GENE HYNDS (1931-2021)

We were informed recently that our good friend Gene Hynds had passed away. Though he has been in an assisted living place near Daytona Beach, FL for many months it was still a shock to all of us. All of us have known Gene for many decades going back to the Florida United Numismatist and American Numismatic Association Conventions along with a few others – like Georgia Numismatic Association and Blue Ridge Conventions that were held in Dalton, Georgia. It was always fun getting together with Gene, Pat and Bill at these events and we will always remember going out to dinner and doing other things with them. In our minds he is irreplaceable and will always have a place in our hearts for his love of family and friends, numismatics and his generosity of time and talents for many numismatic organizations. As another hobby he loved his 1965 Mustang convertible which he took care of with loving hands.

Gene had been involved in the numismatic hobby since he was 13 years old. At that time he started a set of Indian Head Cents and joined a coin club. After a stint in the Navy as a Seabee he began his journey full time in numismatics attending his first ANA convention in Buffalo, NY in 1947. Gene wore many hats in the numismatic hobby which we will get into later. He had a great passion for collecting, especially Schwab Stamp & Seal Heart Badges a company which was located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Besides the heart shaped badges his other major love was for Tiffany Scrip Notes. Some of his notes live on in obsolete paper money references where his name is mentioned. Though these were his major undertakings he also collected coin glass and had a type note collection along with some Pan American Expo items.

Another pursuit of his was obtaining all the Krause Publication tokens and medals that they produced for coin shows and other events. Besides these he collected those of Coin World and FUN. He also utilized his large library of numismatic books and loved the overprinted Red Books. At local and national coin shows he attended (and wasn't working as a volunteer) he loved to look at tokens and medals around the bourse floor. Several times he came up to us or other friends and handed them a coin, token or note and said he hoped you didn't have it. His generosity for doing this is well known with several collectors and friends. His exhibits were always well done and researched and was the recipient of awards at all levels of the hobby. He loved taking interested collectors and even strangers up to his exhibit(s) and telling them about the items on exhibit. As an author he wrote many articles about various numismatic subjects both in local club publications as well as national clubs.

Gene also gave numismatic talks at all levels of the hobby including the ANA along with FUN. He was also an ANA Certified Exhibit Judge (qualified in at least 10 categories). At the ANA WFOM in 2014 Gene received the Joseph E. Boling Award for Judging Excellence. This award is only given out to very dedicated judges who spend "lot of time," judging the exhibits. He has also served as a coin club officer (or worker) for local, regional and national organizations. He was President of FUN (1981-82) and served many years on the Board of Governors and was at one time their Historian. He also served as the Exhibit Chair for FUN for several years. as well as acting Chief Judge during different times. A full-page article in the 12/01/98 edition of Numismatic News, by Scott S. Rabehl featured Gene Hynds, "Hynds clearly ‘exhibits' his love of numismatics." A well-done story on this icon of a collector and dedicated worker. We loved his comment regarding the hobby, "It has given me the opportunity to travel and visit friends all across the country. I haven't missed an ANA convention in over 25 years." Gene's legacy and contributions live on in the Newman Numismatic Portal, which has dozens of pages that mention him.

The honors and awards that he has received over the years are many. First and foremost was Gene and his wife Pat received the American Numismatic Associations highest award, The Farran Zerbe Memorial Award, in 2004. Up until that time they had attended ANA conventions for 32 years. A nominating submission for them reads, "Both Gene and Pat Hynds have contributed greatly to the advancement of the ANA and our Numismatic Hobby for many, many years. This dedicated numismatic couple have lived and breathed numismatics for an entire lifetime." The standing ovation they received from the attendees at the ANA Awards banquet spoke volumes of how loved they both were by their friends who were in attendance. In 1983 Gene received the ANA Medal of Merit and in 1997 the Glenn Smedley Award. Both received the ANA President's Award in 1997. In 1984 Gene received the ANA Wismer Memorial Exhibit Award in 1984. He also served on various club Rep programs for the ANA. A longtime ANA National Volunteer Gene spent countless hours helping ANA in many capacities, especially in the exhibit area along with helping the ANA to set-up and breakdown the conventions (many times with Pat at his side).

At the ANA Convention in Miami, FL in 1967 he was placed on the Exhibit Committee. That was the year he met the ANA Sergeant at Arms John Gabarron. It was at this convention that he helped John with the "tough job of handling and stacking the wooden shippers and repairing broken glass cases during the show." At all the following shows before both retired Gene was at his side helping at the shows in any capacity to keep it running smoothly. In the year 1969 Gene became very involved with ANA judging which continued at every show he attended. For all the conventions we attended if you wanted to talk to Gene you headed down to the exhibit area where he camped out from the time the show opened until it closed. The 1974 ANA in Miami Gene was appointed the Exhibit Chairmanship. That was the year Grover Criswell came in and informed the committee that he had an exhibit for the show and needed help bringing it in. It was a chore bringing in a ten-foot-high Yap Stone (now on display at a bank in Canada).

The 1976 Convention in New York John Gabarron (1918-2001) approached Gene and asked him to be his Assistant Sergeant at Arms. He accepted and in a few years the Board approved his position. He served in that capacity until the retirement of John and President Anthony Swiatek in 1997 wanting to appoint him to the position. Gene wanted the position completely eliminated because all the duties of the Sergeant at Arms were taking over by other staff and appointed positions at the ANA Conventions. The position of Sergeant at Arms was removed at Gene's request and a motion was presented to the Board which they approved and passed. Besides John being made an Emeritus Sergeant at Arms Gene also received this high honor.

As for his other commitment it was to the Florida United Numismatists. He served on the Board and was President from 1981 to 1982 and served for two decades. Gene wore his orange coat proudly for many years. He was Exhibit Chair for many years. He received many awards from FUN for his service. Gene also was a long-time TAMS board member and served as their Second and First Vice President, for his long-time service TAMS awarded him their highest honor the TAMS Medal of Merit. He received the coveted Krause Publications – Numismatic News Ambassador Award in 1985 for his decades of service to the numismatic hobby. In another area Gene was a very longtime member of the Florida Token Society. He served as their President and on their Board for many years and contributed many articles.

His life was filled mostly with numismatic pursuits, but he was also a family man supreme. He loved his wife Pat (married 65 years) and his other children, Bill, Terry and Jim. In closing this In Memoriam tribute to Gene Hynds we can recall when we visited Graceland (John and Nancy) the words on the tomb of Vernon Elvis Presley, "For when that one great scorer comes to write against your name; He writes not that you won or lost, but how you played the game." Gene payed the game of life in a loving, caring and in coin word terms MS-70 with not only his family but everyone who crossed his path.

With sincere sympathies to Pat and their family. Your loving friends, John and Nancy Wilson and Mark Lighterman

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