RAYMOND HOWARD WILLIAMSON (1907-1997)

Raymond H. Williamson was mentioned in two previous articles about M. W. Hanchett and Charles W. Foster. Can any E-Sylum reader predict who will be my topic next week?

Ray Williamson was born in Eagle Grove, Iowa, on April 5, 1907. His parents were Solon Howard Williamson (1864-1957) and Ruth Agnes Cooler (1875-1960). His father was in the real estate and insurance business.

Ray began collecting coins at age 10. His Eagle Grove mentor was Claude C. Birdsell. Ray was also interested in amateur radio and had a licensed amateur station from 1921 to 1926 and licensed commercial station 1926-28.

Ray married Hazell Letts (1907-1999) in Scotia, New York, on May 3, 1930. They were married for 67 years.

He graduated from High School in Eagle Grove in 1924. Ray received a B. S. in electrical engineering from Iowa State University in 1928. He got his Masters Degree in electrical engineering in 1935 from Union College in Schenectady, New York.

His career was with General Electric from 1928 to 1971. While in Syracuse, he was manager of engineering administration for communication products. He was also a scoutmaster there from 1929 to 1944. He was a charter member of the Empire State Numismatic Association in 1949. He was elected president of the Syracuse Numismatic Society in 1952.

He moved to Lynchburg, Virginia, in 1954 to be an electronics specialist. He had an assignment to the Panama Canal Zone in 1936 and 1939 for the installation of very high-power naval radio-telegraph transmitter. He had another assignment to Milan, Italy, in 1950.

Williamson was chairman of the FM Broadcast Engineering Committee from 1942 to 1953 to formulate and promulgate industry standards. He was a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, secretary of the Electrical Board of Lynchburg during 1971 to 1980 and a member of the Elfun Society, a social organization within G.E.

Ray joined the American Numismatic Association in April 1943 as member 9482 while living in Scotia, New York. He moved to Syracuse in 1944. He joined the American Numismatic Society in 1949 and became a Fellow in 1957.

In 1955, Williamson was chairman of a joint atomic test committee for the Federal Civil Defense Administration. He witnessed an atomic bomb test at the Nevada test site. There he represented G. E. to observe the effects on communication equipment. He later reported that a TV set survived the test in a brick building 4700 feet from the blast.

Williamson was not the author of a book. He was well respected for his research and articles appearing in various publications including Coin World, The Colonial Newsletter, The Numismatist and Penny-Wise. He also contributed frequent letters and an occasional book review.

During 1953-54, Williamson did extensive archival research. He gathered material that he proposed as a Source Book of American Numismatics. This was shared with some other researchers but, unfortunately, never published.

Williamson specialized in the collection of U. S. Large Cents. He was charter member #54 of Early American Coppers (EAC) and consigned his collection to the EAC sale in 1983. His article on "*Collecting U. S. Large Copper Cents" appeared in The Numismatist for June, 1949. In discussing the literature, he mentioned a book soon to be published by Dr. William H. Sheldon. This was followed the next month with an article, "*Large Cents that Survived."

Williamson contributed "The Cent Collectors' Forum" to The Numismatist in 1949-50 but was not credited as author. This was reprinted with credit in the Penny-Wise issue of September 15, 1968. The feature was revived by Walter Breen in 1957.

William H. Sheldon's 1949 publication of Early American Cents became the foundation for a new generation of collectors. Williamson's 1949 articles for The Numismatist, his review of the Sheldon book, "The Cent Collectors' Forum" and the 1949 Charles W. Foster auction all added building blocks to that foundation.

His article on "*A Visit to the U. S. Mint in 1812" appeared in The Numismatist for January, 1951. The article recounted the story told by George Escoll Sellers. At the time of publication, Williamson was in Milan.

Other articles in The Numismatist were:

• "*Paul Revere and the First U. S. Mint" December 1950.
• "*The Coinage of the First U. S. Mint" April 1951.
• "The Franklin Press Token" December 1956. For this he received a second place Heath Literary Award.
• "More on the Franklin Press Token" November 1957.

*Five of these articles were reprinted in the anthology United States Large Cents 1793-1857 compiled by Warren A. Lapp and Herbert A. Silberman.

Williamson contributed these articles to Penny-Wise:

• "Research on the Origins of the 1839 "Silly Head" and "Booby Head" Cents" May 15, 1973.
• "The Second Mickley Medal" July 15, 1974.
• "Reflections on Dr Sheldon" November 15, 1977.
• "Copper for Early American Cents" March 15, 1984.
• "Numiscrutiny: Some New Mileage from an Old Article" May 15, 1988.

Williamson served on the U. S. Assay Commission in 1968 and participated with the Old Time Assay Commission. He served on the board of directors for the Historic Lynchburg Foundation and as treasurer of the Lynchburg Museum Society Board. He also served on the city electoral board.

Williamson did extensive research into Lynchburg history. He was the author of "Lynchburg (VA) City Paper Money of 1862" in America's Currency published by ANS in 1985.

He was a member of the Civil War Round Table, president (1958) of the Lion's Club and a member of the Masons.

Williamson provided an autobiography that was published in Penny-Wise in 1977. He died at Lynchburg Baptist Hospital on December 13, 1997.

Williamson's Source Book of American Numismatics was shared as a manuscript but never published. Does any E-Sylum reader have a copy or know where it can be located?

I came across an unexpected source while doing research for this article. I had forgotten about an obituary I wrote for Williamson that was published in the March 15, 1998, issue of Penny-Wise. I did not know him well. I have the vague recollection of sharing a cab with him during an EAC convention more than forty years ago.

I will conclude with a piece of EAC trivia. The line of thirteen stars has been traditionally used in Penny-Wise to separate articles.

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