I just got my May issue of The Numismatist (Barbara Gregory and her staff do a great job!!) and saw this blog highlighted in LifeLines. Wow, neat! But this is the worst time to visit! My camera is in the shop so I don't have any cool pictures to share - but if you'll scroll back, you can see what I've been up to since I retired from the American Numismatic Association last May.
I may be retired - but I'm still very interested and involved in the Association. It's especially neat to see all the changes since Larry Shepherd, our new executive director, has arrived. I really didn't realize we were that broken - until after I looked at the fixes he, along with the Board, have instituted. I think we're going to make it!
My first love at ANA always has been - and will continue to be - Summer Seminar. The promotion this year has been great and I hope the new 2-day classes are a big success. Susan Procell is doing a fabulous job managing Seminar. I sure hope she lets me help again this year!
Retirement is wonderful. My husband, Bill, and I are busier than ever. How in the world did we ever have time to go to work?? Every day is an adventure - biking, hiking, birding, gardening, blogging, cooking (Bill - definitely not me!) and getting together with friends. Every day starts at the gym as we try to keep the effects of aging from doing too much more damage than it already has.
And we laugh everyday. We enjoy life! We have lots of fun.
I've been interested in birds all my life - my dad was a zoologist - but actually going places to see different kinds of birds is new. I'm a collector at heart - so I am collecting sightings. I have my Life List of the different species that I check off as I see new birds.
It started with a US Type Set - but now I'm getting into the different die varieties. Take the blackbird - we have the all-black common ones, the Red-winged Blackbirds and the Yellow-headed Blackbirds. The Red-winged Blackbirds come in several varieties - depending on age, sex and the season of the year. Some varieties are more rare than others. The female Red-winged Blackbirds don't look anything like the males and the males can have either red or yellow or both colors on their wings in varying shades from dull to bright. A mule was recently spotted; one side didn't match up with the other side - and it looked like it was half male and half female.
Reminds me of coins! - with rays, without rays; arrows & no arrows; rare date and common date; errors and varieties. I wonder if anyone keeps a "Life List" of the coins they have seen - and maybe held. Like birding, it wouldn't count if you see then in a captive display - like at the Money Museum. You should have to spot and properly identify the coin - and have a witness - for it to count. Small groups could meet and wander the bourse floors checking cases and going through junk boxes identifying species - I mean types. The common "circulating" coins would be easier - just go shopping! Maybe I've just struck on the answer to getting more women involved in the hobby!
So if the current down-turn in the economy has left you with little or no money to spend on coins, but you still want to be an active numismatist - start a Life List!
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