PETER PRESTON-MORLEY RECALLS DAVID LITRENTA

I was saddened to learn in the latest E-Sylum of the death of David Litrenta. David was a well-known name in coin collecting circles on both sides of the Atlantic and myself, along with Richard Gladdle and other worthies in the Conder token-collecting fraternity here in the UK, enjoyed legendary hospitality with him, in York and in Shrewsbury, over many years. The first time I visited him, having driven up to York straight off the plane from Dulles, he engineered an excuse to take me to visit to the local coin dealer's shop in town (whose name I regret I've forgotten) which started at 9PM and ended at 4.30AM…

David was a life-long collector, starting in Baltimore with gifts from his grandfather, whose career in the railway industry took him around the world and who picked up unusual pieces. Out of this source of numismatic curiosities came the inspiration that would last a lifetime, fuel many hours of devoted research and result in a multi-million dollar collection.

While the collecting ‘bug’ never quite left him, David had to put it on hold on several occasions; medical school, building a medical practice and raising seven children with his wife Shirley all took a toll on his numismatic activity. In time, his success in preventative and occupational medicine provided him with the means to pursue rare coins more vigorously. With help from some of the principal dealers and auction houses in the USA, he began to seriously collect the coins of his native country in the early 1980s, amassing many of the classic rarities. His US and ancient coins, and his collection of George Washington-related medals and memorabilia were auctioned, as Fred Lake says, by Heritage in five sales in 1999 and 2000.

David first turned his attention to British trade tokens, especially the 18th century Conder series, in the mid-1990s. He amassed a holding of over 1,700 pieces, almost all of unusually high overall quality – hardly surprising bearing in mind that one of David’s personal numismatic mantras was ‘to acquire the most beautiful coins you can afford; quality not quantity counts.’ His collection was auctioned by DNW in four sales in London in 2005-6.

He kept his coin and token books, of course, and some of those have appeared on the market since.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
DAVID E. LITRENTA 1936 - 2014 (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v17n48a06.html)

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