Sixty-seven-year-old West Brighton native Fred Marcucci is not among those elected for induction to the National Baseball Hall of Fame this summer, but a small part of him will nevertheless be immortalized in Cooperstown, NY.

Last month, Marcucci forked over his cherished Topps coin collection, which he displayed on a wall of his family home for 55 years, after reaching out to the Hall to gauge its interest in the memorabilia -- which could be found in packs of baseball cards in 1964, along with a flat piece of bubble gum.

Marcucci’s collection of 55 coins, which featured the likes of Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, Juan Marichal, Lou Brock, and others, displayed the player’s picture on the front of the silver-dollar-sized coin, along with a small bio on the back.

Unbeknownst to Marcucci, he possessed the initial 1964 distribution -- which is far more scarce to come by than the second and third distributions, which came around in the 70s and 80s.

“We would be glad to accept them into the permanent collection of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum,” wrote Hall of Fame registrar Peyton Tracy. “We currently don’t have any examples of this particular set of Topps baseball coins in our collection and your donation would be filling a unique gap in our archive.”

Though he fancies himself more of a “saver” than a collector, it was the thrill of a lifetime when the lifelong Yankees fan received the news.

“I was so honored and thankful when the Hall of Fame decided to accept and display my collection,” said Marcucci. "It’ll be preserved forever, it wasn’t about the money. It’s about the history, the preservation.

“It was a thrill for me, a natural high when they got accepted...I couldn’t wait to tell my friends,” he added. “I’m a baseball lifer. It’s my passion, I watch every game...it’s important for me to have the stuff preserved.”

The ’64 distribution is so rare because many of the coins were simply discarded in the trash over the years -- a harrowing thought for a “saver” like Marcucci.

“You just have that feeling,” said Marcucci when asked why he never threw any of it away. “You look at this and you just can’t throw it away, it’s too nice.”

Initially, parting with the items was somewhat trying (especially the likeness of the great Yankee legend Mickey Mantle), which is exactly why he needed to personally hand over the artifacts.

“Yes, it was tough, but for it to be in the Hall of Fame was a no-brainer,” said Marcucci. "We went to the Hall of Fame, I didn’t want to send it in the mail.

“I wanted to get them up there for safe keeping to be preserved forever,” he added.

Nevermind the fact that Marcucci has enough memorabilia, not just limited to baseball, to fill an entire house.

“Most of it’s in my attic,” said Marcucci. “There’s no room, you would need a whole house anyway.”

Among the rest of his collection is the front page of the Daily News from Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point game in 1962, as well as a ticket stub from Willis Reed’s triumphant return to the court in game seven of the 1970 NBA Finals.

But, back to baseball, and back to the Hall of Fame -- a place Marcucci plans to return to in the not-so-distant future.

And he’ll have plenty of opportunities to do so after receiving a lifetime pass to Cooperstown for his conservation efforts.

“I’m in the Hall of Fame now, ya know?” he joked to his wife Karen. "It’s for other people from around the country to see it now. I’ll take a ride with my friends to see it when it’s on display and make a weekend of it.

“I’m proud, very proud,” he added. “Not too many people can say they’ve done this...it was an effort to save the collection, I love it and it was very satisfying.”