Eldert Bontekoe from Pegasi has passed away

[Joe Sermarini]

From an email from Pegasi, Eldert Bontekoe (3/1954 - 3/30/2020) has passed away. His partner Nicholas Economopoulos wrote:

"It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of my friend and longtime business partner Eldert Bontekoe. In recent years Eldert was diagnosed with a heart
condition, and ultimately that caused his death. Eldert was a big man, with a big heart. He was always willing to help fellow dealers as well as his friends and
customers. Eldert was passionate about our hobby and believed that it was important to educate our customers. He loved coins and antiquities, and his passion
was evident to all. We spent 26 years together as business partners, and I will miss him greatly. Our hobby has lost a dear friend and a good man."

[Joe Sermarini]

Eldert was a very nice guy. I enjoyed spending time with him at a few coins shows. I am saddened to learn I won't see him again.

[cmcdon0923]

I met Eldert once or twice when he filled in for Nick at the coin shows held in Grapevine Texas.

A very nice gentleman.


Craig

[PMah]

Eldert sold me some of my first collectable coins and we connected every year at NYINC.  He always seemed disappointed if he could not find another tray of coins in my collecting interests, which it seemed were always "with Nick at another show" until recent years.   (He was also a very confident negotiator!)
   Rest in Peace.

[Meepzorp]

Hi folks,

I also received the email. I was shocked and saddened by it.

Pegasi is one of the first ancient coin dealers I ever did business with. I began purchasing coins from them in 1998, and that is when I became acquainted with Eldert. That was back in the days before I had internet access. To this day, Pegasi is still one of my top 5 favorite ancient coin dealers.

I spoke to Eldert and David literally dozens of times on the phone. They were both extremely helpful to me in my early years of collecting, when I knew almost nothing about ancient coins. They were also both extremely knowledgeable. Eldert always remembered that I like Greek Italy and Medieval Italy coins.

I met Eldert in person once, at a coin convention. I talked to him for a while, and he joked around with me a few times. It was during that in person meeting with Eldert that I had one of the funniest experiences with a coin dealer that I ever had in my entire life. It involved Eldert, his partner Nick (who wasn't there), and another coin dealer (from Europe). It wasn't planned, and Eldert was totally unsuspecting. He didn't know what was going on. When I told his partner Nick about it (via email), he was hysterical laughing.

I will certainly miss Eldert.

Meepzorp