Announcing our “Coins & Strings” open house!

We are truly delighted to announce the return of our annual open-house, not held since 2019, scheduled for next Saturday November 19^th, 2022, from 2:00 to 6:00 pm.

Death of an Enigma

Ken Djingheuzian passed away this week.  If the name doesn’t ring familiar, one can be forgiven since even among those of us who regularly encountered him for upwards of the past thirty years, very few actually knew his full name.

World’s First Fire Engine Coin a Tribute to a Childhood Passion

I have always loved fire engines, since my earliest memories.  The colours, the arresting wail of a siren, the very nobility of a vehicle whose sole purpose for existence is the preservation of life and property – to this day, it is perhaps the continuing child in me that still thrills with every encounter.  As my involvement in numismatics and antiquities in general developed in adulthood, I further grew to appreciate the aesthetics and history of vintage fire engines, with their special charm and evolution.  Even entering my second decade as a professional coin dealer, however, I would never have anticipated being the catalyst for the world’s first legal-tender Fire Engine coin.

Coins & Strings Event to be held December 1st

We are delighted to announce plans for our 2019 Annual Open House to be held on Sunday December 1st. This will be the “Freaks & Errors” edition of our Coins & Strings event, and will  feature a fabulous display of exotic and rare coin errors. Many of these coins have never been seen in public, and the display will be an excellent cooperative effort between Alliance Coin and a number of our advanced collecting friends in the field.

Staggering once again for our 4-legged companions!

I am delighted to once again be serving as Grand Parade Marshall for this year’s Almonte Zombie Walk For Hunger, benefiting our local Food Bank, as well as both the Soi Dog (Rescue) Foundation and the Country Cat Sanctuary.

Saturday, October 27th, at the Almonte Arena
Registration from 1:00 to 2:00pm

Please join us for this short but fun stumble through town, and help us support these great organizations!

www.facebook.com/almontezombiewalk

Note: for non-locals who may not get the “inside joke” conveyed in my poster this year – we have just had the pleasure of having a Hallmark Christmas film shot in Almonte over the past month or so, directed by the iconic Megan Follows, A.K.A. the one and only original “Anne of Green Gables”. Notwithstanding the very spectacle of having a crew of 50 filming constantly throughout town for three weeks, I think we all were far more excited about Mrs. Follows’ presence among us!

Live Auction preview working fully now!

Some of you will have experienced issues with accessing the auction preview at times over the last two days. I apologize for the inconvenience and am writing now to assure you that all is fixed. We encountered some unexpected performance issues, and our website developer has implemented some changes that have remedied this!

Click here to preview of selected auction highlights on our website, which will continue to expand as we move towards final completion of sale preparations.

Please note that the complete auction inventory will be available online from next Wednesday, and that print catalogues will not be available until the day of the Auction.

Additionally, we invite our local customers to visit us for a preliminary viewing of available lots, this coming weekend. Alliance Coin & Banknote will be open both Saturday (10-4pm) and Sunday (10-5pm), for your viewing pleasure.

Live Auction: Sunday, June 10th, 2018

Selected items online for preview: Tuesday, May 29th, 2018

Live Preview In-store: Saturday, June 2nd (10-4) & Sunday, June 3rd, 2018 (10-5)

From the Isaacs Cabinet: A well-travelled 8 Reales

Over the past year, I have shared with my readers a series of recollections on my earliest years as a coin dealer. I feel it is now time to perhaps “turn a page” so to speak, and dust off the Isaacs Cabinet to reveal some of the more interesting and unusual coins from my own personal collection, and the stories/memories they hold for me. I hope you enjoy!

It is easy to be enchanted by the Spanish Colonial 8 Reale coinage. Large, impressive coins the size of U.S. Silver Dollars, they not only hearken back to the age of Spanish Treasure Fleets, with their European-bound galleons loaded with silver mined in “the New World”, but also leave a profound influence on the history and nomenclature of the currencies we take for granted today. A “piece of eight” referred to the fractional pieces cut from an 8 Real for purposes of producing small change, and the general scholarly consensus holds that our Dollar sign (“$”) used today in the continent of North America evolved from the curled banner wrapped around the “Pillars of Hercules”, as depicted on the obverse of 8 Real coinage throughout the eighteenth century. Indeed, so critically important were these “Spanish-American Dollars” to our formative economy, that numerous banknotes – including a private 1830’s merchant issue of W&J Bell of Perth, Upper Canada – bore an image of a smaller 2 Real coin to visually depict the note’s value of ¼ Dollar (8 Reales being equivalent to One American Dollar).

