Old Man Duffy’s 1821 Capped Liberty Quarter. 200 year old extra fine beauty.

Old Man Duffy’s 1821 Capped Liberty Quarter. 200 year old extra fine beauty..

Old man Duffy used to work out at the Flatbush “Y”. He always yelled at the boyz for grabbing all the weights but was kind spirited and constantly joking and making everyone laugh. Until his final hospitalization and unfortunate demise in 1976, he was in that gym every single day.

I was fortunate enough to be his buddy, no one really knew his birth name, but I found out it was Senan, meaning “old & wise”. His namesake was an ancient founder of monasteries.

People complained that he never spent any coin he ever received. It was postulated that he only spent paper money and always put the change aside. In any case, after he left us, his grandchildren found some of his stash in the attic and spent a good amount on candy and toys.

The family was in an uproar! They consigned most of it to auctioneers. By the time I got to the collection there was about 10% left. I acquired and cared for remnants of this hoard for almost 50 years.

Slowly I have been moving some of these unique items and people are very inspired and glad to be part of the history.

Who’s next!?

Old Man Duffy was a wise cracking and adorable fixture at the Flatbush Y. My dad and Duffy used to always yell at blind Richie and all the boyz for never putting those crazy 45 and 100 pound weights back on the rack.

Duffy worked out every day of his life until final his debilitating illness prevented from doing so. He always had wise words and made everyone in the gym laugh so hard that it was a workout hazard!