Another year passes

What do Joe Murray, Chuck Norris, and that guy pictured above have in common?  Nothing, really. Come on, Joe and Chuck? Seriously? Chuck and that guy on the cover of Playgirl? Well, I guess maybe both have been on magazine covers. However, if the guy on that October 1976 issue was actually the person my Mom thought it was, all three would have had a birthday this week!!  Happy Birthday, Joe!

Oh, and who did my Mom think it was?  One of my brothers. Back in ’76, my other brother, the youngest, who looked amazingly like Charlie Sheen (every time I see “Two and a Half Men”, I can’t help but think of him), and I bought a copy of the mag and showed it to Mom. She looked at the cover and had just one question for him, “Why?” I guess I got the brains in the family.

Now fully vaccinated (got me two doses of Moderna), I’m so glad we are on our way out of this mess. But during this long haul, I seem to have something in common with Murray – no, not our Joe, but Murray from the TV show “The Goldbergs”. Sitting in my Barcalounger most of the time. I’ve picked up my “Covid 15” while surfing the net looking for bargains. Wheeling and dealing in comics has pretty much come to a halt. I haven’t bought a collection since early last summer. As I have reported a number of times, comics are going for way more than guide in online auctions. One of my sons, who is into baseball cards, is finding the same to be true in that market.

A market, rather a hobby I had many years ago, has gotten my attention again - Coin collecting, in particular, pennies. Over the years, I had completed full sets of Indian Head pennies, Lincoln cents, buffalo and Jefferson nickels, Standing Liberty and Washington quarters, and Franklin half dollars at one time or another; but the pennies were always my favorite. Finding a “wheat” penny in change nowadays is considered rare. Think about it – having stopped in 1958, they’re all over 60 years old now. When I was a kid in the 50’s, Indian Head pennies, V nickels, buffalos nickels, ‘Barber’ dimes, quarters and halves were still circulating in change! Like most collectors, I constantly upgraded my collection.  I’ll never build a collection as nice as the Lincoln set I had back then. All of my “P” mint pennies were BU’s (brilliant uncirculated – red!) with the rest being sweet. I had a true 1922 “Plain” and BU 1955 “double die”. Those last two were caused by production problems and not really a designed release, but the darn albums had a spot for them, so I had to get them. Today, they go for thousands of dollars each! The comic world does have issues that had to be corrected, color mishaps, had double covers, etc., but fortunately we don’t have to get them, as there is no one dictating what needs to be in our collection.

That gorgeous collection of pennies would cost a mint (see what I did there?) to duplicate now – and what happened to it? I sold it to a coin dealer in Wilmington back in the 70s when I went to an MG dealership in Essington, PA to trade in my current MG at the time. There in the showcase was a beautiful 1952 MG TD - yellow with brown fenders and running boards, spoke wheels, and was made to be driven in England – steering wheel was on the right side! Two years later, I sold the car since I didn’t have a garage to put it in and it needed to be. I went through British sports cars for quite a while. The first was a bug-eyed Sprite, then several MGs, and Austin Healy 3000, the TD, two TD kit cars (actually VW’s underneath), and lastly, a 1969 Jaguar XKE convertible. The coins are gone, the cars are gone, and don’t get me started on my comics and baseball cards from the 50s and early 60s!! What a maroon! I guess I didn't get the brains! At least I still have the Chevelle!

So, here I am, sitting in my Barcalounger, typing away, killing time, and waiting for when we get back to normal. It’s going to take some time, but let’s not fall backwards by jumping the gun. Continue to follow good CDC guidelines and Stay Safe!       Paul