Author Archives: mwalsh
Heists of yore make for great yarns
We all love a great crime story and, recently, I came across a first-hand account of the greatest gold heist in Canada. The robbery dates back to 1974, when the infamous “Stopwatch Gang” stole more than $750,000 in gold from the Ottawa airport, which was destined for the Royal Canadian Mint’s Ottawa plant. Continue reading →
Coins and the Maritimes will combine for funtastic times
ng to do these days, it still can’t replace in-person networking at events like the annual convention of the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association. The first RCNA Convention I attended was in Winnipeg in July 2013, just a few weeks after I assumed the publisher’s role at Canadian Coin News. It was a perfect opportunity to... Continue reading →
Moore’s death leaves void in hobby and hearts
When I first began working as publisher of Canadian Coin News in July 2013, one of the people I was anxious to meet was Charles “Chuck” Moore. That’s because 13 years earlier I had met Chuck for the first time, at my very first numismatic auction. Along with my wife, Karen, we attended the Bank... Continue reading →
Third-party grade not the end of the story
I’d like to talk about the lost art of grading coins. Way back in the dark ages of 1990, third-party grading was not all that well accepted. The term slab, used for a coin holder, had a negative connotation. Many collectors still wanted to be able to hold their coins, and they also liked to... Continue reading →