RICHARD V. PUNCHARD (1932-2024)

On November 6, 1976, I bought a 1793 large cent (Sheldon 11-c) at a local coin show. The dealer asked me if I knew the guy carrying the book. He described the man as always carrying a copy of Penny Whimsy at coin shows. He assembled much of his collection by finding unattributed varieties. I found that man and introduced myself. He was Dick Punchard.

I showed the coin to Dick and he asked me if I was a member of Early American Coppers. I was not. He said that he invited members to his home, and if I joined, he would invite me. It took a while but my name was proposed for membership in the November 1978 issue of Penny-Wise. My first EAC convention was in January 1979 in Cocoa Beach, Florida.

I don't recall when I first visited Dick at home. I do recall being impressed with his library. He had more auction catalogs than I had ever seen before. He also had a box of index cards where he kept track of sales of the rare large cents. He liked to trace the pedigrees of his coins and identify previous sales.

I was also impressed with Dick's group of 1793 cents. He had all the Sheldon varieties except the Sheldon-7, a coin he never acquired. He was also proud of his 1794 cents long before I learned to appreciate them.

Dick invited a number of collectors to his house back then. One of the regulars was William Weimer from Rochester. He had sold coins at auction in 1976 and was working on a second collection.

Dick became my mentor for collecting large cents and also instructed me on the culture of EAC. I began to understand why collectors identified coins by the pedigree of past owners. During 1980 to 1989, I travelled with Dick to several EAC conventions, a couple of ANA conventions and three California auctions.

Dick was always a step ahead of me with the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. He joined as a charter member and I came in too late. He got me to attend an NBS meeting at ANA in Cincinnati in 1980 where John J. Ford entertained the audience. In 1982 he told me about a guy who had opened a numismatic book store in Northeast Minneapolis. We were together for the 1983 ANA convention in San Diego and attended a Cal Wilson auction. Dick served on the NBS Board for 1984 to 1987.

Richard V. Punchard was born in Minneapolis on December 27, 1932. I don't recall that he ever mentioned his parents. Records show that he was the son of Richard C. Punchard (1912-1981), a retired railroad worker, and Marie Victoria Olson Punchard (1905-1996). Both are buried at Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis, the resting place of A. M. Smith and William K. Lanphear.

Dick served in the U. S. Army during 1953 to 1955. He occasionally talked about his service in Korea after the war. After attending the University of Minnesota, he went into business as a heating and air conditioning contractor. He was the owner of Key Metalcraft.

Dick was married to Lorraine May Punchard with two sons and a daughter. She was a collector of children's furniture and dishware, a collection that took up more space in the basement than Dick's coin collection. She was the author of several books on the topic. Their son Neal has written books about collectible knives.

In 1964. Dick had the opportunity to buy a group of U. S. large cents for $300. He started to assemble a date set and studied the rest for varieties. He joined EAC in 1973 and attended his first EAC convention in New York City in 1974. The first two people he met were Ted Naftzger and Walter Breen. They were very friendly and welcoming.

Dick had a special interest in die states, an interest he shared with Fred Borcherdt. He mentioned LC167, published by W. E. Johnson in the 1960's. It was a guide to known middle date die states.

I developed an interest in die states of the Turban (Classic) head cents. Dick and I compared the coins in our collections and identified various die states. When Wes Rasmussen came along, we examined his coins. The three of us put together an exhibit for one of the EAC conventions.

In 1983, Dick decided to break up his early date set, beginning with the 1793's. He gave me the first chance at any of his that I wanted. By then, I had acquired six of the 18 1793 varieties. I bought his Sheldon 8, 9, 10, 11-a, and S-14.

Dick had a low-grade S-15 in FR2 among the coins offered. I examined it very closely and just couldn't see the diagnostic marks. I thought I might never get a better chance to own an S-15, but for the money it cost, I wanted to see enough diagnostics to appreciate the variety. Not buying that coin is a decision I have never regretted.

By 1986, Wes Rasmussen had become an active member of the Minnesota EAC group. He was buying mint state large cents while Dick and I were working with VF-20 to XF-40 coins. I became a domino collector. Wes would buy a high-grade coin and sell his lower grade piece to Dick. Dick would sell his lower grade piece to me. There was no one around to buy my dominoes.

Dick, Wes and I became travelling companions for the 1986 Van Cleave sale, the 1986 Robbie Brown sale and the 1989 Jack Robinson sale. We often hooked up with Bob and Tom Matthews from Michigan at these sales.

In 1986 I was the underbidder when Jim Neiswinter bought the Phil Van Cleave S-15. He was the rightful owner of that coin. Seven months later I bought Robbie Brown's first S-15. Dick sold his S-15 to Robbie Brown for his second set that sold at auction in 1996. It remains in the S-15 census with an attribution that remains questionable.

Dick hosted a meeting at his home on October 29, 1988, with ten people in attendance. This is the largest gathering I can recall. Those present included Bill Daehn, Steve Hustad, Gene Jansen, Marie Munson, Frank Noel. Dick Punchard, Wes Rasmussen, John Saffert, Pete Smith and Bill Woytasek.

Dick also enjoyed collecting cars from his birth year, especially 1932 Fords. I recall he found a well preserved one out east and brought it back to Minnesota on a trailer. He showed that car at some car shows but found he didn't particularly enjoy talking to all the people who came to him with questions.

Dick consigned his library to Remy Bourne for auction on September 12-13, 1997. His timing was good and there was still a market for large cent auction sale catalogs. In a few years that market would be severely reduced by the Newman Numismatic Portal. Fourteen people attended the sale including six staff people and the consignor. There were two out-of-town bidders and five locals.

Dick retained an interest in numismatics of the Civil War period. He was an active collector of fractional currency. There is a Civil War token from Minnesota issued by watchmaker D. C. Greenleaf. These come with numbers on the back. All Minnesota Civil War tokens are rare and expensive. Dick had some ridiculous number of the Greenleaf pieces with different numbers.

Punchard compiled G. A. R. Grand Army of the Republic Minnesota Department An Illustrated History published in 2016. The book is lavishly illustrated with photos from 192 G. A. R. posts in Minnesota and the many reunions held in the state. Dick visited 37 county museums plus the Minnesota Historical Society to gather material for the book.

Dick had a table at our local coin show as recently as 2019 to promote the collection of fractional currency. We talked on the phone occasionally in recent years. I understand his health was failing in the last year and he died on January 6. There will be a private memorial service and internment at Fort Snelling National Cemetery later this spring.

To read the Bourne sale of the Punchard Library on the Newman Numismatic Portal:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/auctionlots?AucCoId=510371&AuctionId=513014

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
DICK PUNCHARD IS ALIVE AND WELL (https://www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n05a05.html)

 

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