In The Numismatist, a priest recalls a defining childhood summer during which his father's affair shattered his family. Befriended against his will by an elderly numismatist and a lonely neighborhood boy named Percy, the young James is forced to confront the realities of his parents' crumbling marriage, his fragile faith, and his own capacity for darkness. The temptation to project his resentment onto others slowly fades beneath the pressure of the love and inspiration he finds in his two neighbors, putting James on track to someday become a man of God.