Future is secure

I made it to the Florida United Numismatists convention on time. Though it is a little cool, it is far warmer here than back home in Wisconsin. This improved climate alone is worth the trip.

I attended a reception last night hosted by Heritage. The guests of honor was Dr. StvenL Duckor and his wife. His collection of $20 gold pieces are being sold.

He told me he has been a collector for 45 years and of gold coins for 34 or 35 of those years. Even though he is parting with the gold $20s, he has already been on the trail of gold $1 coins. He says he thinks he will be ready for another name sale with these gold $1 coins in a couple of years. He added that he hoped he could raise the public profile of the little coins in the meantime. I said I would be glad to help with that goal anytim in the pages of Numismatic News.

With all the attention that is being given to bullion and the higher gold denominations, it is not a bad idea to undertake another collection that is not sharing the glare of the spotlight.

With actions like this multiplied by all of the collectors in the United States, our future in numismatics looks secure. We just need the economy to cooperate. There is hope there, too. The cab driver who drove me from the airport told me that the down economy had been hard on his business. He did not predict what kind of business he would do in 2012, but after a couple of lean years he was ready for a vacation in March.

If everyone else is beginning to feel that way, the extra dollars that will be added to the economy will help us all as some will flow right back into our collecting budgets.

So color me an optimist for 2012.