This year I got a Kindle for Christmas. Released by online bookseller Amazon in 2007 and upgraded in 2009, the Kindle is an electronic book that is perceived in many quarters as the death knell of the printed word, as much of a threat to physical paper books as Amazon was to brick-and-mortar bookstores.

Like a lot of people, I didn’t know I wanted a Kindle until I held the darn thing in my hands. Sitting at the dining table, I downloaded a free book in seconds (“The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle). A few seconds later I was turning pages, lost in Dr. Watson’s narrative of his brilliant, eccentric, drug-addled friend.

Okay, I wasn’t turning pages: I was pressing a button with the words “NEXT PAGE” on it. The word “PAGE” is also a misnomer: Digital paper is closer to the truth. And even though said paper appears within a vertical, rectangular screen, the screen projects no light, which means it’s easy on the eyes and, like a book, requires a light source in order to be read. Font too small? You can make it bigger with the …

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By Maribeth Keane and Ben Marks

Gerry Fortin almost wrote the book on Liberty Seated dimes. Instead, in 2004, he launched a website called “The Definitive Resource for Liberty Seated Dime Variety Collectors” at seateddimevarieties.com, which is a member of our Hall of Fame. The basis for Fortin’s deep knowledge of Liberty Seated dimes is his personal collection of some 1,500 coins in all the major design groups and varieties.

Like everybody else, I started collecting coins when I was probably around 10 years old—going to the bank, buying a roll of Lincoln cents, and trying to fill those …

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By Maribeth Keane and Ben Marks

Cheryl Ganz is chief curator of philately at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum, which is open every day of the year except Christmas; admission is free. On November 4, 2009, we spoke with her by telephone to talk about zeppelin stamps and the burnt mail that survived the Hindenburg disaster. Ganz is an expert on these topics. She is also an author—her latest book is “The 1933 Chicago World’s Fair: A Century of Progress.” For more information, visit The Smithsonian National Postal Museum’s website, which is a member of our Hall of Fame.

I’ve …

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By Dave Margulius and Ben Marks

Marsha Bemko has been with PBS’s “Antiques Roadshow” for more than 10 years, the last six or so as its executive producer (see our separate Roadshow coverage). Though not a collector herself, her close work with some of the most knowledgeable appraisers in the country has given her a discerning eye for important pieces and a keen ear for a good story. Her latest book, “Antiques Roadshow Behind the Scenes: An Insider’s Guide to PBS’s #1 Weekly Show,” has just been published by Touchstone.

I grew up in a suburb of Boston called …

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By Maribeth Keane and Ben Marks

Dwight Blocker Bowers has one of the best jobs in the country. As curator of the Entertainment History Collections at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, he gets to oversee the institution’s fabled collections of entertainment artifacts, from the ruby slippers Judy Garland wore in “The Wizard of Oz” to a Kermit the Frog puppet from “Sesame Street.” Recently we spoke with Bowers about his role at the Smithsonian, the struggles to compete for objects against deep-pocketed collectors, and his personal passion, costumes. For more information about the Smithsonian’s collection of entertainment memorabilia, visit …

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Recently I read an interesting obit in the New York Times about a guy who spent his whole life tracking the Loch Ness Monster. I think we all have a little of this guy in us – the idea that there’s something out there you’d just like to see once in your lifetime, but doubt you ever will.

Well, I saw a monster last weekend. And it took my breath away.

One of the companies I’ve gotten very interested in over the years is the Hamilton Manufacturing Company of Two Rivers, Wisconsin. For …

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By Maribeth Keane and Anne Galloway

Mike Gutierrez is a Consignment Director at Heritage Auction Galleries and an appraiser on Antiques Roadshow. As a sports autograph authenticator, Gutierrez is probably best known for his initial appraisal of Mark McGwire’s 70th-home-run ball, which sold at auction for $3 million. In this interview, Gutierrez talks about how he got into the sports-memorabilia field, how the field has changed, and the challenges of authenticating an autograph.

I played baseball, basketball, and ran track from the time I was eight years old all the way through high school. Like the other kids in …

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