Win Some Gold! Forum Anniversary

Hello,
signed Vic.

#42!!!!!

Vic, keep smiling! The sad face does not become you! Mike

That is perfectly understandable. And maybe the one entry per household should apply. I was actually going on Susanlynn's suggestion to have Kerri registered under her own screen name. No sour grapes here. Just wanted to point that out.

Thanks, Mike! :) Just didn't want anyone to think badly. I could understand where everyone would not only get confused, but how it would not be fair for two people to share the same name. I am sure that she will become more active in the forum. I have been showing her around the site and letting her see the various topics, points of interest, and trying to explain who is who. Is there anyway that someone in the "upper ranks" could create a list of the members that are Creators, Moderators, Pillars of the Community, and so on? Like I said earlier, I have created a topic titled "Re-Introductions". This topic is a way that the veteran members can introduce themselves to the newer members. It would be great for us that have been here for only a couple of months or less. Ideas for your introductions could include: what you collect, your position in the community, something you may be looking for, something you may have to offer, or even if you have a particular field of knowledge or if you create holders for coins. Things like this could not only boost the morale of the community, but it would also show that there are MANY, MANY different backgrounds, interests, and craftsmen (or women) that make up this WORLD-WIDE forum.

Susanlynn and Bobby are respected and known as the Forum Mom and Dad. Terry is known on the forum for his craftsmanship of coin holders. Mike, you are known as the not only the "Man who gives Gold", but as a sort of authority figure like Mom and Dad...you are a Moderator, but you are also VERY wise in numerous fields. Not alot of the new people here know this. (Oh, and let's not forget thekidcollector...young, ambitious, and always willing to learn something new and exciting....to you, Kid, BRAVO!!! It is always GREAT to see young people getting as excited about the world of numismatics as you do!)

Terry, WELL SAID!!!! Kerri insists that I ramble about non-sense, babble about nothing, and make sense about NONE of the time. You see, I am 25 y/o. My whole life has been ups and downs. I was raised in the GHETTO. (I won't go into details...but trust me...all of you war vets out there have dealt with alot of what I saw everyday growing up.) I joined the Army National Guard in 1999 only to be discharged in Aug 2000. I blew out my knee while PT-ing one morning. Anyways, my grandfather got me into coin collecting early. It was my way of escaping the world around me. As I am sure I will never have a collection worthy of it's own Pedigree (which, personally, I find them useless...who cares who owned what coin...they all came from the same Mints), I love the "sport". My biggest find in circulation has long left my possession. I remember being 10 and going to the local stop-n-shop. The old man behind the counter always has something out-of-line to say about my clothes, my haircut, or something...he was a real....donkey. Anyways, I bought a candy bar and only had a $5 bill. The guy had the nerve to ask me if I stole it from someone!!! I just smiled and said, "Not from you...but thanks for asking, Sir!" He gave me my change and I left. Well, I got down the road and realized that the change he had given me was HEAVIER than usual. In it, he gave me change that came from his "personal stash" of old coins that came through the store. (HAHAHA!!!! I finally had the last laugh!!!) Anyways, moral was...I kept one coin and returned the rest because I knew how much he loved the coins....a few years later, he passed away. His wife and my mom were friends. At his funeral, I couldn't take knowing that I still had his coin. Before the end of the visitation service, I asked (we'll call her) Mrs. Jackson to please come talk to me. I gave her the coin and she said with a smile, "Mike...Henry wanted you to have that coin...he would have never made a mistake like that." I couldn't deal with that answer so I placed it in his casket. It's one of those things like that which really make people wonder what someone else is thinking when you can't see facial expressions, read their mind, or know their true intentions.

I would also like for this to be a lesson learned (by young and old). Just because someone picks on you, calls you names, or even thinks make you think that they hate you...look deeper...at the reading of his will, Henry left his entire coin collection to me...not his own son who loved looking at it more than I did. For Josh's 18th birthday, he got it!

Hope this was what I needed to do to Get In!!!

#43!!!!!

Your in!!!!!

As usual, you are being incredibly genrerous to CC, Mike. Thanks!
Don

#45!!!!!

I'm finally here! Get me aboard and yank the gangplank!

#46!!!!!