RIP Alan Herbert

Halfsense · January 22, 2013 2:16PM

Sad news. I just learned that long-time numismatic writer, former ANA Governor and former broadcaster, Alan Herbert, passed away over the weekend. Here's a link to his obituary in the Rapid City, South Dakota newspaper:

Rapid City Journal newspaper story

-donn-

JRocco · January 22, 2013 2:21PM

Sad news
May he RIP
His book "Minting Varieties and Errors" was an early inspiration for me.

CaptHenway · January 22, 2013 2:23PM

Alan and I were on the opposite sides of the Coin World-Numismatic News divide but we were always friends. He was a nice guy!
Tom D.

astrorat · January 22, 2013 2:51PM

RIP

Alan was a good man.

dcarr · January 22, 2013 3:06PM

He once came all the way to Longmont Colorado to give a talk at the Front Range Coin Club meeting.
I also met him a couple years ago at the Cheyenne coin show. He was a great person to talk to about coins.

Coin Finder · January 22, 2013 3:45PM

I enjoyed his writings and his common sense approach to collecting.

VanHalen · January 22, 2013 4:12PM

I enjoyed Alan's writings. He made many fine contributions to the numismatic community. May he rest in peace.

Barndog · January 22, 2013 8:28PM

I used to look for his column first. RIP

gonzer · January 22, 2013 9:18PM

Alan was partially responsible for helping error collecting go mainstream. I would call him a pioneer in the truest sense.

shorecoll · January 22, 2013 9:23PM

I'm with Barndog...used to read him and QDB regularly. RIP.

oldsubguru · January 22, 2013 10:33PM

That is indeed sad news. Alan was a leader in the error / variety community and will be sorely missed. I met him at the FUN show many years ago and both Jeanie and I found him to be a very delightful person, great to talk too and extremely knowledgeable.

errormaven · January 22, 2013 10:45PM

Alan's books on minting errors were indispensible in launching me on my own journey in this fascinating area of numismatics. He is one of those giants upon whose shoulders we stand.

-- Mike Diamond

TwoSides2aCoin · January 22, 2013 10:50PM

May the Lord of all bless us all. I hate death and dying. It is in believing that I do not fear it, but I hate it and I grieve when I read of it.

My condolences to anyone who loses a loved one, particularly my numismatic family. I know you brothers and sisters grieve, too.

cmerlo1 · January 22, 2013 10:53PM

I wrote to him with coin questions when I was a kid- he was always quick to reply and really wanted to help. Though I never met him in person, he will be missed.

ModCrewman · January 22, 2013 11:09PM

I had the privilege of meeting Alan at my first coin show in Sioux Falls, SD a couple years ago and purchased his book and he was kind enough to autograph it for me. I didn't realize his position in the error collecting hobby at the time as I was very new to collecting, but am glad to have had an opportunity to meet him.

mrearlygold · January 22, 2013 11:14PM

Rest in Peace Alan

Unknown · January 22, 2013 11:32PM

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RichieURich · January 23, 2013 12:12AM

I met Alan a couple of times, and read his column consistently. He was a good man, and a great numismatist. He will be missed. My condolances to his family and friends.

Type2 · January 23, 2013 12:35AM

My condolances to his family and rest in peace he will be missed.

originalisbest · January 23, 2013 12:43AM

I'll chime in too, and offer condolences. My loss for never having had the opportunity to meet him, but always enjoyed his writing. We're lucky that he gave us all so much with his contributions, and he'll be long remembered.

ctf_error_coins · January 23, 2013 12:47AM

Alan's book was the first error coin book that I ever purchased.

The book inspired me to pursue error coins as a hobby and profession.

RIP

SullivanNumismatics · January 23, 2013 1:05AM

Sad news, and he will be missed.

codamyer · January 23, 2013 1:31AM

What a major loss to the coin hobby!! I met Alan back in 1975-76 when he showed up at the coin shop I was working at in Westminister Colorado. He was doing research for a book he was writing and was looking for a little help. He had asked if he could go thru any rolls of steel cents we had. We said sure and let him take them home for a few days. Well he came back and showed us what he had found. He had found about 25 RPM #1 1943-D steels lincolns in GEM condition. These are known as the Big one!! In my eyes he was a very honest man and will be missed. Cant believe he only lived about 50 miles from me now and that we were using the same VA facility all these years. Will miss his writings in Numismatic News!! Sad

Jerry

Rollerman · January 23, 2013 1:34AM

I always respected Alan, even more so now that I have read his obituary. What an accomplished man! May God Bless him and keep him.
Pete

DennisH · January 23, 2013 1:40AM

Very well done obituary. Alan was a far busier and more accomplished person than I ever realized.