Millions of 8 Real coins were struck in the Spanish colonies, not only in Mexico City, but also at mints in Bolivia, Peru, Colombia and Guatemala, among others. These provided a tremendous flow of Silver back to Spain, but also into the American Colonies as well as the Far East where they were also an integral part of trade. Countless millions were also lost to the depths in storms or other sea mishaps, if not to piracy and conquest.

With local youth in my host village of Senali Sumatra March 1986

I had been collecting for about 12 years by the time I was accepted into the Canada World Youth exchange program with Indonesia, at the age of 18. The first four months of the program found me in Nanaimo, British Columbia – itself, a land of wonder, as I had never prior been west of Ontario. Then, in the final few days of December, 1985, our team left for Indonesia, where we would spend the bulk of the next four months living and volunteering in a remote village in the province of Bengkulu, on the south-west coast of Sumatera. Somewhere into our second month, we came together with two other teams in neighbouring provinces for a “mid-project retreat”. This essentially meant touring around the Province in a banner-draped bus on a cultural feast, singing for our dinners and sleeping wherever there was a willing host. To this day I don’t have a clear recollection of what route we took, but a number of stops retain clear and pleasant memories for me. One of these involved a stop a the renowned community of Bukittinggi – as the translated name suggests (“Tall Mountain”, in Indonesian), a city located in the somewhat cooler highland region of West Sumatra, about 1 kilometer above sea level. The land of both active and inactive volcanoes, and inhabited by the renowned Minangkabau people, a rare matrilineal society. With its superb regional scenery as well as the imposing Dutch colonial “Fort de Kock”, Bukittinggi was a popular stop for both domestic and foreign adventuring tourists.

For reasons I can’t quite recall, I found myself wandering alone from my group through the winding streets of antique shops, warangs (restaurants) and art studios. I can taste like it was yesterday the trio of exquisite “Ice Juice Apokats” I enjoyed at a street-side eatery (thick avocado milkshakes with a shot of chocolate down the side), and still have some of the great one Dollar cassettes we all bought from shops in the market (the concept of “Pirated” music was fairly alien to us at the time). The neatest places to explore, however, were the multitude of silver jewellery and antique shops in the town, which offered everything from an endless variety of remnants from the Dutch colonial period, to wonderful wooden boxes and carvings, as well as local furniture and nick-knacks of every description.

Of primary interest to me, however, were – naturally – the coins to be found in these shops. After nearly 300 years of Dutch colonization, the majority of these coins were inevitably of Dutch origin. The included a multitude of the small copper “Duits” of the Dutch East Indies company, as well as the fairly common Silver Guilders and larger 2 ½ Guiders dating usually from the late 19th century to the waning years of the Dutch in the 1930’s. I liked the 2 ½ Guilders, being a large crown-sized coin comparable to our own Canadian Silver Dollars, and was able to purchase a couple examples during my time in Sumatera at quite low prices – which met favourably with our then-weekly pocket stipend of about seven Dollars or so. Counterfeits, although certainly in existence at the time, were only a minor concern compared to the mine-field of copious amounts of fakes that today’s collector must navigate.

Although I don’t recall the specific shop, I do remember my eyes being attracted to something large and Silver that was not Dutch. It was a Spanish-American 8 Reales, and although I was somewhat familiar with the issue, I did not have an example in my collection at the time. This was a piece dated 1776, with light even wear, and bore a unique characteristic that I hadn’t encountered in my previous collecting experience. Concentrated mainly over the obverse portrait of Spanish King Charles the Second were approximately 30 small “punches”, most consisting of single Chinese characters. These, I would come to learn, were Chinese “Chop-Marks”, applied by merchants mainly in the Orient (but also by Chinese business interests in American ports like San Franciso, etc.) as their personal attestation of the quality of the Silver contained in the piece. To some collectors an undesirable defacement of coinage, the chops to me added an appealing level of both aesthetic and historic character to such coins.

