Aug

#3 Jay CLINE ~ A kind Collector with a Big Heart!

By Dan Leininger, Webmaster

2023 In the previous post, about Jay Cline,

his kindness & graciousness

are quite evident.

Don Becker commented years after their meeting:

“We had a fun dinner visiting,

maybe three hours.

We were worn out.

~. ~. ~. ~. ~. ~. ~.

On July 22, 2010: After He and Don Becker made plans to meet at the Boston American Numismatic Association meeting.

Jay also reached out to me by email.

Emails with Jay Cline …

“My name is J. H. Cline, and Don Becker contacted you about me. I am the man who wrote a book about the quarters Hermon MacNeil designed for the U.S. government. I have specialized in 1916-1930 quarters since 1976, and have a collection of memorabilia related to Mr. MacNeil. I am a full-time coin dealer in Florida at this time, although I did business in Ohio for many years prior to my move down here.”

“Don and I are tentatively scheduled to meet for the first time, in Boston, on August 13th. I look forward to spending some time with him. I think he told me you are his first cousin?”

“Don tells me you are constructing a website. I would like to see some of your work and would appreciate the web address when it is complete. Where did you study? What are your favored subjects?”

“Please reply when you have the opportunity to do so.”

J. H. Cline

On Jul 22, 2010: I wrote back to Jay Cline mentioning:

That Don and I made a 40 minute presentation to about 50 family members about his collecting of SLQs since his teen years and I introduced the website giving Jay a link to it?: https://hermonatkinsmacneil.com/

That the website was just 3 months old. I posted about Jay’s book, reviews, order details and SLQ images. LINK

That I Learned about “Uncle Hermon” from my mother. Her comments about my resemblance to her father (Hermon’s cousin), Tom Henry McNeil. I shared how my McNeil \MacNeil heritage had became the impetus for this website ~ a virtual MacNeil Gallery ~ his works across USA.

That the Fourth Edition of The Standing Liberty Quarter excelled. “Your work is the best source I have found so far on the life of Hermon Atkins MacNeil.”

That my own life work and family history, included engineering, ministry, teaching and chaplaincy.

That all these seeds have grown as I approach retirement. I planned to travel and photograph all the MacNeil sculptures and art that I can find. [ The website has been a documentary of that since 2010. ]

Lastly, “Here’s my Wild Hair idea! ~ 2016 is the 100th anniversary of the first SLQ, as well as, the 150 anniversary of the birth of Hermon Atkins MacNeil. “Does someone like yourself have ideas on how to mark and celebrate that year?” Dan Leininger

Later, Jay Cline wrote back:

Hello Dan,

It was so nice to hear back from you so quickly. I am headed out to St. Louis for a convention, but when I return, I will take the time to carefully look over the website. I look forward to doing that on Monday/Tuesday?

[ He gave me permission to use images from his website ]

Re: “Wild Hair”. I’ll have to think about that. Yes, I am life member #547 with the ANA, so I do have an opportunity to bend a few ears that could result in an anniversary project. I’ll ask around and share the feedback with you. We DO have time – although 2016 will be here before you blink! I choose to work full-time through my retirement, and the days fly by.

I’ll be in touch next week.

Jay

My Emails with Jay Cline ended there!

Jay Cline (from http://www.slqs.com/ )

Jay was right…

“the days did fly by”

until 2015 when I saw

this obituary …

J.H. Cline, of Palm Harbor, Fla., died Jan. 8, 2015, from injuries suffered in an accident.

He was owner of J.H. Cline Rare Coins. Mr. Cline specialized in Standing Liberty quarter dollars for more than 40 years.

In 1975 he published Standing Liberty Quarters. The fourth edition of the book was published in 2007.

Mr. Cline “began collecting coins in high school with a few Indian Head cents. His first Standing Liberty Quarter was a severely cleaned 1918-S from a friend who asked the great sum of 35¢ for the coin. He bought that piece in the early 1950’s,” his website states.

Mr. Cline is survived by his wife, Vicki, two daughters, and three sons.

Mrs. Cline told Coin World that per her husband’s instructions, “a private memorial service may be held at a later date.”

Mr. Cline began his full-time career in numismatics in 1964. He spent 31 years operating his own coin shop, Cline’s Rare Coins on Salem Avenue in Dayton, Ohio, before moving to Palm Harbor.

Mr. Cline was a life member of the American Numismatic Association. He was also a member of the Indiana State Numismatic Association, National Silver Dollar Roundtable, Florida United Numismatists, Central States Numismatic Society, and other coin clubs.

Source: Retrieved from World Coin News https://www.coinworld.com/news/us-coins/longtime-coin-dealer-j-h-cline-dies.html

Saddened by that news, I went ahead

with plans for my Wild Hair idea! … the

Hermon Atkins MacNeil Medallion

celebrating 2016

as both a Centennial

the first minting of

of the Liberty Standing Quarter

and a Sesquicentennial

the birth of “Uncle”

Hermon Atkins MacNeil