DorkGirl · January 23, 2013 2:03AM

CaptHenway · January 23, 2013 3:06AM

Alan and Jim Johnson of Collectors Clearinghouse made error collecting what it is today.

telephoto1 · January 23, 2013 3:26AM

<< <i>Alan and Jim Johnson of Collectors Clearinghouse made error collecting what it is today. >>

Agreed. Pioneers in what was then a largely ignored and unpublicized area of collecting. Alan changed that and helped get people interested.
Plus, he was a genuinely nice guy who had the heart of a teacher and was always very giving of his time.
RIP

LostSisler · January 23, 2013 4:41AM

Rest in peace Alan. Sad to hear. Was a good friend...

joeykoins · January 23, 2013 5:22AM

segoja · January 23, 2013 6:38AM

He was a gentleman

EagleEye · January 23, 2013 8:34AM

Very sad. He was one of the most generous people I have ever met in this hobby. The hobby benefited so much by his work, it is hard to even begin to say.

I am very happy to have known him.

denga · January 23, 2013 9:52AM

Taken at the Chicago ANA, August 19, 2011:

...........................................

ProofArtworkonCircs · January 23, 2013 10:42AM

Alan will certainly be missed. He wrote on so many fascinating things.

GeorgeKellogg · January 23, 2013 10:44AM

Like others, I admired Mr. Herbert's writing and his other contributions to our wonderful hobby.

My fondest memory of him involves his kindness to me during the 2001 ANA World's Fair of Money in Atlanta. I was competitively exhibiting at the ANA for the first time, with my entry "A Pedigreed Selection of Gold Coins from the U.S. Branch Mint at Dahlonega, Georgia." I will never forget Mr. Herbert's remarks to me concerning how much he appreciated the work that I did in highlighting many of the great numismatic personalities of the Twentieth Century. He said that the exhibit really meant a lot to him, bringing back fond numismatic memories of yesteryear.

I was touched that such a busy and accomplished numismatist would go out of his way to uplift a fledgling exhibitor. May Mr. Herbert rest in peace.

L1ncolnF4n · January 24, 2013 1:44AM

He certainly had an impact on my collecting.

AUPT · January 24, 2013 3:34AM

I worked with Alan, in Iola and by long distance, during my time with the Krause numismatic division. He was a real pleasure to talk with on wide-ranging topics.

I believe one of his greatest contributions to the hobby was his unofficial status as liaison between the numismatic community and many of the world's mints. His knowledge and professionalism helped show mint directors around the world that collectors were not the enemy. In return, the access he had to world minting facilities allowed him to share a great deal about the coining process with the hobby through his articles, columns and books.

FredWeinberg · January 24, 2013 5:03AM

Alan was there almost 'at the beginning' of
the modern era of mint error collecting.

As mentioned, he was very influential due
to his column in Numismatic News, and his
decades-long contribution in supporting,
writing, and promoting most aspects of
collecting error coins - especially die errors.

I knew Alan since the early 70's (maybe earlier!),
and always had a nice conversation whenever
I would see him at a show or ANA Convention.

At the past 3-4 ANA Conventions, I purchased
his collection and misc. accumulations, of his
error coins.......

He'll be missed, especially by those of us in the
Error coin hobby.

Fred

CoinHusker · January 24, 2013 6:39AM

I was laying in bed with the flu yesterday and read his recent offering in the 1/29 Numismatic News. I'm sorry to hear this news.

Frankcoins · January 27, 2013 10:03PM

I wrote to all the members of the ANA Board of Governors a few years ago when Ebay was ending auctions for listing a "numerical" grade like VAM-37 or
an unapproved grading company like GSA Holder...and were sending out notices that they were doing this in cooperatiion with the ANA, and had a link to an
internal eBay page with the ANA logo, and text that indicated that eBay thought the ANA was a government agency , that if you continued to violate listing
policies, your name would be given to the ANA for "prosecution."

Herbert called me on the phone and was furious about the misuse of the ANA logo and ignorance about what the ANA even is... that exactly what he warned about was happening...if the ANA "cooperates" with eBay, the ebay staff's lack of
numismatic knowledge would result in chaos...problem-free listings would be taken down and the ANA blamed

RIP

DAVEatHLRC · January 27, 2013 11:02PM

RIP Mr Herbert.

I never met him, but I read his column for decades. I liked his no BS, straight-to-the-point style of answering questions.

Edscoin · January 29, 2013 7:03AM

Always loved his column and writings
May he rest in peace!

RIP Alan Herbert

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