Welcome to the Tarnished Truth. YOUR newsletter. When you started this hobby of coin collecting I am sure you had some goal in your mind as to the direction you wished your collecting to take. I'll just bet that regardless whether you have been in the hobby three years or thirty, that those goals have changed at least once. And you know, that is as it should be.

In the words of the inimitable Bill Cosby, "I started out as a child." (It's gone downhill from there.) Born and raised in a small New Jersey town, just over the river from Philadelphia, I spent my first 18 formative years defending the aesthetic values of cranberry bogs and scrub pine, and trying to convince people that, no, ALL of New Jersey was NOT like Newark or Bayonne. Somewhere along there, I was introduced to coin collecting (about 8 or 9, if I recall), starting with Whitman albums for IHC's (yes, you could still find them in circ then), Lincolns, Jeffersons, and Roosevelts. With an uncle that owned a liquor store and a grandfather with a gas station, I had a "leg up" on my contemporaries, sorting through the day's receipts from both places. Pretty soon, there weren't too many holes left empty. (Never did find that 09-S VDB, though.)

Alas, as I grew older, other things (like girls and cars and stuff) began to exert their influence, and the Whitman's were laid aside, not to be touched for many years. At the time, I THOUGHT those other things were more important. It would take some time for me to discover the error of my ways.

Along came high school (class of 61), work (part time), college (one year), marriage (the first time), a move across the river to Pennsylvania, work (a REAL job), more college, more work, children (2 boys), and a divorce. Then I tried work (again? No, actually, still), a move to Delaware, more college (graduate), and marriage (#2). Then, a move to North Carolina, more work, another child (boy #3), more college (I see a pattern developing here), and finally, a move to our current home in South Carolina.

That serpentine development led to 3 college degrees, 3 children (all boys), 2 marriages (2nd one worked), 7 jobs, lots of volunteer work, and three major career changes. I've done chemical research (polymers), sales & marketing (chemicals), auto mechanics, construction, emergency medicine, rescue, steel-making, industrial hygiene, safety, teaching, and finally, my present job, workers' compensation administrator for a multi-billion dollar packaging company. My current job has lasted the longest (15 years), with no plans to go anywhere else.

My marriage to Paddie has lasted the longest, as well (26 years). No plans to go anywhere else there, either. We'll be looking seriously at retirement in just a couple of years, so I can go to coin shows ALL the time. Unfortunately, Paddie doesn't share my passion for coins, but she LOVES to shop. It's amazing how so many coin shows are REAL close to malls! We jokingly compare our purchases after an outing, and she always says she's the better shopper, because she has three bags full, while I can usually hold mine in the palm of my hand.

Well, enough of that. Y'all want to hear about coins. (Hey, catch that? How many Yankees you know say "y'all"?) Back around the late 70's, I got on the Mint's mailing list and started buying Mint and Proof sets. My original intention was to get date sets for my grandkids. I really liked them, so I started buying ALL the years. Around the same time, I pulled out my Whitmans. (Yep, still had 'em. I've never sold a one.) One thing led to another, and all of a sudden, I was buying TWO sets and cutting one up to bring my albums up to date.

Upgraded to Dansco Supremes, because I thought they looked nicer (and you could see both sides of the coin). Started going to coin shows and scouring the bargain bins to fill holes. My best finds have been 19-D and 21-S Walkers in solid VG in a half price bin. Got them both for $24. Then, the hook REALLY got set. Those nice albums made my old circs look a bit shabby. Why not upgrade to AU? Or BU? And, while we're at it, let's get some of the series we DON'T have. Of course, a 20th Century typeset would be nice, too. And, aren't those Silver Eagles BEAU-ti-ful?? HOO boy, we were off.

Twenty-some years later, I have most 20th Century series by date/mint, both circulated and BU, and, my pride and joy, a Whitman 20th Century BU typeset that took me six years to complete. Somewhere along the way, our local library had a surplus sale and I bought a 1961 copy of a Redbook. Well, guess what? Those are collectible, too. I almost have the full set, missing only the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th edition.

Recently, my concentration has been to complete the sets I have. The down side of that is that the empty holes are the 'goodies'. Yes, I know. Buy the keys first! DID YOU? After accumulating a lot of "extra stuff" along the way, I've been successful in the WINS Tradingpost for several things I needed. I feel if I can trade something I don't want for something I do, that is more enjoyable that just paying for it, because I know someone else has received an item they wanted in return. I've developed several good contacts through WINS (for which I am grateful), and I regularly exchange P-mint State quarter rolls for D-mint.

I'm an admitted "lurker" on WINS. Don't get into the conversations too much, but I read every one. They are always interesting, both off and on topic. Keep the opinions coming, folks. It makes for lively discussion. Thanks for putting up with my story.

Here's my contribution to the "Interesting Coin" newsletter column. (At least it's interesting to me.) In January 2000, Paddie (my wife) and I took our "trip of a lifetime" to Australia to visit family (her's), and celebrate a few milestones: our 25th anniversary, her brother's 60th birthday, and her aunt's 75th birthday. Awesome trip and country, but that's not the point here.

I am a Mint Set collector, so while we were there, I thought it would be neat to have a set of Aussie coins for my collection. After all, this was the end of the Millennium, a big year personally, and a place we might never see again. I found out that Mint issued sets were available at, of all places, the Post Office! So, after talking my brother-in-law into taking me there, I purchased a set of uncirculated Year 2000 coins (what we would call a "Mint Set").

Since this set represents the current circulating coinage, one unique aspect is that there is both a $1 and $2 coin, but NO cent. There is no current dated circulating cent (although you do see a few in circulation from prior years), as well as no one- or two-dollar paper bill. The one dollar coin is about the size of a US quarter, but gold (who copied who?), and thicker so it is easy to identify. The two-dollar is about the size of a US nickel, but gold in color like the one dollar. Again, they are easy to identify with little confusion. We carried these coins (circulating ones, obviously) the entire two weeks there and NEVER had a problem with confusing the dollars for the smaller denominations. Didn't miss the paper bills, either. (You learn very quickly not to use a bill for every transaction.)

My opinion is that our beloved Mint could learn something from these coins. The quality is superior to US coinage, even our Mint Sets. The scans do not do justice to the appearance of these coins. They are really prooflike, although not cameo. And, obviously, the dollar coins WORK! Distribution through the Postal System is a great idea. Every town has a Post Office. Wouldn't that be convenient for almost anyone? Hey, Treasury, is anyone listening?

Well, the story isn't quite over. On the way home I got to thinking that it might be interesting to see how many different country sets I could find for the year 2000. So far, the count is 26, plus 3 2000-dated silver rounds for a total of 29. My collection consists of (and I'm still looking):Aruba, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Bosnia, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Gibraltar, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Lithuania, New Zealand, Niue, Norway, Netherlands, Portugal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, USA and the Vatican.

So, an innocent vacation started me on another collection quest. I've never been interested in foreign coins; always strictly a US collector, but some of these coins are beautiful (especially the bimetallics). I hope you enjoyed my story. If anyone is interested, I can provide scans of any or all of the other sets.