When I started making videos for You Tube sharing my newfound hobby, I never thought I would have made so many friends. I quickly found the precious metals community who shared my interests and willing to welcome a new guy into the fold.
The community not only answered my questions and gave me advice, but they offered tips on good deals as well as point me to many sellers and contacts to help me in my new stacking adventure. They taught me testing methods to help spot any fakes I am find and guided me to a safer path to stack and collect.
I began to make friends and gained subscribers. I never thought my channel would ever reach fifty subscribers, much less hundreds! Then something happened! My channel went international!
Now, I must tell you, this was a concept I had a hard time wrapping my mind around. I had people from several different countries subscribing, viewing and commenting on my less than professional videos and small channel!
Breaching the borders of my own country never crossed my mind. The fist person I ever did business with outside of the U.S. was Backyard Bullion. I had purchased a ripple bar and dragon from his site and to my surprise, he sent a few gifts!
Two silver coins of considerable age arrived with my orders. A 1916 Florin and a 1893 Half Crown had been tucked away in a flip and capsule inside the packages.
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Both are beautiful coins. I just love the ornate crests and artwork on the reverse of each coin. They are so different from the currency I see here in the states and I am so proud to own two pieces of British history.
However, this was not the only surprise I found in my mailbox!
Another little package came from across the pond and this one was very special! This "little" gift was a total surprise from another Englishman who watched my channel and was very supportive. My fist real fan!!
These little guys are 3 Pence coins made of 50% silver and they came from Oaksie88, a very kind man that, for some reason, liked my videos and channel. I was deeply honored by his gift and these coins will be forever a part of my personal collection. Ranging from the 1920's to the 1940's, these small coins were in great condition and had three different design patterns. Again, I loved the artwork of these beautiful coins from England.
But, the 3 pence coins were not the only ones in the fat little envelope that made up the package.
Oaksie had also sent me a wide sampling of coins from all over the world! I found Euros, a coin from Singapore, and others I still need research just to figure out what country minted them!
Yes, my English friends have been very kind to me and I am very grateful to my friends in the old country. My ancestors are from England and I do have a family crest and coat of arms, so these coins are close to my heart.
As my stack grew, I found the Metals Mafia. The Don, Pit Bullion, took me under his wing and welcomed me to the family. This is when I met Mikegpo, the Canadian connection! Mike has been a steadfast friend ever since. He has helped me through many computer issues and just a good friend to talk to.
While in the Mafia, I have become friends with Dean of Tomoko Enterprises, a good man and awesome pourer. I am honored to call him a friend. I also met Kerris Ravanhill who makes EPIC videos along with a few others.
Pheli Mint also resides in Canada and their Succubus rounds are just too cool.
England and Canada are two of the most familiar countries and neighbors to the United States, imagine how shocked I was to make friends even further away!
This beautiful coin represents the Netherlands! My good friend Alex De Voogt is a proud Dutchman that loves dragons as much as I do! We call each other dragon masters. This has become a self proclaimed title between the two of us like a private joke between best friends.
The bottom line here is that the precious metals community spans the world. No matter what state, provenance, or country, we all share the love of these valuable metals in all their forms. We live in different spots on the globe, but what ever the nationality, we are all the same.
I have greatly enjoyed meeting all my friends in the community and after joining Steemit, I hope to meet many more!
Take care and stack on my friends!
Slacker Stacker
