JERRY FOCHTMAN AND DANIEL W. VALENTINE

The June 13, 2010, issue of the E-Sylum had Quick Quiz: Mystery Numismatist in 1885 with the photo of a man in a softball uniform. Jerry Fochtman wrote, I've attached a picture of a young man who later in life wrote a couple of milestone books on numismatics. The Editor added, No fair if you attended a recent presentation by Benny Bolin.

My response was published the following week, The photo gives no clue to the identity of the mystery numismatist. So I ask, where do the interests of Jerry Fochtman and Benny Bolin intersect? The answer I come up with is … That's where the Editor cut off my answer until the following week. A second photo of the mystery numismatist was then provided.

Two weeks later I still had the only correct answer. The two photos were of Daniel W. Valentine.

 

Jerry Fochtman and Benny Bolin were both interested in Valentine because of their mutual interest in fractional currency, My interest came from the direction of the Valentine half dime book and the New York Numismatic Club medals. My interaction with Fochtman came through our mutual interest in Valentine.

At the ANA Fall National Money Show in Dallas in October of 2012, Fochtman received the Radford Stearns Best-in-Show Exhibit Award for Laban Heath's Counterfeit Detector Microscopes.

 

In 2013, the ANA World's Fair of Money returned to Rosemont, Illinois. I was a judge for the numismatic literature exhibits. I was very impressed with Dr. Daniel W. Valentine: Profile of a Numismatic Pioneer. It included a bronze Valentine medal, a silver medal and photographs from the Valentine family. It was very deserving of first place in the class and the Aaron Feldman Memorial Award.

I asked Steve Crain about it thinking he might have been the exhibitor. He was also impressed but could not identify the exhibitor. When the awards were announced, we both learned it was Jerry Fochtman. Daniel Valentine had no grandchildren but Fochtman was able to locate family photographs through a more distant family member.

The E-Sylum carried an article on November 3, 2013, Daniel W. Valentine Medal Census Information Sought, reporting on an article in The E-Gobrecht. Jerry Fochtman reported that he was attempting to determine how many of the Valentine medals issued for the New York Numismatic Club are surviving. The medal is key to the series of NYNC medals as it is collected by members of the club, fractional currency collectors, half dime collectors or, like me, people who collect medals of numismatists. A year ago, Jerry reported to me that he had tracked thirteen of the fifty bronze medals produced and just two of the eight silver medals.

He was also attempting to track copies of Fractional Currency of the United States. He was able to locate 37 copies of the 225 original regular editions and four copies of the leather-bound issues.

He made a Money Talks presentation about Valentine at the ANA National Money Show in Irving, Texas, on March 8, 2018. His topic was familiar, Dr. Daniel W. Valentine: A Numismatic Pioneer.

In June of 2018, Fochtman spoke at the forum for the International Paper Money Society (IPMS). His topic was Dr. Daniel W. Valentine – Postage and Fractional Currency & Half Dime Pioneer.

Last year for Valentine's Day, I submitted an article on Valentine to The E-Sylum. I sent a draft to Fochtman for his review. He provided information on the Valentine medals and also on the fractional currency books.

I hope his Valentine medals and photographs find a new home with an equally appreciative collector.

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
QUICK QUIZ: MYSTERY NUMISMATIST IN 1885 (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v13n24a19.html)
MORE ON THE MYSTERY NUMISMATIST OF 1885 (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v13n25a10.html)
MYSTERY NUMISMATIST OF 1885 REVEALED: D. W. VALENTINE (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v13n27a14.html)

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