Barbara Van-Helsdingen's Bio
Hello fellow collectors and escapists!! I had a troubled youth and then I found coins & currency to collect. My younger sister was given a year set of Canada Centennial coins and currency by her Godparents. She was too young to appreciate it yet so I would take it off her dresser and look at it all the time. Then I started asking her Godfather who worked at the post office all about the coins. I used to go to visit him at work and ask all kinds of questions about stamps, coins, and currency. Then he took me to the Steel Brothers Coin and Hobby Shop on Queen St. I began my lifelong passion of collecting by sorting, stocking, and preserving new items for the store. I'd sort coins and put them in holders and staple them. I'd fill glasines with stamps. I'd place the banknotes in plastic holders and then put them in the display case. I loved looking at all the different notes from around the world. I especially liked the historical people on the notes. I would look them up later in an encyclopedia at the library. Eventually I joined my first numismatic club and I've never looked back. I hope you love this hobby as much as I do!