My story is likely to be very similar to most.  I purchased my first ancient coin in the early 1980's, a Valerian I antoninianus, and I was hooked immediately.  Having a great interest in history I found it nearly incomprehensible that such relics could even be obtained, and so cheaply.  I soon began to collect coins quite randomly, simply buying what I found to be of interest in the moment.  It was not long before I was buying more than I really wanted with the idea that I would resell the extras to help pay for what I kept.  It was about 1986 that I issued my first price list of about 20 coins (I don't think I sold any!).  By 1987 I had a table at my first coin show in Santa Clara, California.  It was a real experience, to say the least.  I very clearly remember a number of dealers walking past my table, some smirking at my presence, some looking down their nose or making rude comments about the 'kid' with a few crummy ancients.  But I will not forget Tom Cederlind, who stopped by for a chat, to look at my coins and to give me some excellent and welcomed advice on ancient coins, history and the business in general.

     In the very early 1990's I realized that the internet could provide an additional sales avenue, so I began to run e-mail and BBS auctions of coins (this was before the advent of the web and http).  I used various online services such as Prodigy, Compuserve, etc.  When the World Wide Web was established I began to sell coins on now defunct sites such as Collectors Universe, Coin Universe, and later Numismatists Online.  At the time, Ebay was not yet established.

     By 1997 I had dropped out of college where I was studying archaeology to become a full time dealer, which I did for seven years.  In total, I issued 48 illustrated paper catalogs and was attending various coin shows.  I have handled a great many types of coins, and have had a number of various collecting interests.  At times I have collected bronzes of Hadrian, issues of Caesaria in Cappadocia depicting Mt. Argaeus, sestertii, Chinese coins and others.  Even now my interests are simply whatever strikes my fancy.  As a dealer a personal collection is always viewed as potential inventory, and I have bought and sold a number of interesting coins from my own collection.  And to be honest, I regret selling all of the coins previously in my collection!

     At the moment, as I have stated above, my collecting interests are varied and uncoordinated.  When I see something of interest, I place it into my collection (which is admittedly very small).  I will use this site to publish the collection as time permits.