JOHNNY HARRY HELEVA (1951-2024)

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V27 2024 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 27, Number 43, October 27, 2024, Article 9

Dealer John Heleva passed away earlier this month. -Editor

We lost a notable man in the coin and currency business today. John Heleva of Sacramento, California, felt like a lucky man because he was always employed at something he loved - the coin business. He died peacefully in his sleep, something we all hope for. Johns family was in Sacramento 165 years. His wife, Dawn was born there. He was born in Wiesbaden Germany 12/51. His father was active in the Berlin air lift.

John's love affair with coins began when he was bedridden in a body cast from age 5-7 for a degenerative hip disorder called leg perthis. His grandfather would bring him bags of coins to sort from the bank and he got hooked. In high school he made spending money buying and selling silver. John started with paper money in his early twenties when he says you could not give bank notes away. He bought them cheap and watched it become a market. He loved history and that naturally played into his interest in coins and paper.

Those of us who knew and traded with him soon learned he was a veritable encyclopedia of knowledge. He could've easily written a book with his general collectible information.

John had two storefronts in Sacramento for some time and two warehouses. It took six trips in that old yellow truck, and an extra friend and driver that brought a big moving truck to get from California to Texas with most of the warehouse material.

John served as governor of the PDCA for a couple years. He left behind his wife, Dawn, three sons and one daughter, and several grandkids.

Fred Holabird published this remembrance of John in an October 18, 2024 email to clients. -Editor

Cal National Coin Shop, in Davis California, one of John's shops

John was a mainstay at virtually every major coin show in America for about 50 years.

A native Californian, John grew up in a family that were entrepreneurial, buying and selling houses, collectibles and the like. His sister and mother were always heavily involved in the very early days, then John ventured into his own areas of sales, specializing in coins and collectibles. He was laser focused and quickly learned how to chase major collections.

I was one of the guys he chased, way back in the Miocene. He'd stay at my house and we'd discuss collections. I fed him plenty of discoveries over the years, and he returned the favor many times back in later years.

John understood the art of selling. He might attend a specialty trade show, such as the Strassburg, PA stock and bond show, where he'd show up two days ahead of time, set up shop in his motel room, open for business. Heck – if you weren't there two days ahead of time you'd miss out!

John was a riot at the big shows. You all knew him – he was "the guy" in the back of the show room with about five to fifteen tables, all completely full of stuff. Pretty much every area of numismatics – medals, tokens, and of course coins and paper money. Then there was the rare documents section, then the post card section, then the foreign coin section, then … well, you get the picture. A true salesman, he'd often be seen all over the show room, box in hand, heading to another dealer to offer out some goodies he knew they couldn't resist. With most of us whom he'd known for decades, doing business with John was a true pleasure. We got to set the prices. To this day, I don't think I've seen anybody else sell so much material at a trade show. …And you could be sure, there was more in the warehouse!

Meanwhile, back at his table area, in later years you got a chance to meet his son, who helped from time to time. Other times, especially in the East, his helper was Dave Strebe, another close friend of us all, and was "the guy" that scoured every flea market in the East.

John had a number of shops in the Sacramento area, moving from place to place as neighborhoods and shopping patterns changed. Recently he and Dawn moved to Texas, as have a lot of other California dealers. His plan was a slow retirement.

The next time you go to a major coin show, I hope there will be an empty table with his photo on it. He was a guy we'll all remember forever. And he was Your friend too!