HOWARD DANIEL: BACK IN VIET NAM WITH OLD FRIENDS

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V15 2012 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 15, Number 49, November 25, 2012, Article 19

Big tipper Howard A. Daniel III is back in Viet Nam, and he published an article about his recent experiences in World Coin News. Here's an excerpt. -Editor

A couple of days later on Sunday morning, Oct. 7, I took at taxi to 27 Nguyen Thi Dieu Street in District 3, but right on the edge of District 1. Quoc’s shop, Saigon Coins and Stamps, is located there, and he is my primary numismatic dealer in Viet Nam. We are in constant contact via emails so there was very little to catch up on with him.

Then I walked a couple of buildings toward the District 1 line to the Khai Phuong Restaurant at 23 Nguyen Thi Dieu Street. There were about a dozen collectors already there and there were 18 by the time the meeting was over. It was great to see many old friends! Some of them I am in contact with but most I am not, so there was going to be a lot of catching up.

I asked one of the waitresses how much it cost for an ice tea and she said it was free so I gave her 10,000 dong as a tip. I found a seat and started talking to my collector friends about their families and health. First things first. Then we got into numismatics. There was one item for me to buy about the Grand Hotel d’ Angkor et Hotel des Ruines, but Mr. Bui gave it to me as a welcome back gift.

This card was used by Mr. Messner, the director-concessionnaire of the Grand Hotel, to notify a guest of the time and date of their tour of the Angkor Wat temple complex. It will look very nice in a future exhibit of items associated with this hotel. My primary pieces will be a set of tourist coupons (Foreign Exchange Certificates) with the Grand Hotel overstamp on their backs.

I worked my way to where Phi Long was sitting and he showed me his new book about the National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) postal system. It is a fantastic piece of work and, of course, much better than the intelligence file I had on the same subject during the war. I will bring some copies with me to Bangkok and mail them to the USA for collectors there.

To read the complete article, see: Back in Viet Nam With Old Friends (www.numismaster.com/ta/numis/Article.jsp?ad=article&ArticleId=26124)

Wayne Homren, Editor