PROLOGUE

The first half of my life was bittersweet. I was born in a Chinese village and during my years as an elementary and secondary student, I switched from one school to another because of the surroundings and financial condition, with the consequence that I'm not quite good at Chinese culture or language. Later I went to Hong Kong where I studied for two years in Queen's College and moved to America before long.

I came to California in December 1958 and have settled in LoS Angeles from 1959 until now.

I was admitted to University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1960 and got my bachelor's degree four years later. In the year 1968 I got my doctor's degree from University of South California and have been doing my post-doctoral study since then until 1969. Then I got my degree of Medicine Doctor from UCLA in 1976.

As for research, I have been doing several studies between 1962 and 1984, ranging from optics to laser, from liquid crystals to flat-screen TV, and later I did research on superconductivity (electrical).

I practiced medicine in Los Angeles in 1978, and then was also responsible for management in hospital and healthcare company. With the mission of contributing to the society, I proposed and set up the Sino-America hospital in Shanghai，China, a decade ago.I was married to Ms. Zheng in 1967, who gave birth to a son and a daughter, but unfortunately she died in 1993.

I was remarried to Ms. Lim and live a happy life together with a successful career. This is the second start of my life.

I have been collecting ancient coins for 40 years. Initially, I bought ordinary coins from antique stores in Chinatowns all over America , bought a dozen of ingots from Mr. E. Kann over 30 years ago and some Kongshoubu (a metallic currency used during the Period of Warring States) and Jincuodao (a metallic currency used under Wang Mang's reign in Han Dynasty) later from Howard Gibbs collection. Then by chance I bought all collections of Mr. Speicher from University of Rochester . This is the start of my collection of ancient coins.

In 1970s and 1980s, I was acquainted with Mr. Zhang Huang from Hong Kong, China and Ms. Ding Gongliang from the States, then with Mr. Li Zhenxing, Mr. Chen Jimao and Mr. Cai Yangwu from Taiwan, China , Mr. Lin Wenhu from Singapore and later with Mr. Ma Dingxiang and Mr. Ma Fude from Shanghai of China.

Recently, few people knew about my collection of Diaomu. I published a paper in China Coin twenty years ago before I was held back by hard work and had to cover my traces. Now I'll bring to light close to a hundred of Diaomu and some rare coins I collected in the past 40 years.

For the achievements in the fi rst half of my life, I owe a lot to my father who has passed away and my mother who is 100 years old. Meanwhile, I am even more grateful for my wife Lin Huihua, without whose support and encouragement, I would not have had my achievements in the recent decade. Certainly the love from my son and daughter gives me spiritual support.

I give my special thanks to Miss Huo Minyi, Miss Cai Xuejing and Miss Long Yingsi for their assistance in edition of this book. And I'd also like to thank Dr. Yang Rong and Ms Yanghuang Huiyan for their valuable opinions on this book.At the same time, I would like to thank Mr. Hao Fengliang and Mr. Li Jingtai for the smooth publication of this book.

Wong Shin-Yin

OCT.2019