Arnie Margolis Passed Away -Added: My Thoughts

FredWeinberg

I just rec'd an email from Arnie's son that
Arnie passed away Monday Night.

I'll get more info and post it later.

Arnold Margolis, among many many things,
was the continual, without interruption,
Publisher of Error Trends Coin Magazine,
from 1968 to early 2011.

I've lost a good friend, mentor, and colleague;
The Error coin hobby has lost a pioneer, an
educator, and one of it's most vocal proponents.

Fred Weinberg

joeykoins

CaptHenway

Arnie did more than anybody else to civilize the error hobby, establishing facts and clearing out the myths and bullroar from the 50's and 60's. He will be missed.

TD

Sonorandesertrat

"The Error coin hobby has lost a pioneer, an
educator, and one of it's most vocal proponents."

That he was. My condolences to his family.

AUandAG

I'm feel for all his friends and family, you included Fred.

RIP

bob

chieftain1

Sorry to hear of his passing.......my thoughts go out to his family........another pioneer in the numismatic field goes down

Broadstruck

OMG

I'm missing Alan Levy too... Another major loss for the mint error community!

keyman64

ricko

My condolences to family and friends... RickO

STONE

The Cud and general error community truly has lost a die hard contributor to this hobby.

So sad to hear this. My conversations with him were more than enlightening.

cmerlo1

Definitely one of the pioneers. I remember reading his work when I was a kid.

Our condolences to his family.

astrorat

Very sad news, the hobby has lost one of its best.

19Lyds

Yes, very sad news.

cladking

At a time we've lost so much we need to remember the family, no doubt, lost much more.

RIP.

seanq

Very sad news, my sincere condolences to his family as well.


Sean Reynolds

MsMorrisine

terrible

terrible year.

ctf_error_coins

Very sad, and a loss to the error coin community.

I never met him but I did meet Alan Levy who also recently passed on, I still have many coin's in my error collection from Alan.

RIP

Dentuck

Mr. Margolis was a longtime contributor to the Red Book's pricing
for errors and misstruck coins. My condolences to his family and
his many friends and associates, on behalf of everyone at
Whitman Publishing.

messydesk

Sad news. General sympathies to the hobby and personal sympathies to those who knew him well.

RichieURich

Arnie Margolis was a numismatist of significant importance, so much that everyone knew his name and his name always came up when errors, cuds, etc. were being discussed.

RIP, Mr. Margolis, and my sympathies and prayers for his family and friends.

MFH

A true Pioneer in his field and will be greatly missed
by all who enjoyed his passion.

My deepest condolences to his Family and Friends.

OffMetal

I'm very saddened to hear of Mr. Margolis' passing. He has contributed to the error world for as long as I have been in this hobby. I have dealt with him several times over eBay and he was always a pleasure to interact with.

My condolences to his family and friends.

Ben

mingot

His book was the second numismatic book I ever owned (after the obligatory redbook) and I really enjoyed the heck out of it. RIP and my condolences to his family.

mrearlygold

RIP

Coinosaurus

Never met Arnie, but subscribed to the magazine. Produciing a publication for40+ years is an amazing feat.

FredWeinberg

Thanks for the kind words - I've passed
them on to his wife and son.

I wrote a quick 'stream of consciousness'
article that Coin World will edit and use a
small part of for their story.

It's just a short history of Arnie,
his contributions, our relationship,etc.

I can post it here, if you folks
think it's appropriate.

gonzer

He and John Devine were the "go to" guys back in the day. As a newb in '72 I had a fair share of correspondence with Arnie and always came away wiser (not always happier tho'). He had a unique way about him, a lesson learned from him was ingrained forever.

cladking

<< <i>Thanks for the kind words - I've passed
them on to his wife and son.

I wrote a quick 'stream of consciousness'
article that Coin World will edit and use a
small part of for their story.

It's just a short history of Arnie,
his contributions, our relationship,etc.

I can post it here, if you folks
think it's appropriate. >>



Thanks.

Yes, of course, please post it here.

bidask

Sorry to hear ...my prayers go out to his family and you.

What a great career he had!

FredWeinberg

Here's what I wrote this morning, about an hour after hearing
that Arnie has passed. It's a quick 'stream of consciousness'
type writing - not as detailed as I could have made it, and I'm
certain I left out some important details about his contributions.