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Only in later years did I recognize the Potosi mint-mark, confirming the Bolivian origins of the piece, and then begin to contemplate the rather remarkable journey this coin must have taken. Although it is possible the coin may have remained in Spanish America after minting to fuel commerce in the continent, I like to think that it returned to Spain on one of the later treasure fleets after its Bolivian inception, and then headed to trade in the Orient, before somehow making its way due-South to the fabled “Spice Islands” of the Indies. There it was discovered two centuries later in the highlands of Sumatera by a keen teenage Canadian collector trying to figure out his place in the world, and to this day it conjures up warm memories of youthful adventure as very few other coins in my diverse collection will do.

Sean Isaacs

Intercepting Canada’s most valuable stolen stamp collection

The Road Less Travelled – My own meandering path from collector to Numismatist: Part 5

“Right place, wrong time”

In every life and career there are some memories that stand the test of time above all others.  Memories that, upon reflection, bring you back to a moment in time that can remain as sharp and vivid as if it were just yesterday.   In my own case there are likely a few such candidates, however only one stands out when I think of my earliest years in the coin business, and that would undoubtedly be my brief and bizarre encounter with the “Jesse James” of stamp thieves.

It was June of 1990, and nearing the end of my second year working for Lincoln Heights Coin & Stamp in the west end of Ottawa (if memory serves, I had recently been “upped” to Director of Numismatics for the rapidly growing company).

Some days earlier, we had received a faxed bulletin from the Ottawa Police about a valuable stamp collection that had been stolen in the National Capital region.  It was notable not only for its extensive value, but for the unique character and rarity of the some of the material involved. As was always the case, a file-number was attached with a request to contact the Police if anything matching the brief detailed inventory happened to surface.

I do not remember the ensuing day of the week in question, but I can clearly recall the setting. Our store at the time was quite narrow, with cash and hidden work area at the very back, and a long series of end-to-end counters that ran up one side of the store to the front entrance.

It was a busy day, pretty much standing room only, with myself, one of our staff ladies, and the late Bill Perrin all serving at the counters.  Bill, a retired senior and former wheeler-and-dealer in coins on the flea-market circuit, worked with us part-time.  He was mildly crusty and never shy to speak his mind, but he was also trustworthy and attentive. We appreciated him, and I like to think he appreciated us.  On this particular day-of-days, I finished whatever task I was involved with and received a customer at the small counter located at the very back at the store, so that I was facing the sales-floor and front entrance to the store (as we were in a shopping center, the entire front of the store was wide-open during operating hours).

I did not recognize the customer, a youngish mustached man perhaps in his late twenties or early thirties. He began the conversation by expressing an interest in selling his stamp collection, and I invited him to show me some samples (all the more ironic on reflection, knowing how little philatelic knowledge I had ever managed to absorb).  That, however, wasn’t to be a problem on this occasion. There, on the counter before me, were placed two fabulous items that looked they had just exited out the back door of a museum. The first, an entire sheet of some early South American inverted stamp error, and the second some type of Spanish imperial envelope cover with ancient red wax seal still intact.

Why was my lack of philatelic knowledge not an issue here?  The answer lay not five feet from where we were standing, in the police fax which contained images of these two precise items.

Hence – in addition to my heart which had temporarily planted itself in my throat – I realized I had an acute existential dilemma. There was no reasonable doubt that I was looking at a portion of the most valuable philatelic collection ever stolen in Canada. I obviously couldn’t confront the seller, however. I had no idea how he would react if he felt cornered – would he react violently, was he carrying a weapon, would he simply bolt?

I had a store full of people, which paradoxically provided both a sense of security as well as grave concern.  Thankfully, customer-service auto-drive prevailed over panic, and we began an engaging discussion.  The seller didn’t seem to know that much about his collection (no surprise there), and the need for higher philatelic expertise in order to properly evaluate the material before me may have been pretense for making a telephone call to Paul, the owner of the business.

The additional challenge, however, was that the telephone sat only about six feet away – although behind a glass door leading to a small processing room, I could still be both seen and heard by the suspect at the counter.  Fortunately Paul was home to answer the call, and somehow – while trying to maintain a reasonably relaxed composure – I was able to convey the message that we needed help. And quickly.  “Stay calm, the Police are on their way,” Paul assured me.  I hung up, and turned my attention back to the stamp bandit.

