The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 11, March 18, 2007, Article 15

OLYMPIC COIN COLLECTION NOT UNIQUE

One reader writes: "I read with interest the article regarding Al 
Driega's Olympic coin collection. I believe I have a collection which 
could give his a 'run for the money.' For many years my uncle collected 
coins, especially Olympic coins. When he reached his late 80s (he'll be 
92 in July), he decided that he had to do something with it. Since he 
and my aunt have no children and there are only three nephews (my 
two brothers and I) on his side of the family, and I am the only one 
interested in coins, he decided to give his collection to me. 

"For over a year, about every 3 to 4 weeks I would receive a box in 
the mail containing part of his collection. I purchased a foot locker 
just to house the Olympic coins. When the last of the boxes finally 
arrived, the foot locker was filled to the brim. I also have boxes 
and boxes of Olympic pins. 

"I also received all his other coins. Since my collecting interests do 
not include Olympic coins, I have not yet gone through all the Olympic 
coins in the foot locker. However, I know that he has almost every 
Olympic coin issued (from both host & non-host countries) starting with 
the 1952 Finland games up to around 1996 or 2000. He also had some 
miscellaneous coins from other games (e.g. Pan-Asian, Pan-American, 
etc.). These were far from being complete and I have disposed of most 
of them.

"Al Driega states 'I don't know of any individual collector in the 
world that has a collection comparable to mine, and I would certainly 
know about anyone as avid as I am.' Obviously, he is wrong! Many 
collectors for various reasons do not want people to know what they 
collect nor the extensiveness of their collections, while others, such 
as my uncle, just collected, and except for a subscription or two to 
a numismatic publication, had no involvement in the coin collecting 
community.

"Anyway, as I said at the beginning, my uncle's collection which is 
now mine could definitely give Al Driega's collection a 'run for the 
money.' "

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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