I was brought into this world in the mid '50's in New York City in an area known as the "Lower East Side" If anybody has seen the Bowery Boys or Dead End Kids Movies with Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall, this was the area where they took place. Before I was a year old, we moved to Brooklyn, NY where I spent the next 30 years. I then moved to the suburbs of NYC. In that time, I was married and am now recently divorced. My kids are now 15½ years old, a son and daughter. (Yes, they are twins). I now live back in New York City and for the last 2 years have a wonderful lady by my side that supports me in everything I do!

When I was about 7 years old, my maternal Grandfather gave me my first collectible coin, which was an 1858 Large Letters Flying Eagle Cent in VG condition, which I still have. Then like most kids my age, I started to collect cents, nickels, dimes, and quarters in the standard blue Whitman folders.

In the early 60's, my Dad owned his own New York City Taxicab. Needless to say, this helped a lot. I would go through my Dad's change-maker (cents-quarters) every night when he returned home. At this time, Buffalo Nickels and Winged Liberty Dimes were common, and Barber Dimes and Indian Head Cents were still around, but to a lesser extent. Every so often, a Barber or dateless Standing Liberty Quarter would show up. For some reason, he received very few Half-Dollars.

I then started to save my allowance of $1.25 a week. I would go to the bank with my mom and get either a Morgan or Peace Dollar for face value. (The other 25¢ went for Ice Cream). All of this changed in late 1965, when Clad Coins started to appear. For a short time, they coexisted with their silver counterparts. Also at this time, the Buffalo Nickels and Mercury Dimes all but vanished. I then started to take all of my Dad's silver coins and just saved them in a 5-gallon water bottle. Since I wasn't spending them on what he called "junk", he didn't mind.

When I became a teenager, my interests changed and I was away from coin collecting for a long time and forgot about the 5 gallon bottle that was in my parents' attic. When they moved to the suburbs in the late 70's, I found the bottle and checked out the coins. Most had the date of 1964. When the price of silver skyrocketed in the late 70's, I sold the coins for $28.00 X face value. This became the down payment on the home that I recently sold in the suburbs! At this time, I was still away from the hobby. I didn't come back to it until the early 1990's when my kids started collecting cents in the Whitman folders. I then told my kids about my history of coin collecting and have been addicted to it ever since.

My best finds came a few years ago at a local delicatessen. After purchasing some salads, I received in my change a Mercury Dime. I placed it in a separate shirt pocket until I got home. It turned out to be a 1942/1 in VF Condition. Then about 3 months later at the same deli, I received another Mercury Dime in my change. This one was a 1916-D in Good Condition. Needless to say, I was thrilled beyond belief. Someone told me that some of these coins were released into circulation a few months earlier in Philadelphia as a promotion of some sort. I would like to believe that these coins came from there.

For 20 years, I was a Power Tool Technician and I owned my own business. I am now the General Operations Director (My thanks to Roy Wilson for the title) of a Guitar Restoration Center, which brings me to my other love, which is music. I am a musician and play the guitar and I now own several of these as well. My musical interest is mainly classic rock. (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Byrds, All of the mid 60's British Invasion Groups, The Grateful Dead, Santana, The Eagles, Eric Clapton..you get the idea). My main guitars are the 6 string and mainly the 12 string Rickenbacker Guitar. (Very Similar to the ones that George Harrison used early on with the Beatles). My current numismatic Project is putting together a US Type Set (No Gold or Commemoratives). At this time, it is almost complete. Unfortunately, the ones that I need are the very expensive 1790's one-year types. At least I get to add 5 Quarters each year! The best way to sum everything up is with a line from a Grateful Dead Song... "What a Long Strange Trip It's Been".