By Harvey G. Stack, Senior Numismatic Consultant
From the first time I worked (part time) at Stack’s, I saw my father, Morton, and my Uncle Joe give special attention to young, budding collectors when they visited our offices and retail shop in the early 1940s.
My cousins Ben and Norman, Joseph Stack’s sons, and I, Morton’s son, were instructed and encouraged to help and pay attention to the young people, for they could become the numismatists and friends of the future.
The roster is long and many of the names legendary, but I will try to give some idea of the wonderful visitors we received through the decades.
I start with Cornelius Vermeule, who came to visit us in the late 1930s and early 1940s, accompanied by his father, as he added coins to his collection. Cornelius was a lover of classical ancient coins, U.S. coins (which he received from this grandfather and father), and was excited by coins of the Orient.
For a few summers Cornelius worked at Stack’s sorting and cataloging coins. He went off to military service early in World War II. He was stationed in Japan at the end of the war and was selected, with his close friend Norman Jacobs, to inventory the Bank of Japan’s numismatic holdings. Upon returning to the United States, a new book was written entitled “Japanese Coinage” by Vermeule and Jacobs, published by Stack’s.
Cornelius worked for us part-time in the late 1940s and then went on to be the Curator of Numismatics at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Later he became director of that museum. Stack’s is very happy that one of our protégés went on to fame.
Another name, John J. Ford, Jr., was “a wiz” of a numismatist, who worked part-time with Stack’s prior to World War II. He did a lot of apprentice work in our offices. He entered the U.S. Army in 1942 and remained in Military Intelligence until he came home in 1946. His love for coins brought him back to Stack’s where he worked until late 1947. He was encouraged as a youth and became a celebrated numismatist for nearly 60 years. Stack’s always kept his friendship and relied on his great “numismatic brain” to enhance its catalogs. He always said “I went to Stack’s as a youngster and graduated a numismatist.” His famous collection of mostly early Americana was featured in 21 catalogs, issued by Stack’s. Stack’s always encouraged John, and we are duly proud of his close association and long friendship with the Stack family.
Another collector who credits Stack’s and myself for helping him and selling him his first coins was Q. David Bowers. Dave has a love affair with numismatics and went from his visits to Stack’s to becoming a dealer in the mid 1950s. He has written a library full of reference books and cataloged numerous collections. We were so excited when he joined the Stack’s family in September 2006. Just to think this all might have happened from being encouraged by Stack’s during his formative days!
A father and son team visited Stack’s in the early 1950s. Dennis Wolfson, son of Samuel Wolfson, was looking to fill his Lincoln cent collection. As Norman Stack helped him, his father Sam browsed about our well-appointed shop on 57th Street. He became excited seeing the wonderful displays in the showcases. When he asked about certain coins they were shown to both Dennis and his father from our vaults. With the encouragement of his son, Sam decided to build a United States gold, silver, and copper collection. Sam felt that the coin collection would become a special bond between his son and himself, like many other coin collectors have experienced in the past.
Among the great rarities assembled by Samuel Wolfson were a 1804 silver dollar, an 1866 No Motto silver dollar, an 1876-CC twenty-cent piece, virtually every date and mint in gold, silver, and copper, in addition to a superb array of classical gold from 1795 through 1834. He accomplished this remarkable feat in less than a decade, with his son Dennis at his side.
Unfortunately, Sam became sick in the early 1960s and decided he wanted his collection sold. Stack’s sold his gold coins in 1962 and his silver and copper in 1963. Both were among the most significant offerings of the 1960s.
Overall it is quite evident that the young collectors stimulated their parents to advance their coin collecting endeavors and interests. So many collections were developed by young collectors who continued them into adult life. For this reason, Stack’s has always encouraged the youth to collect.
One of the most exciting development programs we provided in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s was to be visited by the school coin club of the Pingry School, a well-known private school in New Jersey. During that time the history and economics teacher was Edward Knoke. He found by forming a coin club, he could advance the influence on his students of history and economics through numismatics. The members of the club had collections of classical coins through to modern world coins. Once a month or every six weeks on Saturday, the club would make a field trip to New York City. The first stop was always the Chase Money Museum, where curator Vernon L. Brown showed them the new displays and generally gave them a short talk.
Next stop was Stack’s where they were welcomed, shown coins of their interest, and mingled with the famous collectors who visited Stack’s each week. The Stack family and staff welcomed these budding collectors. To this very day, some of the members of the Pingry School Coin Club are still collectors.
Our interest in young numismatists was not limited to New York. When Florence Schook, a former governor of the American Numismatic Association (ANA) saw a need to encourage “youth to collect,” Stack’s always supported her tireless efforts. Stack’s provided breakfast and speakers at National Conventions, gave prizes for special displays and presentations by these youthful collectors. In addition, Stack’s supported field trips to various museums and sponsored several youths attending the annual coin seminar at ANA Headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado. We are proud that many of these young collectors became noted numismatists in their adult lives.
A few of the great “graduates” of the ANA seminars included Michael Druck, Vicken Yegparian, and John Kraljevich. Michael worked for Stack’s for almost a decade and provided many wonderful catalogs. Unfortunately he passed away about 10 years ago.
Vicken Yegparian is presently with Stack’s and has been for quite a few years. He is unquestionably one of the most promising numismatists in America. He too is proud of being a “graduate” of Florence Schook’s school for young numismatists. He is a perfect example of the type of numismatist she helped develop, as he is knowledgeable, bright, personable, and helps develop collectors, young and old on a daily basis.
John Kraljevich has also worked for Stack’s, having been a creative member of the Young Numismatists and now is considered one of the best and most informative catalogers of United States coins in America today. We are proud of him as well.
Stack’s has continued to sponsor educational programs and within the past decades also has supported the American Numismatic Society, located here in New York. Busloads of students have visited the society each week and received lectures about coins. In addition to funding the teachers, Stack’s provided work manuals to assist the young pupils’ lessons about the art of numismatics and developing collections.
One of the major goals of the Stack family, as well as our entire staff, is to develop a solid interest in numismatics by young collectors. We can only hope other sponsors will come forward to support various clubs and organizations countrywide.
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