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I am not clear on how much time passed (it felt close to forever), but at one point I looked past the suspect and saw two uniformed Ottawa Police officers approach the front of the store. I felt frozen, not wanting to give the person any excuse to turn around, noting the sea of people that still stood between the Police and the two of us. As we continued to discuss the stamps, I watched one of the Police officers step to the end of the counter and begin a discussion with Bill.

“What the Hell!” was my immediate thought – resisting with every fibre the overwhelming desire to flail my arms at them like a drowning imbecile. And then it happened.

While the Police waited at our front entrance, Bill began making his way down the long inside path of the counter towards me, with a puzzled expression on his face. Coming up to me, he paused, looked briefly around, and then leaned forward so that only myself and the suspect could hear what he was about to say.

“Sean”, he quietly asked in his usual gravelly voice.  “Do you know anything about a stolen coin collection?”

If ever I have experienced the sensation of feeling my life flash before my eyes, this was most certainly the moment. I’m pretty certain all the blood in my northern hemisphere drained away faster than you could say “let’s shank the rat”, though I could hear myself answering with a feigned “no” – which seemed an infinitely wiser response than “are you sure you don’t mean stamps, Bill?”

Fortunately for everyone concerned, the look on my face must have spoken volumes. The two officers quickly made their way into the store, and one actually moved around the counter to stand beside me in a protective stance. The suspect expressed cooperative confusion as he was taken into our sorting room for a chat, and only on showing them the faxed bulletin did the Police seem to understand the true dynamics of the situation.

Shortly afterwards, the suspect was led out of the office in handcuffs, and my last glimpse of him is something I will never forget – a look of genuine panic crossed his face as he watched one of the officers begin to fold the rare sheet of error stamps into quarters, for easier transport. A stamp thief he may have been, but at least he cared about the true philatelic integrity of the piece!

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Some weeks later I received a nice letter of thanks from the Deputy Chief of the Ottawa police, informing us that three people had been arrested as part of the overall investigation.  What the letter didn’t reveal was that the theft of the collection – apparently valued at a quarter million dollars – was apparently an “inside job” involving Canada Post employees.

Strangely (or perhaps not), the whole affair never seems to have hit the news, and I sometimes wonder who actually owned the stamps, and how they must have felt to have these treasures successfully returned to them.

Sean Isaacs

The Road Less Travelled – Playing “Good Cop, Bad Cop” in Old Havana

In the first four segments of these “memoirs”, I detailed my rather profound transition from keen collector to apprentice of Paul Davis, and full-time dealer of coins. In these next couple chapters, I will choose to pause the overall progression of time and instead share with readers a few of my favourite anecdotes and experiences from the earlier years of my apprenticeship.

The first involves a rather memorable visit Paul and I took to Cuba  in late 1994.  This was an interesting time for Cuba, both in terms of politics and numismatics, with relations between the country and the United States frozen solidly in time. Trade of virtually any kind was forbidden between the two, and United States citizens were not permitted to visit Cuba.  At the same time, however, the state of the modern Cuban numismatic industry was remarkably advanced.  Not only were they proliferous producers of domestic commemorative coinage in both base and precious-metals (i.e. Silver and Gold), they were also the key minters of collector coinage to many other “veiled” socialist countries including the Congo (People’s Republic), Laos, Vietnam and Kampuchea. Add to this the fact that the United States was perhaps the world’s largest market for such coins – made acutely challenging by an absolute prohibition of importing these issues into the country – and a clear opportunity became apparent for any Canadian coin dealer willing to explore the development of a relationship with the Cubans. And yes, Paul was quick to recognize the potential of such trade, perhaps after having chatted with a represent of the Cuban Mint who would, on rare occasions, quietly visit the Toronto coin show scene in the late 1980s in order to try and promote their wares.

Thus, we began to import fairly copious quantities of the inexpensive Cuban 1 Peso commemorative coins in cupro-nickel, which featured a fantastic variety of themes ranging from mosquitos to ships to fish and fauna (together with, of course, the multitude of issues honoring the “fathers of the revolution”).  All of which, of course, had to be paid for in United States Dollars that could not pass through the U.S. banking system, in accordance with the strict sanctions of the day.

