John Burns Passing

RIP John. You will be missed.

Sad news indeed.

As a rare/used numismatic literature dealer, John was definitely a throwback to a different time for coin collecting.

Numismatic literature dealers used to more frequently attend local and regional coin shows; they were able to do enough business to make carting a ton or more (literally) of books to shows. Now that the internet is so rich with coin reference sites and collectors have easy access to other knowledgeable collectors via online forums and email, the volume of customers for books at coin shows has steadily decreased. I spoke with John at length about this on numerous occasions - they were rarely happy conversations (John had a strong personality and always freely expressed himself!).

But John continued to cart crate after crate of books, auction catalogs and related material to shows up and down the East Coast. I was glad he included my local show in Raleigh, NC on his calendar. I always tried to buy at least one book from John whenever I encountered him at a show; I wanted to support him and what he was offering to the hobby. I have a number of books on my shelves that are far afield of what I collect, but I was always happy to add them via John.

I will miss John very much!