About / Contact
Born and raised in the Mid-west, most of my life was spent in and around the Kansas City, Missouri area. Eventually I moved away from my roots to own my own business and reside in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. After a decade in that part of the country, I have recently returned to my birthplace to spend more time with family.
Like many other collectors I started collecting coins as a young boy, spurred on by my grandfather. As I reached my teens, coins were put aside for more interesting pursuits such as cars and girls…
My grandfather passed away in my early twenties and two weeks after this event I saw an ad for a coin auction about an hour from my home. It immediately made me think of my grandfather and so I chose to attend.
My purchases for that day included both 1811 & 1812 Bust Halves. I was intrigued by the beauty of these coins and the history behind them. Not to mention that I was in awe of the fact that I could purchase coins this old for so little money! (I only later learned that I over paid for them, but they still reside in my collection today as a reminder of the beginning of my second and now permanent relationship with coins.)
From there on, I proceeded to purchase coins from all eras and all denominations, until I began to focus more clearly on the early bust coinage. I avidly began to pursue Bust Half die marriages after a local dealer introduced me to the Overton book in 1991. At the same time, I also began collecting Bust Dimes. Desiring a book like the one for halves for the dime series, I was only able to find a modest pamphlet on the series by Abe Kosoff that was based on the collection of F.C.C. Boyd sold by Kosoff in 1945, labeled as the “World’s Greatest Collection”. As I thought there was no book on the early dimes and being excited about breaking new ground, I began to build an attribution database and used it when looking for coins at the local coin shops and at a small monthly local show. My thoughts were to eventually publish a book on the subject. It was only after acquiring almost 90 die marriages that I learned about the book published by Dave Davis, Russ Logan, Alan Lovejoy, John McCloskey and Bill Subjack in 1984, "Early United States Dimes 1796-1837". Once I read this excellent work I realized that my efforts were unneeded and so the project was put aside.
Sometime in the early 1990’s I began to purchase Bust Quarters. As I delved deeper into the series, I kept finding things which contradicted the recently printed Browning / Breen up-date on the subject. After talking with other collectors, I found that they had found many mistakes and errors in the book as well.
It was welcome news when it was announced that someone was going to do another up-date of the Browning work. However, after many years of waiting for this to be accomplished, frustration mounted, and in the winter of 2003 it was decided that I would begin work towards a new reference on the Bust Quarter series. My intent was to do a volume that covered, in-depth, all that the series had to offer, as well as the historic background of the mint directly linked to the Bust Quarter production. Hopefully with the printing of my new book in 2008 this has been accomplished.
As a member of the Bust Half Nut Club (BHNC) for over twenty years, I have also been involved with collecting and studying the early half dollar series struck at the Philadelphia Mint from 1794 to 1836. Now, after over five years work, the first in a series of volumes on the half dollars is finished and offered to the collecting community..."Early United States Half Dollars Vol. 1 / 1794-1807".
Like many other collectors I started collecting coins as a young boy, spurred on by my grandfather. As I reached my teens, coins were put aside for more interesting pursuits such as cars and girls…
My grandfather passed away in my early twenties and two weeks after this event I saw an ad for a coin auction about an hour from my home. It immediately made me think of my grandfather and so I chose to attend.
My purchases for that day included both 1811 & 1812 Bust Halves. I was intrigued by the beauty of these coins and the history behind them. Not to mention that I was in awe of the fact that I could purchase coins this old for so little money! (I only later learned that I over paid for them, but they still reside in my collection today as a reminder of the beginning of my second and now permanent relationship with coins.)
From there on, I proceeded to purchase coins from all eras and all denominations, until I began to focus more clearly on the early bust coinage. I avidly began to pursue Bust Half die marriages after a local dealer introduced me to the Overton book in 1991. At the same time, I also began collecting Bust Dimes. Desiring a book like the one for halves for the dime series, I was only able to find a modest pamphlet on the series by Abe Kosoff that was based on the collection of F.C.C. Boyd sold by Kosoff in 1945, labeled as the “World’s Greatest Collection”. As I thought there was no book on the early dimes and being excited about breaking new ground, I began to build an attribution database and used it when looking for coins at the local coin shops and at a small monthly local show. My thoughts were to eventually publish a book on the subject. It was only after acquiring almost 90 die marriages that I learned about the book published by Dave Davis, Russ Logan, Alan Lovejoy, John McCloskey and Bill Subjack in 1984, "Early United States Dimes 1796-1837". Once I read this excellent work I realized that my efforts were unneeded and so the project was put aside.
Sometime in the early 1990’s I began to purchase Bust Quarters. As I delved deeper into the series, I kept finding things which contradicted the recently printed Browning / Breen up-date on the subject. After talking with other collectors, I found that they had found many mistakes and errors in the book as well.
It was welcome news when it was announced that someone was going to do another up-date of the Browning work. However, after many years of waiting for this to be accomplished, frustration mounted, and in the winter of 2003 it was decided that I would begin work towards a new reference on the Bust Quarter series. My intent was to do a volume that covered, in-depth, all that the series had to offer, as well as the historic background of the mint directly linked to the Bust Quarter production. Hopefully with the printing of my new book in 2008 this has been accomplished.
As a member of the Bust Half Nut Club (BHNC) for over twenty years, I have also been involved with collecting and studying the early half dollar series struck at the Philadelphia Mint from 1794 to 1836. Now, after over five years work, the first in a series of volumes on the half dollars is finished and offered to the collecting community..."Early United States Half Dollars Vol. 1 / 1794-1807".
I am currently or have been a member of
the following numismatic organizations:
Bust Half Nut Club (BHNC)
John Reich Collectors Society (JRCS)
Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC)
American Numismatic Association (ANA)
Central States Numismatic Society (CSNS)
Numismatic Bibliomania Society (NBS)
Bust Quarter Collectors Society (BQCS)
American Numismatic Society (ANS)
Numismatic Literary Guild (NLG)
Love Token Society (LTS)
the following numismatic organizations:
Bust Half Nut Club (BHNC)
John Reich Collectors Society (JRCS)
Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC)
American Numismatic Association (ANA)
Central States Numismatic Society (CSNS)
Numismatic Bibliomania Society (NBS)
Bust Quarter Collectors Society (BQCS)
American Numismatic Society (ANS)
Numismatic Literary Guild (NLG)
Love Token Society (LTS)