The Gene Henry Story

Gene L. Henry, a life long resident of Seattle, has been a coin collector since the age of 11 when he inherited a box of old coins from his father. Although the coins were only worth about $10, they started a fascination with numismatics that has lasted his entire life.

At the age of 13, he worked as a cashier at his junior high school and managed to accumulate hundreds of better date Lincoln cents. By the age of 15, he was running ads in the "Numismatic Scrapbook" magazine. When the publisher discovered that Gene was under 21, he suspended his advertising privileges until his mother sent the magazine a notarized letter stating that she would legally stand behind her son's dealings. No one ever had cause to complain to his mother, at least not about his coin business!

In 1958 while in high school, Gene's mail order coin business kept him so busy that he had to quit the basketball and track teams to have enough time to fill coin orders. One ad alone offering 100 mixed pre 1940 mint marked Lincoln cents at $2.95 postpaid drew over 200 orders.

After graduating from high school in 1960, Gene attended his first American Numismatic Association (ANA) convention. He drove from Seattle to Boston and back in a 1949 Ford, which he bought for $25.

After attending the University of Washington, Gene opened Rare Coin Galleries of Seattle on his 21st birthday in May of 1963, which is still in operation.

Gene produced the very first TV show about coins in 1966-67 entitled "Loose Change." He still thinks it would have been a real success the show had not been scheduled opposite ABC's very popular "Wide World of Sports" on Saturday afternoons.

Gene has been a member of the ANA since 1960, holding life membership number 522. He has been a member of the prestigious Professional Numismatists Guild since 1968, being member 171.

He has been a contributor to the Guide Book of US Coins (the "Red Book") and the Handbook of US Coins (the "Blue Book") since 1968.

Gene is the largest volume rare coin dealer in the Pacific Northwest, and has been for many years.