Beginners Luck

[bagerap 706]

I had an apprenticeship too. Let's face it, I never had a chance; my father was a collector. And a damn fine dealer too.

So of course I did what any self respecting youth would do in the 60s, I ran.

Trouble is that I wed a stamp dealers daughter. He died leaving around 700, 000 stamps and his little side line;

+/-5,000 coins of varying nationalities, century and metal.

"OK, I can probably help out with some of the coins" I can hear myself innocently saying it still.

Quite a few years down the line and I've turned into my father. Except that I'm the junkie, selling stuff to feed my own habit. I've pretty much stopped mainlining pennies, half crowns are what excite the ageing heart these days. Oh and medals, particularly exhibition medals.

The stamps? Still in archive boxes, they're for when I really retire.

[Gollum 2]

If you're anything like the rest of them in here, you are never going to retire, its in the blood. You watch, you will think you are, then one day a coin is going to jump up and speak to you as you pass it in a sale or such and your back on the hook.