MY FATHER, CHARLES BUCHAN, WAS A COIN COLLECTOR. I BELIEVE HE STARTED COLLECTING COINS IN BROOKLYN, NEW YORK WHERE HE OWNED A LUNCHEONETTE DURING WORLD WAR II AND THEREAFTER. IN COUNTING THE DAY’S RECEIPTS HE WOULD LOOK THROUGH THE COINS AND SET ASIDE THE ONES HE THOUGHT HAD COLLECTIBLE VALUE.

THE PRACTICE CONTINUED WHEN THE FAMILY MOVED TO ST. PETERSBURG IN 1947. SOME YEARS LATER, FATHER BECAME A MEMBER OF THE ST. PETERSBURG COIN CLUB AND ATTENDED THEIR WEEKLY MEETINGS. ALWAYS AT HIS HOME WAS A SCATTERING OF COIN COLLECTOR NEWLETTERS. HE ALSO HAD AN ATTACHE CASE OF COINS HE CALLED HIS “WALK AROUND COLLECTION”. IT WAS THE COINS HE WAS WILLING TO SELL OR USE TO TRADE UP. ON WEEKENDS FATHER MADE THE CIRCUIT OF EVERY FLEA MARKET IN PINELLAS COUNTY BECAUSE COIN DEALERS FREQUENTED THEM. IT WAS HIS HOBBY AND HE HAD FUN DOING IT. HE WOULD BUY SOME COINS AT THE PARK BLVD FLEA MARKET IN THE MORNING, DRIVE OVER TO 49TH STREET AND RESELL THEM TO A COIN DEALER THERE, MAKING A FEW BUCKS. IT WAS NOT THE MONEY, JUST THE JOY OF DOING IT. MANY TIMES HE TOLD ME HE WAS LOOKING FOR A PARTICULAR COIN FOR A FRIEND WHO NEEDED IT FOR HIS COLLECTION.

AFTER I GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE AND MARRIED I WOULD VISIT MY FATHER IN ST. PETERSBURG. HE WOULD WANT ME TO MEET HIM AT A COIN SHOW, SOMETIMES AT THE BAYFRONT CENTER. WE WOULD WALK AROUND THE AISLES AND EVERYONE KNEW MY FATHER. HE WOULD POINT OUT THIS OR THAT COIN AND EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCE. OF COURSE HE WANTED ME TO TAKE AN EXTREME INTEREST IN HIS HOBBY AND START BUYING MY OWN COINS. A DIME IS A DIME AND NOT AN INVESTMENT WHEN YOU ARE MARRIED, RAISING FOUR CHILDREN AND WORKING FOR A WEEKLY PAYCHECK. I COULD NOT SEE MYSELF PAYING TWO DOLLARS FOR A DIME WITH THE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE WORTH FOUR DOLLARS IN FIVE YEARS. EVERY DOLLAR I EARNED ALREADY HAD A COMMITMENT ATTACHED TO IT.

SOMETIMES DURING THE SEVENTIES, FATHER WANTED ME TO MEET HIM AT FLORIDA NATIONAL BANK ON THE CORNER OF FIFTH AND CENTRAL. HE WANTED TO ADD MY NAME TO HIS SAFE DEPOSIT BOXES WHERE HE KEPT MOST OF HIS COIN COLLECTION IN THE EVENT SOMETHING HAPPENED TO HIM. I WAS THINKING SAFE DEPOSIT BOXES, THE ONES WE ARE ALL FAMILIAR WITH, METAL SHOE BOXES HIDDEN BEHIND STEEL DOORS. FATHER’S SAFE DEPOSIT BOXES WERE DIFFERENT, A SPECIALLY ORDERED CABINET THE SIZE OF AN ATTORNEY’S DESK AND SITTING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE VAULT. IT CONSISTED OF A SERIES OF DRAWERS LIKE YOU WOULD SEE IN AN ARCHITECT’S OFFICE WHERE THEY STORE LARGE BLUEPRINTS. EACH DRAWER WAS AN INDIVIDUAL SAFE DEPOSIT BOX. FATHER OPENED TWO OR THREE TO SHOW ME SOME OF THE CONTENTS; SILVER NUGGETS, PROOF SETS, PAPER MONEY STORED IN SPECIAL ENVELOPES, INDIVIDUAL COINS IN SEALED PACKAGES. I DO NOT REMEMBER HOW MANY DRAWERS THERE WERE, BUT I THINK I SIGNED ABOUT 20 SIGNATURE CARDS THAT DAY.

AT LUNCH THAT DAY, FATHER TOLD ME THE SAFE DEPOSIT CABINET WAS SPECIALLY ORDERED AND PLACED IN THE CENTER OF THE VAULT BECAUSE HE WOULD NOT PUT HIS COINS IN A REGULAR SAFE DEPOSIT BOXES AS MOISTURE COULD SEEP THROUGH THE OUTSIDE CONCRETE WALLS OF THE VAULT AND WOULD CONDENSE IN THE BOXES AFFECTING THE COINS STORED THERE.

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Eventually, this bank closed and Father relocated his coin collection to a new bank at Maderia Beach where he specially ordered two large chest type safe deposit cabinets that were placed against the interior wall of the vault to protect his collection against moisture seepage.

When Father died in 1994, the Probate Court ordered an appraisal of the coins in storage. It took about three days by two local Court appointed coin dealers. It was during this appraisal that Russell told me he did not trust the appraisers and he was told by others that Father's coin collection was worth $ 500,000.

The Family beleived everything was safe and secured at this new bank because the coin collection was in safety deposit vaults under the protection of the Guardian and the Court.