THE MAGNETIC PERSONALITY OF BIBLIOPHILE ARMAND CHAMPA

Several years ago the Numismatic Bibliomania Society raised $3,000 to endow a new exhibit category for numismatic literature at conventions of the American Numismatic Association. My memory of events is getting hazy, but I recall that we raised some of the funds with an auction of donated items at our annual meeting. My donation was a gag, but I think it ended up raising a few hundred dollars.

Having visited famed numismatic bibliophile Armand Champa at his Louisville home, I had a photo of him I'd taken with my camera. On a whim, I took the picture to a photo shop and had it made into three refrigerator magnets. We sold them at the meeting.

I'd almost forgotten about these until the other night, when my five-year-old daughter Hannah was playing in my home office and found my copy of the magnet attached to the side of my file cabinet. She had Armand in one hand and a toy in the other, having a nice conversation among themselves. She didn't want to give him up, but I didn't want my souvenir of a good friend to get lost or broken. I had to chase Armand into the next room, but I managed to get him back in one piece and restored him to his Place of Honor after scanning the image you see here.

So, did I get my facts straight? And what happened to the other Armand Champa refrigerator magnets? Anyone know?

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web