These sold quite well for us, and Paul soon decided that it was time to take our trading relationship to a new level. To Havana we would go, and press the Cubans on whatever more enticing numismatic goodies they might have stashed away.

Thus we set off on a chartered Air Transat flight from Ottawa – a plane that not only had a “non-smoking” section that ended one row behind us, but which also seemed to be okay with people actually standing in the aisle chatting while we were literally taking off.  Eventually we landed in Fidel’s Cuba, and after a bit of initial sight-seeing around Old Havana, I believe it was on the second day that we attended our appointment at the Cuban Mint.

Recalling this experience after 25 years, I do not recollect many elements of our overall visit to the country, yet my impressions of the resilience and self-sufficiency of the Cuban Mint remain sharp.  In spite of having been completely cut off from much of the western world for most of a generation, and the much earlier loss of their Soviet supporters to their obvious economic detriment, their Minting operations were remarkable. From the production of their own planchets, to the design, striking, packaging and shipping of a multitude of well-executive coins – both business-strikes and non-circulating commemoratives – and even to the manufacture and repair of their own minting equipment, the overall quality and volume of their output was (again) remarkable. Perhaps my most vivid memory was looking in on a laboratory-like room of ladies, all sitting at desks while hand-enameling the often stunning coloured Cuban coin issues (usually higher-denomination issues in pure Silver).

Eventually, after our full tour, Paul and I were led to a meeting room where we were to meet and negotiate with Mint senior management. I should note at this point that I spoke not a word of Spanish, and none of the Mint officials could speak a word of English. Paul, in his ongoing quest to better his grasp of foreign language skills (usually inspired by interest in a woman, in must be duly noted), had developed a functional understanding of Spanish, and was to be our facilitator. This I had understood from the outset. What I had not anticipated, however, was his unspoken plan for us to adopt a modified “good-cop, bad-cop” approach to the discussions, with myself as the decision-making chairman of the company, and he the negotiating underling.

Thus began a protracted and somewhat bizarre discussion where, periodically, they would pause while Paul gave me bits and pieces of their conversation, and then ask for my “approval” – at which point I would feign stern contemplation – and then respond. Looking back on the meeting after all these years, I sometimes wonder if I was actually a patsy, with their actual discussions having nothing to actually do with me. Who really knows!

What did come out of the negotiations, however, was very much a landmark numismatic agreement, for it had come to light that the Mint had built four “archival” collections containing one each of every modern Cuban coin struck in the building since the 1970s. These ranged from the hundreds of base-metal, Peso commemoratives referenced earlier, to rare and fabulous multi-ounce commemoratives and piedforts in both pure Silver and Gold, including patterns and test-strikings. One of the collections was mandated to be held by the Cuban government in perpetuity, and a further two sets were previously sold to the State Museums of other South American countries.  The fourth and remaining intact collection was now on the table.

The ultimate prize, however? The fabled “Lenin” 100 Pesos, a pure gold issue struck in 1977 with a total mintage of just 10 pieces. Certainly among the world’s most valuable modern issues at the time, with an envisioned retail value of  U.S. $10,000. An example of the coin hadn’t entered the market in more than a decade, and here was the only known potentially-available specimen put forward in offer to us , with one minor stipulation – it would only be available as part of a “package deal”, together with the other thousand or so coins making up this remarkable archival collection. We concluded our memorable “Bueno-cop, grumpy-cop” performance with a hand-shake agreement, and spent our remaining days in Havana sightseeing before leaving for Varadero, our ultimate departure point.

Sitting in the airport awaiting our flight, a lovely incident of happenstance occurred as I looked up and saw Canadian Senator Jacques Hebert strolling through the small terminal. The late Senator will perhaps be best remembered for his founding of the Katimavik youth program, which later spawned the much larger CIDA-sponsored Canadian World Youth program. It was the CWY program that had taken me to Nanaimo and Indonesia several years earlier, and I had long wished to shake his hand and thank him for the transformational experience – without which, I would not have met my wife Nana.  We spoke for a few moments, I at last shook his hand, and a bit of positive good karma came full-circle at that particular moment and place.

