Continuing a tradition that spans more than 20 years, Heritage Auctions recently awarded a $10,000 auction credit to David Spivey, of North Carolina, through a draw of collectors who participated in the Texas-based auction house’s numismatic survey.
Spivey’s interest in collecting began way it does for many collectors: in fact, his childhood curiosity led to his first deal.
“I was in second grade, I think, and every Monday you had to get a lunch meal card for the week,” he said. “One day, the kid standing in front of me had a coin I had never seen before – he had a Standing Liberty quarter. I had never seen anything like it. So we exchanged coins, and that was the last of my change, so I skipped my meal card … which made my mother pretty upset.”
STANDING LIBERTY QUARTER
Although the coin had no date, after researching through some literature, Spivey was able to determine the coin was a Type I with an “S” mark, a 1917-S.
“I showed my father what I learned, and it fascinated him, and collecting became something we did together forever,” he said. “We went to all the shows together—I think our first ANA show was in the early ’70s. I didn’t have any money, and he was limited because he provided the income for our whole family, but it’s something we always really enjoyed doing together. Before Heritage even existed, he went through Dallas on a business trip and bought from Steve Ivy, who was running a coin shop by himself then.”
The Standing Liberty quarter that sparked Spivey’s interest in collecting remains in his collection. Because of years of collecting that originated with a simple transaction between friends, he called the coin “priceless” in terms of sentimental value.
After his father retired and Spivey completed law school, his collecting increased, in large part through his association with Heritage Auctions.
“From the beginning, I have been a Heritage customer,” he said. “I love collecting for the sake of collecting. I never have bought anything for the purpose of making money. To me, it always has been pure collecting.”
Spivey said he’s unsure how he will spend his auction credit; however, one possibility would be to add to a set of dollars from around the start of the 1800s to his collection.
“I’m a frequent participant in Heritage auctions,” he added. “I really enjoy collecting with Heritage—I have nothing but good things to say about them. It has been a great experience ever since I started with them.”