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FRANK J. KATEN, (1903-2001)
John Lupia submitted the following information from his Encyclopedic Dictionary of Numismatic Biographies for this week's
installment of his series. Thanks! As always, this is an excerpt with the full article and bibliography available online. This week's
subject is well known many numismatic bibliophiles - literature dealer Frank J. Katen. The biography was compiled with the assistance of
Frank's granddaughter Kay. -Editor
Francis “Frank” Joseph Katen, (1903-2001), his real name is Francesco Giuseppe Cincinnati Catanzariti. He was born on January 21, 1903, the son of Rocco Antonio Catanzariti (1870-1917) and Ataliana Labianca (1883-1976) in Plati, Catanzaro, Calabria, Italy. However, several birth records report him born in New York. Sometime between 1915 and 1925, when Italians were treated very unfair and biased especially during the case of Sacco and Vanzetti he changed his name to Katen. He began dealing coins five years after the death of [his first wife] Ruby in 1938 through his novelties company. He joined the ANA in 1942 and in February was given ANA Member No. 8920. He had married Frances M. Katen (1911-) about this time. His mailing address at that time was 18 Pearl Hill, Milford, Connecticut. In January 1945 he opened a shop at 486 State Street, New Haven, Connecticut. He ran a full page advertisement for his coin shop selling German Notgeld in January issue of The Numismatist, page 68. 
In April 1945 he named the shop Milford Coin & Stamp Co. 487 State Street, New Haven, Connecticut, which he ran under that name until sometime between 1964 and 1966. He was one of the founders of the American Coin Dealer's Association. In March, 1950, he was brought up on charges of reporting irregularities in ANA elections from 1948 to 1949. He was expelled from the ANA in August 1950, still trading as Milford Coin & Stamp Co. From this controversy he began publishing a series of articles in his coin auction catalogues titled: Koin Kapers. The series was reprinted into a single pamphlet titled: Let There Be Light. During the summer of 1951 ... he moved to Europe with his second wife Frances M. Katen for a little over a year returning about October 1952. He opened a coin, numismatic literature shop, and mail order business at 1726 Upsher Street, NW, Washington, D. C., running his first ad in the November 1952, Numismatic Scrapbook. He then married divorcee Laurese Byrd Boone Pusey (1917-2014). She was a dog breeder raising Schnauzers.
From 1966 to 1997 the coin auction sales no longer were part of the Milford Coin and Stamp Company but became the new business trading as Frank and Laurese Katen. He died January 21, 2001. ANA Life member 132. He is buried in Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Silver Springs, Maryland. Laurese died on December 12, 2014 at her home 147i7 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland and is also buried in Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Silver Springs, Maryland.
I got to know Frank and Laurese Katen in my early years as a numismatic bibliophile, visiting their home once to see the famous Katen
Numismatic Library. They were wonderful folks. Frank's clash with the American Numismatic Association is the stuff of legend and the
numismatic ephemera it generated is a delight to collect - I have some of these in my library.
Other E-Sylum readers knew the Katens as well. Any stories to share? -Editor To read the complete article, see:
THE BOOK BAZARREWayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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