Back in Ottawa in the ensuing weeks, we prepared to welcome the Cuban Archival Numismatic  collection to its new home, after completing some complex payment arrangements for the six-figure purchase price.  The collection eventually arrived, and was fabulous. We produced inhouse a bound catalogue “Cuban Commemorative Coins” that immediately became the definitive reference on all modern issues of the Havana Mint, and which included a remarkable 44 coins that were entirely unknown to the collecting world prior to publication. The Gold Lenin immediately found a quiet home with Canada’s foremost collector of Cuban coinage, and the next few weeks and months saw an eager feeding frenzy among hungry collectors on both sides of the border.   I have never made it back to Cuba in the ensuring decades, and wonder how the time-capsule of “Old Havana”, together with their remarkable and historic Mint, may now change in this bold new era of Cold War dissolution.

Sean Isaacs

Next Time: “Right place, wrong time” – intercepting Canada’s most valuable stolen stamp collection

The Road Less Travelled – My own meandering path from collector to Numismatist: Part 3

Coins from the “other side” of the counter

In my first two columns, I wrote of my early emergence from the solitude of coin collecting with the discovery of a larger numismatic “fraternity” in Ottawa, after moving to the city at the age of 13.  In recalling my encounter with a tyrant or two, I realize I neglected to give a nod to some esteemed members of the local collecting community who supported and enhanced my activities. Most I met through the [then] City of Ottawa Coin Club, and included the familiar names of Graham Neale and Allan Davies – both of whom were seasoned vest-pocket dealers. I appreciated their guidance, and some of my very first early English coins I acquired from Al in those days.  Both gentlemen I consider friends and colleagues to this day.  A third name to add here – and one that would have a profound influence on my transformation from collector to dealer – would be Paul Nadin-Davis.

I had already met Paul a few times.  An English-born former lawyer, he had embraced the field of numismatics after traveling across Europe in the 1980s, spinning small coin deals into ever-larger coin deals. He first hung out a shingle about 1985 or so, in an upper floor of a Metcalfe Street office building in downtown Ottawa.  Essentially an office to accommodate his mail-order business, it also offered a walk-in opportunity for local collectors.  I made occasional trips down by bus and purchased a couple of very nice (once again) early British pieces, in the process being introduced to the fairy uncommon concept of trust between customer and dealer. For example, I purchased a lovely 18^th century Half Crown on lay-away, and was invited to take the coin with me while I continued to make payments. I also attended one or two of Paul’s local public coin auctions, and seldom left empty-handed.

Thus, I was only somewhat surprised when I attended the grand re-opening sale of a new west-end shop called Lincoln Heights Coin & Stamp, and found Paul standing behind the counter.  This was the early fall of 1988, and Paul had seized the opportunity to have a full retail presence in the city by purchasing the existing business from Peter Degraaf, a long-time coin dealer who once had four outlets in Ottawa (including the venerable Sears Coin & Stamp locations).  It was a fateful day for both of us. I think we chatted about the new business for a few minutes, I looked through some of his inventory, and then he simply asked me if I wanted a job.

I remember being somewhat stunned; having years earlier given up pestering the Ottawa dealers for a job, it hadn’t even occurred to me that such an opportunity would actually present itself. I said yes, of course, and spent the next day or two trying to figure out how to combine some new coin-shop hours with my existing Eaton’s schedule.  That is, of course, until I suddenly slapped myself in the head and realized this was the open-door I had so long been waiting for – there would be no ‘accommodating’ my job in the coin shop, it was now hopefully my future.  I gave my notice at the Bayshore Eaton’s, and showed up the Lincoln Heights shopping center for my first day of work in the coin business.

Stepping behind the counter was an exciting moment, but also brought with it the sobering realities of being part of a retail business.  For all my enthusiasm and self-taught knowledge of the hobby itself, I had virtually nil business experience in terms of appreciating fairly basic concepts such as cash-flow, overhead, and the time-value of money, etc.  Indeed, it would take some frustrating time to fully appreciate how taking a collection purchased at twenty-five dollars, investing two or three hours of time into it, and then selling it at fifty dollars would still result in a money-losing devotion of resources.  In this respect, the ‘business’ part of the ‘coin business’ was my Achilles heal, however fortunately the expectations of Paul and his staff were in keeping with reality when it came to my abilities on this front.

