Iola teen plans for future

Most 17-year-olds are vague about their professional futures.
Not Thealvin Minor. He has a very definite idea — coin collecting.
“I’d like to start with a professional grading service,” Thealvin said. Or, if that doesn’t materialize, “work with a large coin shop.”
Eventually — “maybe by the time I’m 35 or so” — he’d like to be on his own in a shop and dealing at major shows, where a single transaction ranging in thousands of dollars isn’t uncommon.
His background, recent and over several years, indicates success.
Jon Minor, his father, has been a coin dealer for about 35 years, often full time and also wrapping it around several years of teaching.
“I’ve helped my dad at shows since I was 5 and I’ve been collecting since I was about 11,” Thealvin said, noting he has accumulated a substantial collection of Civil War tokens.
He has added important accomplishments to his resume of late.
He recently spent four days at the American Numismatic Association headquarters in Colorado to attend a coin-grading and toning seminar, with the advantage of a $1,000 scholarship provided by the Kansas Numismatic Association. He is a director of the KNA, unusual for one of his age, and also is a member of the national Young Numismatics group.
He came away from the seminar with flying colors.
“I was the top one in my class in grading,” Thealvin said.
He correctly identified grades of 15 or 20 coins in the final test. None of the other participants came close to that success rate.
The class involved having the young coin enthusiasts look at about 1,500 of coins prior to the final test, to the point “that my eyes got red and tired,” Thealvin recalled.
In the toning class instructors pointed out how to determine whether a coin toned naturally — taking an often dark or colorful hue — or whether it was done artificially. In many cases toned coins command a higher price, if the process comes about in a natural way.
Thealvin stayed in a dormitory with other participants and made several new friends, with memorable ones being from Chicago and Oklahoma.
“I made a lot of contacts that will be useful for me later,” he said.
A highlight was having an opportunity to view the ANA’s Money Museum, and see extremely rare coins, including two 1804 silver dollars, of which there are only 15 known to exist.
He will a senior at Iola High School this fall.