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 of Canada Auction II of its specimen banknotes, presented by Moore Numismatic Auctions. We had pre-registered and when we went to the desk to pick up our bid card and when I gave my name, Chuck came rushing over to the desk.
He had seen my name on the registration list and thought I was the “other” Michael Walsh, known for many years as “the Canadian Coinoisseur.” We had a laugh over it but, more importantly, Chuck made Karen and I feel very comfortable at our inaugural auction.
Thirteen years later, I remember hearing former CCN publisher Paul Winkler calling a number of clients directly to announce he had sold his shares to business partner Rick Groom and myself. When it came to calling Chuck, Paul announced “you have met the new publisher,” and he recounted the story about my first introduction to Chuck.
Chuck remembered meeting me and, after getting to know him the last two years, that doesn’t surprise me. He always took a genuine interest in his clients.
His death will certainly leave a void at Trajan’s office in St. Catharines, Ont.
As we had the privilege of producing his popular auction catalogues, Chuck spent a lot of time at our office working with staff, providing us with the actual coins and banknotes for scanning. In fact, the boardroom next to my office was “Chuck’s office.”
He worked closely with our team and developed strong friendships with Mary-Anne, Bret, Jim, and Nancy, as well as others who are no longer working at Trajan. In particular, he developed a very loyal friendship with former publisher Paul Fiocca, who passed away in 2007. Chuck dropped everything and flew to Ontario from California to attend the funeral. He was also instrumental in creating the Paul Fiocca Award, the highest honour of the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association (RCNA), presented to a living individual who has contributed to that organization. He was the chair of its board from its formation until his death.
Chuck was loyal. He was a great listener and mentor.
A block down the street from our office is a popular bar, called Bugsy’s. Close to the bar was a table with four chairs that over the years became known as “Chuck’s table.” Here, when most of the catalogue work was completed (well, we were making good headway), Chuck, Bret, Paul F., followed by Paul W., and then myself, would sit, order our Moosehead and lunch, and then the conversations would turn to numismatics, sports and international news.
Chuck was very knowledgeable in a lot of topics, which often resulted in the need for more than one beer to carry on the conversation!
I will certainly miss those lunches, but more importantly, I will miss his friendship, his great advice, his knowledge, his laugh and his bright, colourful sweaters.
Chuck Moore will be remembered as a great legend in Canadian numismatics, but he’ll also be remembered for a lot of other things as shared by dealers, collectors and fellow auctioneers in the stories published in this issue of CCN.
It is hard to accept I will never see Chuck again in Trajan’s boardroom and at coin shows like the upcoming RCNA convention in Halifax. But, you can count on myself and others toasting Chuck with a Moosehead in Halifax. His legend and impact on numismatics will never be forgotten!