Coin collecting a family pastime
(From the News-Times, Danbury. CT)
By John Pirro
staff writer
From left, Michael Ventrella, 86; his son, Frank, 46, and grandson Nicholas, 12, share a
love of coin collecting. Not many chil these days like to do the same things as their
fathers, particularly when it comes to hobbies. So the chances of finding three
generations of a family pursuing the same pastime are probably pretty slim.
But the Danbury Coin Club has three generations of the Ventrella family -- Michael, 86,
of Bethel; son Frank, 46; and grandson, Nicholas, 12, both of Danbury -- among its
members.
"I didn't do it because he did it," Frank Ventrella said of the hobby he picked up from his
father as a child. "I did it because I enjoyed it, and I still enjoy it."
Today, Frank Ventrella is president of the club, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary
with a coin show Sunday at the Sheraton Hotel on Old Ridgebury Road. More than 30
dealers, mostly from Connecticut and New York, will be there, selling a wide assortment
of numismatic items, including new and old U.S. and foreign coins, tokens, medals and
currency.
Members are hoping at least some of the people who attend the show, which runs from
9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., will become sufficiently interested in the hobby to eventually join
the club and attend their meetings, which are held on the fourth Tuesday of every month
at the Bethel Municipal Center.
"There are a lot of clubs that have come and gone," Frank Ventrella said. But the
Danbury group has persevered through the years and has more than 50 members.
Frank Ventrella inherited his interest from his father, who said he's "been looking at
coins ever since I could remember."
Michael Ventrella, a retired butcher and a longtime area dealer, began saving coins in the
late 1930s, when he worked as a short-order cook.
The eldest Ventrella was particularly intrigued by "Barber" dimes, which were made
between 1892 and 1916. Flying Eagle cents and Indian Head pennies, minted from 1857
to 1909, were also still plentiful at the time, he said.
"Whenever I got one as a tip, I would put it away," he said.
Ventrella's collecting was interrupted by his service as an infantryman during World War
II. When he was reported missing after bloody fighting near Anzio, Italy, in 1944, his
heartbroken father took the coins to the bank and cashed them in.
By the time his family learned he was safe, the coins were long gone. So he started again
after the war.
"I sold my first coin in 1948. It was a $2.50 gold piece and I got $5 for it. That was a lot
of money at the time, so I started saving them again," he said.
Frank Ventrella started collecting at the age of 6, and remembers going to weekend
shows with his father when he was barely tall enough to see over the tables.
He and a cousin would scamper from dealer to dealer, looking for underpriced coins they
could turn around and sell for a small profit. Or he would scout around for a particular
coin that his father was seeking.
Nicholas was also about 6 when he first became aware of the shiny, and sometimes not so
shiny, metal disks that his father and grandfather brought back from the shows.
Frank Ventrella nurtured his oldest son's interest with a gift of a few coins. Michael
Ventrella added a few others. Today Nicholas has his own collection. But unlike his dad
and grandfather, who prefer mainly American coins, Nicholas collects mainly Canadian
and foreign items.
Designs on U.S. coinage, for the most part, have remained unchanged for decades.
"I like the foreign and Canadian because they are different from everything else,"
Nicholas said.
The number of coin collectors nationwide has risen dramatically in recent years, spurred
largely by the 50 states quarters program that began in 1999 and several new designs on
5-cent pieces starting in 2004. As a result, prices for many older coins have increased.
"The new nickels and quarters stimulated the market. A lot of kids and their parents
started saving them, then they see the older stuff and get interested in that. Down the
road, they might become collectors," Frank Ventrella said.
(From the News-Times, Danbury. CT)
By John Pirro
staff writer
From left, Michael Ventrella, 86; his son, Frank, 46, and grandson Nicholas, 12, share a
love of coin collecting. Not many chil these days like to do the same things as their
fathers, particularly when it comes to hobbies. So the chances of finding three
generations of a family pursuing the same pastime are probably pretty slim.
But the Danbury Coin Club has three generations of the Ventrella family -- Michael, 86,
of Bethel; son Frank, 46; and grandson, Nicholas, 12, both of Danbury -- among its
members.
"I didn't do it because he did it," Frank Ventrella said of the hobby he picked up from his
father as a child. "I did it because I enjoyed it, and I still enjoy it."
Today, Frank Ventrella is president of the club, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary
with a coin show Sunday at the Sheraton Hotel on Old Ridgebury Road. More than 30
dealers, mostly from Connecticut and New York, will be there, selling a wide assortment
of numismatic items, including new and old U.S. and foreign coins, tokens, medals and
currency.
Members are hoping at least some of the people who attend the show, which runs from
9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., will become sufficiently interested in the hobby to eventually join
the club and attend their meetings, which are held on the fourth Tuesday of every month
at the Bethel Municipal Center.
"There are a lot of clubs that have come and gone," Frank Ventrella said. But the
Danbury group has persevered through the years and has more than 50 members.
Frank Ventrella inherited his interest from his father, who said he's "been looking at
coins ever since I could remember."
Michael Ventrella, a retired butcher and a longtime area dealer, began saving coins in the
late 1930s, when he worked as a short-order cook.
The eldest Ventrella was particularly intrigued by "Barber" dimes, which were made
between 1892 and 1916. Flying Eagle cents and Indian Head pennies, minted from 1857
to 1909, were also still plentiful at the time, he said.
"Whenever I got one as a tip, I would put it away," he said.
Ventrella's collecting was interrupted by his service as an infantryman during World War
II. When he was reported missing after bloody fighting near Anzio, Italy, in 1944, his
heartbroken father took the coins to the bank and cashed them in.
By the time his family learned he was safe, the coins were long gone. So he started again
after the war.
"I sold my first coin in 1948. It was a $2.50 gold piece and I got $5 for it. That was a lot
of money at the time, so I started saving them again," he said.
Frank Ventrella started collecting at the age of 6, and remembers going to weekend
shows with his father when he was barely tall enough to see over the tables.
He and a cousin would scamper from dealer to dealer, looking for underpriced coins they
could turn around and sell for a small profit. Or he would scout around for a particular
coin that his father was seeking.
Nicholas was also about 6 when he first became aware of the shiny, and sometimes not so
shiny, metal disks that his father and grandfather brought back from the shows.
Frank Ventrella nurtured his oldest son's interest with a gift of a few coins. Michael
Ventrella added a few others. Today Nicholas has his own collection. But unlike his dad
and grandfather, who prefer mainly American coins, Nicholas collects mainly Canadian
and foreign items.
Designs on U.S. coinage, for the most part, have remained unchanged for decades.
"I like the foreign and Canadian because they are different from everything else,"
Nicholas said.
The number of coin collectors nationwide has risen dramatically in recent years, spurred
largely by the 50 states quarters program that began in 1999 and several new designs on
5-cent pieces starting in 2004. As a result, prices for many older coins have increased.
"The new nickels and quarters stimulated the market. A lot of kids and their parents
started saving them, then they see the older stuff and get interested in that. Down the
road, they might become collectors," Frank Ventrella said.
| Gammill Numismatics, LLC Current Events and Collecting |
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