NUMISMATISTS ATTEND SERVICES FOR PUBLISHER AL HOCH

On May 21, I attended a memorial service in honor of Al Hoch. After 10 days of rain, the skies parted and you could not ask for a more beautiful day. There were about 50 who gathered at the Old Cemetery in Lincoln Massachusetts to pay tribute to the man who had such a profound impact on colonial numismatics and numismatic publishing but who shunned the limelight and the accolades he was due. Loving stories and reminiscences were delivered by his three sons and daughter, but I will say the most touching was his 13 year grandson talking about how he researched a colonial note using a book sent to him by Eric Newman.

The numismatic contingent consisted of just myself and Edmund Sullivan whom I met for the first time. After the service, we were invited back to David Hoch's home for a reception where many photos and memorabilia were displayed. The first thing I spotted in the foyer was the Aaron Feldman plaque that I had placed in Al's hands 19 years ago at the Numismatic Bibliomania Society meeting at the Orlando ANA convention. It obviously had meant more to Al than just another piece of wood and bronze.

Invitations to the service included a reproduction of a handsome portrait taken by Bachrach Studios. In an article published in The World in 1993, the writer makes the comment that "for 125 years it has been the sine qua non of celebrityhood that one have one's portrait done under the Bachrach label. Every United States president since Andrew Johnson has sat for a Bachrach photograph and still today, public figures include a stop at Bachrach Studios among their most important appointments." I would not deny that Al belongs in that circle.

To read the earlier E=Sylum article, see: NUMISMATIC PUBLISHER AL HOCH, 1935-2010 (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v13n48a02.html)

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