Aside from Buddy Ebsen, there are many other famous coin collectors, some of them mentioned here, including: Wayne Gretzky, Nicholas Cage, Many in the Dupont family, J.P.
Morgan, Enrico Caruso, Nicole kidman, Chris Aable,
Robert Wagner, Jack Black and Tony Blair.
I was fortunate to run into both Buddy Ebsen and Chris Aable at the Long Beach
Coin Show in the late 1980s. I was heading down one of the walkways and overheard who I first thought were two grandparents and their grandson discussing a meeting for a coin club.
I was interested in joining a coin club but was reluctant to interrupt them. However, they paused for a moment and glanced my way so I introduced myself and stated that I've been wanting to join a coin club.
The elderly gentleman introduced himself as Buddy and introduced me to
his wife Dorothy and the boy, Chris. The "boy" turned out to be a young man, Chris AAble, a fellow TV/Film actor as well. We got into a discussion about Seated
Liberty Coins and
Lincoln Cents. A crowd of dealers began to gather around us, and the three of them said they would have to be leaving soon. I think they wanted more privacy.
I asked Mr. Ebsen if he could autograph my
Coin Show Directory, and he put
his hand on the shoulder of the Mr. Aable and said something to the effect that "I'm not working any more and that I ought to have Chris Aable's autograph because he is hosting the Hollywood Today TV Show and is on General Hospital and some other shows", I forgot everything he said.
Long story, short, they both were kidding around and were kind enough to autograph my directory They also invited me to be a member of the Beverly Hills Coin Club.
Back in the late 80s I
met with about a dozen or so other
members in Century City twice
per year. Back then,
membership was invitation-only and they weren't fond of inviting dealers. Buddy stated that most dealers go to clubs only to sell coins or make sales contacts.
But now with the advent of the internet, the Beverly Hills Coin Club has
members in all 50 states and over a hundred countries.
Oh, I think Buddy was in
his eighties when I
met him, but even then, he was a tall guy, well over six feet.
His beautiful wife, Dorothy Knott, who I assume was also in her seventies back then, was very nice and gracious. She reminded me of Nancy Reagan in terms of her appearance and demeanor.
I miss them all, but occasionally see the still-young Chris Aable at the Long Beach
Coin Show, building a set of ancient
Greek coins and a set of
Bust Silver Dollars by variety. He told me he expects prices to keep increasing and he will sell it in a few years and donate the
money to
www.kiva.org When I first got online around 1995, he sent me the following email, which I have saved under my favorites:
"We're all far from perfect and we all have our own faults and failures. Hopefully, most of us learn and grow from them. In the end, its not what we own that matters the most, it's also who we are and what
type of person we've been.
Rare coins can often be a
good means to an even better end, from the moment when we begin collecting."
- Chris Aable
Quite a guy. Both the profits and fun we get from
rare coins can often be a
good means to an even better end.
