THE NUMISMATIST PROFILES JOSEPH ESPOSITO

As a boy growing up in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, Joseph Esposito discovered his love of numismatics at Gimbels department store. “In the early 1960s, my father took me to the Philadelphia location, and I purchased my first collectable coin—a badly worn 1825 large cent.”

The duo also made pilgrimages to the local hobby shop in Hazleton, where the young collector purchased uncirculated half dimes from 1850 and 1861, which he describes as his first truly important pieces. “These coins cost me $33.50 at the time, but to me they are priceless.”

As a teenager, Esposito pored over issues of  Coin World and considered A Guide Book of United States Coins (the “Red Book”) to be his “secular Bible.” “Fifty years later, I still enjoy what these publications have to offer,” he says.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in history from The Pennsylvania State University (Phi Beta Kappa), he went on to attain master’s degrees from five schools: The Pennsylvania State University, George Mason University, Georgetown University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Virginia.

Esposito spent most of his career in government and politics. “I served in three presidential administrations, most recently as deputy under secretary for international affairs at the U.S. Department of Education.” In this position, he focused on establishing bilateral relationships with countries such as Ireland, Chile and China, noting that “It was a great pleasure to be actively engaged with the United States’ return to UNESCO in 2004.” He also served as the international narcotics coordinator at the U.S. Agency for International Development for 11 years, working closely on Asian development issues.

Esposito left the government in 2005 and works as an adjunct professor of history at Northern Virginia Community College. A seasoned writer, he currently is penning Dinner in Camelot, a book about an evening that President and Mrs. Kennedy hosted for 49 Nobel Prize winners and other American intellectuals at the White House in April 1962.

The self-proclaimed “inveterate collector” has always viewed numismatics as a hobby and never considers the investment opportunity of a particular piece. “I love that it provides a vehicle for learning and an opportunity for fellowship.” He is a member of numerous clubs, including the Medal Collectors of America, the Colonial Coin Collectors Club and the Virginia Numismatic Association.

After decades of collecting U.S. coins, including an almost-complete set of Morgan dollars (“alas, without the 1895,” he notes), Esposito shifted his focus to colonial coppers and medals. “I’m particularly fond of 18th-century Betts specimens and Washington medals of 1889,” he says. “I consider them to be miniature works of art with great stories to tell about different eras and personalities.”

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Wayne Homren, Editor

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