Showing off coins/road trip

[Reid Goldsborough]

Here's an interim report. In short, as always it's really fun to see in person what coins do it for others. Anybody else here on the way and wouldn't mind an overnight visitor? Details below.

I posted back in January plans to take a three-month road trip around the U.S. This trip has morphed into a one-year road trip, to drive through every region of the contiguous lower 48 states and also see a bit of Mexico (done) and Canada (to do). I've been staying with friends, online friends I haven't yet met in person, relatives, and Courchsurfing.org hosts, as well as some nights at hotels.

The trip is mostly about seeing the U.S. through the eyes of local people. I've already starting transforming notes into a book about this. It'll be fiction based on fact, though inspiration includes On the Road, Travels with Charlie (no dog for me though, I've decided, until I'm rooted again), and Paul Theroux's books and a September 2009 Smithsonian magazine article of his titled "The Long Way Home" about a road trip across America.

So far I've stayed overnight with two coin people, and I'm sure they wouldn't mind me praising them. Both keep their coins offsite, and both let me see them.

Nathan Elkins is an assistant professor of ancient Greek and Roman art history at Baylor University and knows a heck of a lot about the political messages behind ancient coin iconography. He also teaches a course in Roman gladiator combat and games. Oh, he has some incredible 1st-2nd century Roman Imperial coins from previous provenanced collections.

John Francisco has an amazing set of ancient Greek incuse coins from southern Italy, and is a Pythagoras and Heraclites expert to boot. And he just bought a meteorite collection, with one fairly massive specimen and other interesting pieces. I also met with his buddy Herb Klug, who is as numismatically sharp as can be and collects coins near and dear to my heart, whose visage he also graced me with, Lydian (and Ionian) electrum.

Tomorrow I start driving from CO back to southeastern PA, mostly on I-70. I'll be PA in early June. After that I drive from Philadelphia to Ithaca, NY, then across Southern Ontario, across the northern U.S. mostly on I-94 and I-90 to Seattle, WA, over the summer and fall, and down WA and OR into southern CA mostly on Route 101 and Route 1, probably in December. From L.A. I drive on I-15 to Zion and Bryce national parks in UT, to the Grand Canyon in AZ, to Flagstaff, AZ, and then along I-40 to Albuquerque, NM, where I'll finish up on Jan. 31 of next year, exactly a year after I started, if my car and back don't break down first.

Anybody along the way and want to show off some coins? If so, please send me a private message. I have a super comfy inflatable mattress and bedding for this trip if no guest room is available. Doing that with Couchsurfing hosts as well.

I've sold coins to finance this trip, though I've kept the best of my collection. But on this trip I'm bringing only Constantian-era AE-3s and 4s to give away to non-coin people.

Reid Goldsborough

[HELEN S]

  

  WOW Reid i dont know many who if they had no commitments wouldnt want to make a trip like this
  This is truelly what life is about surely and i am very jealous, when i sell all my animals i would like to do something on these lines but here in the uk
  It certainly doesnt give me the scope that you have there in America
  The part of the story i like is the fact that you will give away your coins and people can have a small memento of meeting you, a lasting memory
  Surely memories are what life is about and of those you will have MANY

  ENJOY and i so look forward to the book  

[Reid Goldsborough]

Thanks, Helen. I'm picking up from where I left off 30 years ago, when I last did a lot of traveling. For the first 10 years after that I built a career, then for the next 20 years built a family. Still have commitments to family, but I can be just about as much a part of the lives of my kids, who are adults now, with Facetime and Skype and a cell talk and cell text and Facebook and Twitter, as I was before I started this road trip 2-1/2 months ago. That's probably more information than you need.    Information overload... In your case, with animals, it might be different, unless they're really clever and know how to use a smartphone or laptop.

Reid Goldsborough

[daverino]

For now I have to do my travelling in my imagination only and collecting ancient coins is one way of  doing that. I think that Reid's activities brings up an interesting point. Ancient coin collecting is a hobby for the long haul and hopefully will sustain its followers through many phases of life. Go Reid!