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How the Fires of Collecting Rekindled

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jackson64

1,099 views

I owe all of my friends here a real journal

A quick apology to everyone who likes to read my entries. I broke one of my standards and subverted NGC's journal intent with my last post--it won't happen again. So in response-- a special journal with a little about me and how I got back into collecting coins.

Like many, my fascination with coin collecting started early in life with the "thumbuster" albums. Collecting pennies and nickels from change and if I had a little money from lawn mowing or snow shoveling for the neighbors-- off I went on a weekend to Coins of The Realm up in Rockville for the harder dates. In fact I still own my original penny album and the three 1943 coins are as bright as the day I bought them 30+ years ago.

Fast-forward through years of life's distractions and coin collecting as just a memory from my youth..it is now the mid to late 90's. After years of working in Biological research I couldn't do it anymore. I won't get too in-depth here, but suffice it to say, much research is funded by grants. When the "granters" start letting you know ahead of time what results they expect so they can push certain agendas--well let's say it went against my ethics.

So I invested with a friend, who had a nice clientelle, in his Home Improvement business. To cut to the chase..one day I was on a furniture warehouse ( not a home but we took any and all work). The owner of the building said a skylight had been leaking for years and had recently gotten worse. As I approached the skylight while up on the big, flat roof--little did I know that life was about to take a major turn !!

The roof under my feet felt squishy as I approached--water under the surface. I figured that it was probably getting in at the skylight's flashing and knelt down to inspect the corners of the skylight....COLLAPSE !!

The steel decking closest to the skylight had rusted completely through, and in a blink of an eye--I found myself airbourne and staring over 30+ feet down at the concrete floor of the store's inside--which was racing up at me !!

I'll spare you the gruesome details..I got a free helicopter ride to shock trauma and a few days later when I woke up I had two broken legs ( the right leg severely broken in multiple places in my femur)..also I had covered my head with my arms and they had suffered traumatic damage being crushed between my head and the concrete. Not only were all of my limbs broken and surgically repaired with metal screws, rods, pins and staples..but my arms had severe nerve damage and my hands were now curled into useless claws.

Recovery prognosis was not good..permanent limp probable, loss of full movement and tactile function in the arms/hands..yada yada..I didn't care..I was filled with---ELATION !! Falls from these heights are most often fatal, those who don't die usually have spinal cord injuries or head trauma leaving them paralyzed or vegetative...a limp I could live with !

I spent 6 weeks in medical care between the hospital and Rehab..then I went home.

There's not a lot to do during the day for someone who can't walk or use their hands..but I could use my twisted fingers to fumble my way around a keyboard. This is when I first discovered ebay while looking for books and DVD's to watch while I was wheelchair bound. While surfing the site I also noticed the large section on coins and collectibles.

Remeber, I still loved coins and had a fascination with them..it had just been one of those "out of sight out of mind things". Now however, there weren't a lot of distractions. I decided to start collecting again. Well, with so much time during the day..I loved to surf for deals and try and snipe them ( a hard task with a dial-up internet server).

I am not a professional, never have been-and probably never will be. What I did discover though was that if I was clever, I could build my personal collection by buying larger lots..selling off enough to get my money back, then any coins that were left I could add to my collection. Before I knew it, in less than a year ( between Physical Therapy 3x a week and Occupational Therapy 2x a week) I had turned my $5,000 retirement fund into a $40,000 collection + I still had my $5000 !!

Mostly it was done at $10-20 at a time however I occasionally took a bigger risk--with bigger rewards !! The first big one was a 1911-D Indian $10 Eagle. I bought it listed as AU on ebay for $800 (thought this was a steal since price guides showed it at $1000). Well it looked extra nice so I joined NGC and sent the coin in for grading..it came back as MS62 and a value listed at $9000 !! I held that coin for a few years until my collecting tastes became more focused. In fact, much of my ebay activity is because of my fickle tastes..I've at one time held the #1 Jefferson nickel proof registry--then sold them..built Peace dollar albums, buffalo albums coin by coin--then sold them..and on and on..

10+ years of fickle collecting and changing focus has really added up my ebay totals. Also friends who know that I collect have often "consigned" their coffee can hoards with me to sell for them.

To sum things up, I have since left the wheelchair and arm braces and splints way behind. I worked my butt off in Therapy to get almost complete function returned ( I can't bend my right wrist is all). I went back to college 5 years ago as I was entering into my 40's and graduated with a degree in.......Physical Therapy !! I now am working in the Neurological Rehab center of a hospital where my job is a mix of joys and frustrations..when I have a stroke patient who stands unassisted for the first time it almost chokes me up...mostly out of joy for them, but I'm sure a little out of rememberence of that wonderful day when I first stood up again on my own feet (even if all the weight was on just my left leg.)

So in summary, no ivory tower here, no professional seller here..just someone who had ebay play an important part in both my financial stability during a dark period and also as an instrument in re-igniting my passion for our great hobby...so my reaction to another member's post was because a nerve had been struck..my apologies to that member as well..

My Franklin BU album..assembled over a year and a half. A few from ebay but mostly coins purchased in slabs and cracked out for the set ( I know it's nuts but they look so nice together, don't they?)

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