Arnold Margolis – An Error Hobby Pioneer

With the passing of Arnold Margolis, the error coin hobby has lost one of the original pioneers of this segment of coin collecting. I had the honor and pleasure of knowing Arnie for almost 50 years – and I’ve always credited Arnie as being one of the three people who encouraged and motivated me to become a coin dealer, which has been my profession for 40 years.

Arnie was a former Senior Video Control Engineer for NBC for over 35 years, and was proud of his decades of work there, and his contacts with history, including being on the NBC team that presented the funeral of John F. Kennedy in 1963.

Arnie was a member of the Board of CONE (Collectors of Numismatic Errors), the first major national error club, and was also the first President of it’s off shoot, NECA (Numismatic Error Collectors of America). His participation in numismatics also included being past President of the Queens Country Coin Club, and of NECOLI (Numismatic Error Collectors of Long Island).

His list of authored books and publications include: How Error Coins Are Made in the U.S. Mints, The Error Collector’s handbook, Mint Errors on Carson City Dollars, The Error Coin Encyclopedia (4 editions), The Numismatic Error Primer, Co-author of The Design Cud, and long-time Publisher of NECA’s monthly Errorscope.

He won awards for his work, and was a member of the NGC (Numismatic Literary Guild In addition to numerous award-winning articles about error coins and the Minting Process that have been published in the Numismatist and other coin Publications, he was active in producing error coin seminars for the ANA annual Conventions, and was a judge for the Error Coin category for the ANA and for FUN.

A tireless advocate for education and knowledge in the coin hobby, one of his proudest achievements was the continual publication, since 1968, of ETCM –Error Trends Coin Magazine, which was issued without interruption, till early 2011, when he had to cease writing and publishing ETCM due to health issues.

When he first started ETCM in 1968, it was the first commercial Error publication and he made sure each month’s issue contained information on the Minting Process, how to reach the marketplace of error collectors, and education of what ‘odd’ or ‘strange’ coins collectors found.

Arnie, along with Mort Goodman (deceased) were the face of the error hobby In the 1960’s – Mort traveling across the country from Los Angeles , with a large educational exhibit in the trunk of his car, stopping by coin club meetings and making a presentation about the Minting Process and Mint Errors. When he got to New York and finally met Arnie, the two became fast friends, starting Mar-Good, a company that issued the very first coin boards to hold errors.
I had been writing back and forth with Arnie since about 1964, and met him for the first time at the inaugural “Error-A-Rama” coin show – the very first coin show dedicated to Error Coins, at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, in the summer of 1967. Arnie, along with Mort Goodman and Syd Kass, let me help with the convention and show exhibits, and my enthusiasm and knowledge gained from the one coin show led me to a 40-year profession as a coin dealer.

At that show, without my knowledge, Arnie had invited my mother to attend the EAR Banquet, where he presented me, as a 17-year old, a special Award as EAR’s “Man Friday” for all of the help and time I had given at the show. What was on the Plaque, in addition to the words of thanks? An actual Comb – because, It being 1967, my hair was pretty long for a coin collector – and one of the few young numismatists who were so involved in error coins. We joked about that Plaque ever since!

In 1973, Arnie and I were invited by the GSA (General Services Administration)to go up to the West Point Depository (not yet an official US Mint), and examine the numerous Mint Error Carson City Dollars that were found as the coins were being processed and packaged in the GSA Plastic cases. One of the reasons they wanted us to see the errors was because of the back-lash to the ‘high pricing’ of the Carson City Dollars- and they thought that any publicity about the possible error coin the purchaser would receive, would be helpful.

Arnie wrote articles for Coin World, ETCM, and his own booklet, about our experiences at West Point, and the error coins we were able to examine.

It was my first time in New York, and his hospitality, along with Joan, his beloved wife, left a memory of that trip that has lasted to this day. It was the continuation of a friendship and a relationship that has never ended, to this day.

Arnie was also proud to be one of the sponsors who literally pushed the ANA to recognize error coins in their own category of Exhibits, at the 1977 ANA Convention in Atlanta. That was considered a major milestone in our hobby segment.

For the past three decades or so, Arnie and I were always in contact – by phone sharing information, asking questions, trying to figure out ‘stumpers’ of error coins that we just quite couldn’t figure out – as well as buying and selling error coins.

