Bill Christensen was a heck of a nice guy. I knew his dad well, too - the old school personified.

When I was a much younger curator of the Yale coin collection, 45 years ago, John Ford tried to lure me into authenticating his 18th-century Spanish colonial ingots. I didn't like them at all, but it was Henry who confirmed my suspicions. He was immensely knowledgeable, and helpful, and discussed the errors on the bars that proved them to be modern. I was always grateful to him for that, and for many other kindnesses.

Perhaps I might add that neither Henry nor any other dealer who thought the bars to be false was willing to go public, since everyone was afraid of Ford's repeated threats of legal action. When I went on to write up the exposure of those fakes I could not get it published in the U.S., so it came out in a Mexican journal and was circulated in the U.S. in that way.

Bill Christensen frequently attended meetings of the New Jersey Numismatic Society in the 1990s. It was more of a social thing for him by then, and he wasn't too active numismatically. I'll always remember that he sold me a unique coin board item---a ringbound set of Colonial Coin & Stamp Company boards. The boards were in perfect condition, aside from the three ring-holes at each one's top, and this set included one title I've never seen outside of this set---a board for commemorative halves. This unique board is illustrated in my book.