudens Double Eagle.

Warped PCGS holder with intact Buffalo Nickel.

Libertas Americana medal realizes $17,435 in DNW sale

Sirhc

Courtesy of World Coin News Staff Posted on March 20, 2019.


Top billing at DNW’s February coin and medal sale: 1781 Libertas Americana medal, designed by Benjamin Franklin and Esprit-Antoine Gibelin and engraved by Augustin Dupré, which took $17,435 in PCGS MS62 BN. (Images courtesy and © DNW, London)

The American War of Independence achieved top billing at Dix Noonan Webb’s late February coin and medal sale.

On offer was a 47 mm bronze medal engraved by Augustin Dupré celebrating the impending independence of the United States. The design is credited to Benjamin Franklin and Esprit-Antoine Gibelin.

The obverse shows a bust of Liberty complete with flowing hair, liberty cap, and staff.

The reverse has Minerva, representing France as indicated by the fleur-de-lis on her shield, fending off the attack of the British lion on the baby Hercules, who represents the newly emergent American nation. Hercules is strangling a serpent in each hand. The snakes stand for the British armies defeated at the critical Battles of Saratoga and Yorktown (Betts 615; BDM I, 647).

The motto NON SINE DIIS ANIMOSUS INFANS is from Horace’s ode “Descende coelo” and translates “Not without gods is the infant courageous.”

The two dates with a common month, 17 OCT. 1777 and 19 OCT. 1781 in exergue, signify the American victories at Saratoga and Yorktown.

The medals were minted in Paris in gold, silver, and bronze with restrikes made at a later date. Copies were given to the King and Queen of France, the Heads of State of countries friendly to the United States, and important U.S. politicians.

The medal is rare, and in PCGS MS62 BN with just a few inconsequential marks was something of a steal when it realized just $17,435 [£13,200] on a not unreasonable £15,000-£18,000 estimate.

Gold Buffalos in OGP Includes Proofs and Burnished All come with their box and papers

Sirhc

Gold Buffalos in OGP
Includes Proofs and Burnished
All come with their box and papers

Gold’s up, but premiums are down….still a good time to acquire!

Available coins

1-2008 Double Prosperity Set at $1,775
1-2012 $50 Proof at Plus $145
3-2013 Reverse Proof $50 at Plus $300
3-2013 $50 Proof at Plus $215
4-2015 $50 Proof at Plus $215
2-2008 $50 Burnished at $1,865

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Sirhc
Various Dates/Our Choice

Were offering up to 30 Certified MS64 $10 Liberties at just $965 per coin. This is a $20 dollar discount off the current spreadsheet pricing. Buy 15 or more coins for just $955 per coin.Or, buy all 30 coins @ $945 per coin, $30 off our spreadsheet pricing.

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New Appointee Joins Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee

Sirhc

March 15, 2019

WASHINGTON —The United States Mint today announced the appointment of Dr. Dean J. Kotlowski to the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC), as the member specially qualified by virtue of his education, training, or experience in American history.

Dr. Kotlowski is a specialist in twentieth-century U.S. political and policy history. He fills the vacancy created by the term expiration of Dr. Herman J. Viola. Dr. Kotlowski’s term is four years.

Dr. Kotlowski is a professor of history at Salisbury University. He received his Ph.D. and M.A. from Indiana University and his B.A. from Canisius College. He is the author of Nixon’s Civil Rights: Politics, Principle, and Policy and Paul V. McNutt and the Age of FDR, and the editor of The European Union: From Jean Monnet to the Euro. Professor Kotlowski has published 40 articles and book chapters in the U.S., UK, Australia, Austria, Germany, Denmark, Finland, and Russia. He has lectured in 22 countries and has twice served as a Fulbright Scholar, in the Philippines (2008) and Austria (2016).

Dr. Kotlowski has extensive experience in public history. He was a member of a four-person team of internationally-renowned historians who oversaw the first comprehensive reconfiguring of museum exhibits at the Richard Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, California. In addition to extensive lecturing before academic, community, senior citizen, and student groups, he has spoken numerous times on National Public Radio and has appeared multiple times on C-SPAN, including in its “Lectures in American History” (2012) series.

The CCAC was established by an Act of Congress in 2003. It advises the Secretary of the Treasury on theme or design proposals relating to circulating coinage, bullion coinage, Congressional Gold Medals, and other medals produced by the United States Mint. The CCAC also makes commemorative coin recommendations to the Secretary and advises on the events, persons, or places to be commemorated, as well as on the mintage levels and proposed designs.

The CCAC is subject to the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury. The United States Mint is responsible for providing necessary and appropriate administrative support, technical services, and advice.

The CCAC submits an annual report to Congress and the Secretary of the Treasury, describing its activities and providing recommendations.

About the United States Mint
The United States Mint was created by Congress in 1792 and became part of the Department of the Treasury in 1873. It is the nation’s sole manufacturer of legal tender coinage and is responsible for producing circulating coinage for the nation to conduct its trade and commerce. The United States Mint also produces numismatic products, including proof, uncirculated, and commemorative coins; Congressional Gold Medals; and silver and gold bullion coins. The United States Mint’s numismatic programs are self-sustaining and operate at no cost to taxpayers.

Press release courtesy of the United States Mint.