Arnie was ‘Arnie’ – with his New York ‘edge,’ an endearing quality I was always able to see as part of the great man he was, helping always with the truth, his honest view of a situation, and his only regard for the education and enlightenment of the collector.

In the past ten years, we had always set up next to each other at the annual FUN shows in January, where we would share memories, stories, and current events of the error coin hobby. On the bourse floor, at dinner, or just on the phone, you knew you were in contact with one of the great supporters of Coins and Mint Error coins!

Arnie’s impact on my life, both professionally and personally, has been great. In addition to the motivation and education he gave me, he also was one of the first in the business to show me that honesty, integrity, and fellowship are important components of life, in every segment.

Although Arnie had been ill for just over a year, it was still a shock to me to hear of his passing this morning. One of the most important people to be part of most of my life is gone – but someone like Arnie will never be forgotten. His impact on the numismatic world at large, and specifically in our smaller community of error coins, will be felt forever.

Fred Weinberg

EagleEye

Very sad news. He will be missed. He left a legacy that will last for a long, long time. Numismatics was much better because of his tireless work at educating collectors about errors.

Spooly

Condolences to his family.

Julian

Very sorry to hear of Arnie's passing.

RIP

Beautiful tribute, Fred.

Swampboy

Sorry for your loss Fred and for the loss for all Arnie's friends and family.
May he rest in peace.
Very touching tribute.
-Gil

nwcoast

Very well written and a nice tribute there Fred.
From just reading this, and having never met the man, your "stream of consciousness" tribute paints a very real and moving portrait.
I'm sorry you've lost a good friend and I'm sorry that the hobby has lost such an influencial figure.

and... You're far too modest in relation to your own writing Fred. I thought it was very well done and a great tribute! He must have meant a great deal to you, and it's expressed well. He sounds like a really GREAT guy!!

astrorat

Thank you, Fred. That was very nice.

oreville

Arnie was one of my mentors. I had expected him to get better.
I am still in shock.


RIP, Arnie.

You were one of the ones that made me proud to be a New Yorker and a coin collector to boot.

Lakesammman

Sorry to hear the news. Thanks for the tribute, Fred.

FredWeinberg

Thanks for the kind words about Arnie.

He was certainly a special 'character'
in the hobby.

I hope my little tribute to him gave a
picture of what he had done in his
participation and support of the error
coin hobby....

ctf_error_coins

Thank you Fred, I now know a lot more about the man.

I feel for your loss and his families loss as well as the loss to the numismatic community.

johnny9434

my condolance's and best wishes to you and everyone involved. i'm sorry to hear that

pakasmom

I can't imagine them feeling the need to edit anything from your informative and touching tribute.

Rest in peace, Arnie.

jmcu12

Very sad news. He will be missed.

GregL

Fred, thank you for passing along this sad news.

I recall a number of years in the early 1990s where I -- as a college student at the time -- had to play mediator between Arnie and yourself as the three of us judged the Errors & Varieties exhibit category at ANA Summer Conventions! It was an honor and privilege to work with both of you.

Arnie will be greatly missed.

Greg

coinkat

Very sad to read- our thoughts and prayers are with the family

Nice tribute Fred as we reflect back on Arnie's contributions to numismatics

goodmoney4badmoney

Here's his very first issue of ETCM,

errormaven

I got my start reading the Error Coin Encyclopedia and subscribed to ETCM for many years. Whatever I've accomplished is built on a foundation that Arnie helped construct. I will always be grateful for that.

-- Mike Diamond

DorkGirl

TwoSides2aCoin

This one fact alone about numismatics makes me want to leave it: Losing those we grow to love for what they've given the rest of us.
Thank you Fred. As gracious as your words are, the sting of death strikes deep.
I've lost enough friends the past 3 years that these type of postings remind me of how precious life is. I love what numismatics offers us, though I despise what it offers up: Loved ones dedicated to the cause.
My condolences to anyone who's recently lost or who loses a loved one, but in this thread specifically;
You, Arnie's closest friends, family and OUR whole coin world.

ronniebare

A thing to remember...it's warming to see how much Arnie meant to the coin hobby, and errors specifically, but folks, we need to tell them while they are with us, not after they're gone. Mr. Margolis in errors will likely rank with the likes of Walter Breen. I met both, but did not get to thank either for their efforts and what they did to help educate me. Ron Fern, errorist since 1969.

TCoins

Very sad......