Don Olmstead, RIP

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I heard the very sad news today that Don Olmstead has passed away.

He was one of the most liked and respected currency dealers whom I've had the pleasure of knowing.  He was always kind and generous with his time and his knowledge.  Whether you had $10 or $10,000 to spend he treated you with respect and took the time to help you and answer your questions.

This news comes as a great surprise to me and is a tragic loss for the community.  Unfortunately, I don't have any more info.  Anyone who has more details is welcome to post them.

He was one of the most liked and respected currency dealers whom I've had the pleasure of knowing.  He was always kind and generous with his time and his knowledge.  Whether you had $10 or $10,000 to spend he treated you with respect and took the time to help you and answer your questions

-Yes, so true. Great guy to chat with. Very well respected amongst every collector I know (knew). Big loss. So sorry to hear.

Very sad indeed.  Always made it a point to visit his table at the RCNA Conventions or at the Toronto Coin Expo.
He will certainly be missed by those in the collecting community.   

I agree that he was one of the more respected dealers having been in business for over 50 years.
Attempts to find an online obituary failed to turn up anything.  It also appears his website and ebay account have been suspended.  I wonder if his son David will be carrying on the family tradition.  Either way I can see Geoffrey Bell Auctions getting involved and helping the family out if they need it or decide to dispose of their inventory.

Received an email from an RCNA director with a link to a facebook page for St. Croix Church in St. Stephen, NB.

Apparently Don passed away on June 20th after a short battle with cancer.  Other than that not much else on the church website.  https://stcroixchurch.ca/

I am so sorry to hear of Don's passing.  I wondered what happened to Don's website...I wanted to make a purchase only to find that the site had been taken down.  Initially, I thought that Don had retired from the business.

When I first became involved in the paper money hobby back in the 1990s, As a young teenager, I attended the TOREX show and Don was one of the people who helped me to learn about collecting Canadian Paper Money.  He always gave honest assessments and advice and this was especially important to me as a young collector.

Doing business with Don was always a pleasure; he always greeted you with a smile and a handshake, and his merchandise was conservatively graded and fairly priced.

If you wanted to sell an item to Don, he was truly "the higher buyer" and he would never put down or criticize what you had to offer.

I can vouch for the fact that Don was more than willing to help collectors; Last year, I participated in an 80's & 90's nostalgia show and I thought it would be cool to give vintage currency as change to the customers.  I emailed Don with my request for "spenders" and he came through with flying colours!  Don insisted that he wanted to sell me the "spenders" at face value plus a stamp...because he thought that what I was doing was a neat idea!

The numismatic community has lost a gem.  I will miss seeing Don at the coin shows.  I would like to express my sincere condolences to Don's family and friends.  RIP.

So very sad.  I lost a good and dear friend.

So very sad.  I lost a good and dear friend.

Very sad indeed. I think the community has lost a dedicated and knowledable person. RIP

Canadian Coin News article:

https://canadiancoinnews.com/don-olmstead/

I received the tragic news this morning via the IBNS online forum. I first met Don in the late 1970's and I recall visiting him in St. Stephen during a vacation in the 1980's. i dealt with him on numerous occasions as both a buyer and a seller. I always remember the time when he discovered an extensive hoard of consecutive UNC Bank of P.E.I. notes, and I purchased a few from him at an early MONEX show in Montreal. Don was perennially cheerful, courteous and generous with his information. He will be greatly missed but his huge contributions to the hobby will never be forgotten.

R.I.P., my friend. It was a great privilege to have known you.

Graham H. Neale