Coin shows the place to be for collectors
There are many things for me to do at coin shows, but thanks to the arrival of an email this morning, you can take a look at a video showing me engaged in one of my favorite tasks.
I was passing out Numismatic Ambassador Award plaques at the Florida United Numismatists convention Jan. 11.
This occurred at the fourth annual Numismatic Ambassador breakfast sponsored by FUN and organized by Tony Swicer.
Recording the event was David Lisot, an individual who has been relentless in his effort to preserve the history of numismatics as it happens since 1986.
He is the man behind the video camera at many conventions.
It was my pleasure to take a turn at being in front of the camera to honor the 2019 class of Numismatic Ambassadors.
They join a long line of honorees stretching back to 1974.
That was when Clifford Mishler created the award.
It was given by him and his successors from Numismatic News until the 40th anniversary breakfast in 2014, when we announced that the paper would no longer sponsor it.
Tony Swicer and FUN stepped forward to take over.
Clifford Mishler and I marked the transfer at the very first FUN Ambassador breakfast in 2016.
Either he or I have been at the breakfasts that followed.
As you can see from the video provided by Lisot, the award and the breakfast is going strong.
I expect it will continue to do so in FUN’s capable hands for many years to come.
The survival of this award is important to me.
It is due to the recipients and those like them that we have a numismatic hobby at all.
Hobby volunteers write the guides that allow millions of people to know about coins and how to collect them.
They are the ones who set up the many shows held around the country, from the smallest in VFW halls to the largest at national convention centers.
Volunteers give educational talks. They display their collections. They write articles.
All of these things not only provide the mile markers on our collective journey but they also make us feel good.
What is a hobby if it is not something that makes us feel good?
None of us would have done it for long without guidance and that internal sense of reward and satisfaction that comes from collecting coins.
I want to congratulate David Lisot on becoming a Numismatic Ambassador and for providing the evidence for future collectors to know what we did and to see how enthusiastic we were about doing it.
My congratulations also go to Tony Bonaro, Mike Ellis, Rod Gillis, and Brett Irick.
Yes, I know my coat sleeves were too short, or my shirt sleeves too long.
At my age, it is hard to dress. I need space in places I didn’t need it before and less space in others.
There are probably other videos in Lisot's extensive archive that you will want to see.
There might even be one where I am better dressed.
Buzz blogger Dave Harper won the Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog for the third time in 2017. He is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."
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