RCC/An Ancient Ambassador

An Ancient Ambassador

by Paul Landsberg

No, no, no, this article is not about an ambassador, who was born before the Civil War, it is about my recent travels where I managed to mix coins and business. (aside: I can hear all of you now chuckling that there is no other way.......) My recent position change has caused me to undertake quite a bit of travel. Now if I were Senior VP this might mean I could catch a 10:30am first class flight after my limo dropped me off but unfortunately I am firmly in the "order takers" versus the "order givers" job classification. The good news is that electronic mailing lists devoted to ancient coin collectors has enabled me to "shout" to a few hundred (maybe even 400 to 500) collectors across the world at the stroke of a key.

I first hit pay dirt on a recent Austin, TX trip where I stepped off the airplane at 8:30am, called a local dealer recommended by four list members and by 9:30 am we were sipping coffee and chatting about ancient coins. Life is good!! I should note that there are persistent rumors that I spent a sum of money. I, like Ollie North, want to know the truth, but I cannot remember (grin). Also, A second almost-local collector/dealer had some time conflicts so we weren't able to form a Roman Triumvirate.

A second ambassadorial affair led me to hook up with a relatively new collector m the NY/CT area. Not wanting to waste a minute I worked until 7:30pm, got into the car, cranked up some "I Can't Drive 55," by Sammy Haggar and dashed cross county for a 8:00pm dinner and ..... c'mon, what do collectors do when they get together? Show'n Tell!!!

Now I must admit failure in my overtures to find an ancient coin collector near Rochester, Minnesota. However, I also will say that I truly have been to the end of the earth (and returned) once I have been to Rochester, MN.

All kidding aside, the face to face contact, the sharing of "screaming deals," the stories of coins found (and lost), the exchange of dealer/source recommendations, or even just the camaraderie and social enjoyment of coins keep the hobby vibrant for us. Whether we do this in a remote location (e.g. ambassador-like), or in Raleigh, NC, it is an essential part of making the hobby better So I hope to see everyone at next month's Raleigh Coin Club meeting!!

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