Paul Lajoie revises Gabriel’s Statue of Liberty Book

It is interesting how in a close knit hobby that one's past can trail someone for years. For better or worse.

In the early 1980s I was a very active member of the Long Island Coin Club - as well as the Flushing Coin Club and the Queens County Coin Club. Some of the more senior members of the group, who were also members of all three clubs were John J. Gabriel and Julie Turoff. We three were all exhibitors and medal collectors. Julie liked U.S. Mint Medals and Brooklyn Bridge stuff, I liked Subway and Boy Scout stuff, and John Gabriel liked Transylvania and Statue of Liberty Stuff.

John got the two of us excited about it, as well as D.W. Johnson and David Alexander as the core collectors to do research and gather material for his Exonumia of Liberty Enlightening the World book which he privately published in 1982.

Well, sadly John and Julie have passed on. The current ower of the copyright Paul G. Lajoie contacted me to be of some assistance in clearing up some questions on the Boy Scout Medals of WWI era, and it has certainly been fun doing some additional research on a topic I have not been active in for some time.

Trust me, Paul's new work will have some great improvements!

If you happen to have something not listed in the 1982 Gabriel work, or would like to confirm something which may need an illustration you can contact Paul directly via email at: spudjwa@comcast.net. Write first before doing any scans to confirm information required.

George