THE NUMISMATIC ART OF ROBERT JULIAN

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V26 2023 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 26, Number 34, August 20, 2023, Article 20

E-Sylum Feature Writer and American Numismatic Biographies author Pete Smith submitted this article on numismatic artist Robert Julian, Jr. Thanks! -Editor

While attending the recent ANA World's Fair of Money, I noticed a booth in the back corner with the name banner, The Numismatic Art of Robert Julian. I returned later to learn this was not Robert W. Julian, the writer, but rather Robert Julian, Jr., the artist. I was intrigued and sat down for an interview.

He told me he was born on June 10, 1957, in Oak Park, Illinois, the son of Robert Julian and Mary Ayers-Julian.

He was a music major and studied art at the College of DuPage. He spent his time painting and playing in a local bar band. The promise of future earnings was unfulfilled.

He and Therese Trudeau were married on May 17, 1980. The desire to get out of his parents' basement forced him to go out and get a real job.

He became a contract draftsman for Salem Engineering. His first assignment was with AFL (a water treatment company). After that he was sent to Molex (an electrical component manufacturer) in Lisle. Illinois, and stayed there for five years. 1979 to 1985. He spent his day creating technical drawings but was also involved in every aspect of product development and project management.

He started a company, Design Concepts as a drafting/design and technical illustration service. This operated from1983 to 1986.

His next job was with Great Lakes Environment, maker of waste water treatment equipment. He stayed there in Glen Ellyn, Illinois for five years, 1985 to 1990.

He founded another company, Hydro-Flo Technologies that operated 1990 to 2018. He said that his interest in numismatics returned after the sale of Hydro-Flo in 2019.

He started Julian's Industrial Design in 2020 doing technical illustrations and design.

It was about eighteen months ago that he saw a drawing of a Seated Liberty Dollar. After a ten-year break from drawing, he returned to try to draw a coin. His first attempt was a 1909 Lincoln matte proof.

His goal is to create a set of drawings of all 20th Century U.S. coinage. He expects this to take about three years.

He creates his drawings with the tools he utilized as both a technical illustrator and as an artist. A light table, a scanner, his camera, several photographs, an archive quality printer and lots of colored pencils. At a distance, these could be mistaken for high-quality photographs. Examples may be seen on his website, RobertJulianNA.com.

Thanks Pete! The work is excellent - great decoration for a coin shop, home office or numismatic library. Visit the website or stop and browse if you see Bob at a coin show. -Editor