When I speak of ‘staff’, I refer to the ladies that Paul ‘inherited’ as part of his take-over deal with Degraaf.  And, ironically, as I foreshadowed in my earlier writings, Lorna and Marina were already seasoned sales veterans of the coin and stamp business, having worked with Peter at his Sears Carlingwood location (yes, the same coin shop and pair of ladies I had pestered every Saturday for most of the 1980s).  As a result, there was some awkwardness in the early days of my new job, as I learned to temper my precociousness and become part of a team at Lincoln Heights. Eventually we all grew to respect each other’s strengths, and Lois Hedley soon joined the team as the defacto admin and shipping backbone of the company.  We were quickly a happening company, with both a national and international presence.  Paul mentored his prolific production of price-lists, we provided numismatic components to some of the largest direct-marketing companies in both Canada and Europe, and I was soon introduced to the pivotal trade-show circuit.

Much could be written about Paul himself, but suffice it to say he was an imposing and almost exhausting personality.  Quite brilliant, and always ahead of the curve, his personal DNA was also seemingly hard-wired with an inextricable layer of deep narcissism.  I suppose I should have clued into this during one of our very first discussions on the future, in which he expressed encouragement for the development of my own world view and business philosophy, “as long as it was the same as his”.  It goes without saying, however, that in terms of a high-adrenaline introduction to the coin business and all the exciting facets it comprised, there would have been few individuals indeed who could have offered a comparable apprenticeship experience to that of Paul Nadin-Davis.

I spent the next three year or so working out of the Lincoln Heights location, as the scope and level of business activity grew steadily in terms of both volume and diversity.  Just over a year after first starting my new numismatic career, Paul invited me to join him for a trip to the New York International Coin Show – my first major show outside the country.  It was December 6^th, 1989,  a date I sadly remember so clearly only in that we were driving through the mountains of New York State when news broke of the Montreal Ecole Polytechnique tragedy.

The New York show was both a collector’s and dealer’s dream, right in the heady days of the late 1980s coin market. Dealers from all over the world descended on the show with their retail and wholesale goods for barter. In those days, you could actually buy ancient coins by the bagful, and I clearly remember being entertained while watching as Paul entered into loud and aggressive haggling with the Germans over a thousand-piece sack of Roman Silver Denari. Remarkably, they were only 50 Pfennig apart on each coin (then equivalent to about .30 Cents!), yet neither side seemed keen on backing down.  I don’t recall which side ultimately caved in, though we returned home with a thousand pieces of ancient Roman Silver in our trunk.

As exciting and stimulating was the show, equally exhilarating to me was the Big Apple itself.  It was my first visit, and the frenetic pace of the sights and sounds made even Toronto look subdued.  I was also introduced to the venerable Carnegie Deli, home to absurdly large meat sandwiches and the world-renowned rudeness of their staff.  In fact, looking back on those many years, perhaps my fondest memory of Paul being properly put in his place occurred at the Carnegie. After our excessive feed at their plain wooden tables, Paul lined up at a counter to pay the bill.  Some minutes later, he got to the till and was told that he had to go to another counter to pay. He lined up again, got to the counter, and then was told to return to the original counter since he wanted to pay by charge. Paul lost his weaselly cool, and huffed that he was never coming back to the place.  Leaning over the top of the high counter, the male cashier stretched out his arm, gesturing to the long line of patrons waiting at the front door for seats, and responded in classic Bronx arrogance, “Do we care?”

The resulting look on Paul’s face delights my memory to this very day.

Sean Isaacs

Next Month:  Intercepting Canada’s largest philatelic heist, and playing Good-Cop/Bad-Cop in Old Havana

Watch for the next instalment in July. Until then, a couple of photographic teasers:

Announcement of Sean & Nana’s wedding, in the September 3rd, 1991 edition of Canadian Coin News

Sean & Hall-of-Famer Rod Gilbert, promoting the 1972-1997 Russia-USA Hockey Summit Series Commemorative Silver Dollar, 1997 American Numismatic Association Convention, New York City