Hobbies Although he was never an active coin collector, Wilburn "Hap" Vincent did have a small coin collection as well as a stamp or two. After our parents died I had the collection appraised. The entire collection was only worth about $40 at the time (2001). Being a family heirloom however, I passed the little coin collection on to one of my grandchildren with an explanation of where it came from. Family members tend to forget these stories so I'm documenting it here for Hap's descendants who may be interested. When he was on leave in Europe during WWII, Hap visited Belgium, Italy, and some other European countries. He brought home a small, wooden shoe from Holland, a Nazi WWII stamp, an ashtray, a little .25 cal. automatic pistol, and some very ancient coins. He loved history and no doubt the ancient coins were interesting to him although he apparently never had them appraised. Here's a photo of the old coins: (Click the Photo to view a LARGER image)
 The coin on the left is from 18th Century France. The other two are from ancient Rome and are about 2,000 years old. The ancient age of the coins does little to enhance the value. Their poor quality is what coin collectors notice first. Strange as it may seem, old coins like these are not especially rare nor are they highly valued by collectors who prefer much more attractive pieces. Coins like these are available in eBay by the handfuls for under $10. The one in the center is silver. When we sons of Wilburn Vincent were children, Hap paid us an allowance when he got paid every two weeks. At first, our allowance was only 50 cents. He later raised it to a dollar. We often asked for a silver dollar and he would go to the bank and get one for us. These old silver dollars from the 1920s, in average condition, are worth about $24 today. Here's one of them in Hap's little collection: (Click the Photo to view a LARGER image)
 Perhaps one of the most interesting things about Hap's little coin collection was that he kept these coins above in two little coin purses. The coin purses themselves turned out to be family heirlooms carried by his parents Oakley and Oma Seay Vincent. As far as I know, Oakley never carried a wallet. He and his wife, our "Pappaw" and "Mammaw", always carried their money in little leather coin purses with a snap closure at the top. Here's an image of the two little purses. The first image is of the small one (about 2in. x 2in.). It belonged to grandfather Oakley. The larger coin purse (at bottom) was grandmother Oma's and is about 5 inches tall by about 4 inches wide.   ~ END ~ |