Brother, Can You Spare A New Dime

Release: APRIL 24, 2026

     There’s something about coming full-circle.

    Cases in point, quite a few years ago, when buying a car stereo, I noticed it didn’t have a built-in digital clock – something I would have liked on my dashboard.  The young retailer selling the stereo remarked anyone wanting a clock should just get a watch.  I already had a wrist watch so it was kind of a smug retort used by him to simply make the sale.

    Wait.  Some years later, those of us wearing watches were quietly ridiculed by the “tech generation.”  Watches were out.  People wearing them were considered relics.  New technology dictated we simply glance at the smart phone in our pocket to see the time and date....

Honoring 25 Who Helped Forge A New Nation

Release: APRIL 17, 2026

   A cool aspect of New England in general is that it is rife with the atmosphere of the earliest history of our country.  Cooler still is that so many relics still exist.  Examples might include Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market in Boston near where the Revolution literally began with the Boston Massacre.  Or, Independence Hall in Philadelphia where the room and actual chair John Hancock sat in during debate over our freedom from Great Britain is still present.  Certainly, Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia is a literal trip in the WayBack machine....

Authenticity Is Key To Value

Release: APRIL 10, 2026

    For a country keen on recognizing its 250th anniversary, it’s interesting to consider some significant sites that, over the years, have been disregarded or even forgotten.  Case in point, Ford’s Theater in Washington, DC, where Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth.  I visited there years ago and marveled at the Presidential Box in which Lincoln sat to watch the play Our American Cousin before being assassinated.

    I stared at the box bedecked with patriotic bunting.  It seemed frozen in time.  Or not.  I learned the theater had sadly been gutted and turned into an office building shortly after the shooting.  The majestic box we now see there is a reproduction built in 1968....

Anniversary Coins May Lose Their Luster

Release: APRIL 3, 2026 

    I’m admittedly not an oenophile (big wine connoisseur).  Even so, I couldn’t help noticing a bottle of 1945 French burgundy wine sold at auction last week for just over $812,000 – a world record.  Given there are only five or six glasses in a bottle, that comes to around $150,000 per glass.  So, what is it per-sip…$12,000?

    If given the chance, I’d be a pedestrian neophyte sure to fail a taste-test between that wine and one off the shelf at, say, Walgreens.  That’s okay.  Some people are wine obsessed.  As a collector, I understand that.  What I don’t get is, in the end, what good is it?  The wine rarity is in the product to be imbibed.  Once it’s opened and consumed it’s gone.  The empty bottle isn’t worth much.

    I naturally appreciate the rarity and beauty of vintage numismatic pieces – particularly US coins from the 1700s.  With those, it’s entirely possible some might have passed through the hands of Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson or George Washington....

Caveat Emptor! US Fakes For Our 250th

Release: MARCH 27, 2026     

   Unlike some adventurous travelers, I’ve not been to the Far East.  That’s made up of countries such as Japan, Vietnam, Korea, Laos, Thailand and others.  The largest is China.  It’s big.  If it had time zones, it would require five of them.  They don’t have time zones because they contend having just one zone “creates national unity and political centralization.”  Decipher that however you wish.

   No matter how we currently feel about China, the US is hyper-dependent on it for immeasurable everyday imports.  From clothing to electronics, China takes the prize for our consumer goods.  A quick meander down the aisle of any “dollar” store shows how countless Chinese items are....

Postal Memories From The Back Seat

Release: MARCH 20, 2026

     Winter doldrums are finally beginning to fade.  In their place, I think warmly of summer trips to Michigan.  I’ve been lucky to have traveled there often since I was a kid.  When I do now, we sometimes drive the routes we took through Illinois and Indiana – the back roads.  We did the same 60 years ago.  Not because it was scenic.  There just was no other way to do get there....

The State Of The Collector’s Union

Release: FEBRUARY 27, 2026

    Given the ongoing vitriol in Washington, DC, I try to avoid getting political.  It’s too headache inducing.  That being said, I did watch the recent State of the Union speech.

    Based on what was said, economically the US is reportedly doing gangbusters insofar as lower prices and higher wages.  Maybe.  Based on many auction sales prices for collectibles, some people are clearly doing better than others.  With notable irony, last week’s speech followed a segment on the TV news show 60 Minutes.  It featured a story about a once-thriving coal region in West Virginia where unemployment is now rampant and most barely exist on assistance.  The contrast is sobering.

    Some cases of the wealth gap include recent mind-bending collectible sales.  The first involves a Pokemon card – an item similar to baseball trading cards.  For those unfamiliar, Pokemon is a Japanese-based anime with cartoonish characters.  A few decades ago, it had become the rage for young people.  The concept gained more popularity through trading cards....

    While particularly popular during the pandemic, the Pokemon fad seemed to wane a bit in recent years.  Prices for modern Pokemon cards have experienced a double-digit decline.  Consequently, speculators looking for quick profits have also disappeared.  There are exceptions....