The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 39, September 30, 2007, Article 20

ARTICLE PROFILES DANBURY NUMISMATIC FAMILY

"Not many children these days like to do the same things as their
fathers, particularly when it comes to hobbies.  So the chances of
finding three generations of a family pursuing the same pastime are
probably pretty slim.

"But the Danbury Coin Club has three generations of the Ventrella
family -- Michael, 86, of Bethel; son Frank, 46; and grandson,
Nicholas, 12, both of Danbury -- among its members.

"'I didn't do it because he did it,' Frank Ventrella said of the
hobby he picked up from his father as a child. 'I did it because
I enjoyed it, and I still enjoy it.'

"Frank Ventrella inherited his interest from his father, who said
he's 'been looking at coins ever since I could remember.'

"Michael Ventrella, a retired butcher and a longtime area dealer,
began saving coins in the late 1930s, when he worked as a
short-order cook.

"The eldest Ventrella was particularly intrigued by 'Barber'
dimes, which were made between 1892 and 1916. Flying Eagle cents
and Indian Head pennies, minted from 1857 to 1909, were also
still plentiful at the time, he said.

"'Whenever I got one as a tip, I would put it away,' he said.

"Ventrella's collecting was interrupted by his service as an
infantryman during World War II. When he was reported missing
after bloody fighting near Anzio, Italy, in 1944, his
heartbroken father took the coins to the bank and cashed them in.

"By the time his family learned he was safe, the coins were
long gone. So he started again after the war."

To read the complete article, see: Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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