Q. David Bowers
In March 1982, the seventh edition of Dr. J. Hewitt Judd's classic work, United States Pattern, Experimental and Trial Pieces, was released. The cover noted: "Seventh Edition by A. Kosoff. Original Edition-J. Hewitt Judd, M.D." Earlier editions had borne the name of Judd alone. The seventh edition was a long-deserved recognition that it was Abe who compiled the pricing each year and who nurtured the publication of each revised volume. Abe was always one to give credit where credit was due, and page 3 of the volume contained a list of several dozen people who had helped him with his efforts.
In October 1982, the American Numismatic Society, located in New York City, an organization founded in 1858 and which has devoted its attention to numismatic scholarship over the years, elected Abe Kosoff as a Fellow, a rare honor. By this time Abe Kosoff had retired from the active auction scene. Occasionally dealers would come to Palm Springs to buy groups of coins from him or, more likely, to submit competitive bids on groups or collections he was handling for estates.
Much of his time was spent with his family, friends, and in leisure activities. He
cherished the memories of earlier years, he loved the coin hobby, and he was always willing to take time to give advice, to share reminiscences, and to help when called upon. The modern market, with the Teletype system, multi-million dollar transactions, investors buying coins on margin, and other innovations were foreign to his way of thinking. To Abe, a collector should be just that: a collector. As he stated many times, enjoyment is the key. Writing in Coin World a few years earlier, he noted:
"I can find no words to improve on Benjamin Franklin's 'An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.' Put simply, this statement is so obviously meaningful to numismatics that no elaboration is necessary.
"I am reminded, too, of a southern collector who owns one of our finer numismatic libraries. His thirst for coins seemed unquenchable; he would never be satisfied no matter how many he acquired. The acquisition of a library, added to his occasional purchase of a coin or two, has given him 'access' to all the coins he might ever want.
"Finally, being a firm believer that the romance which attracts most people to numismatics is a story behind the coin rather than the coin itself, I submit that the acquisition of a coin be the beginning rather than the end.
Let the coin stimulate the search for the story, rather than be simply acquired and stored in some dark safe. And, the stories can be found in books."
The final events of Abe Kosoff's life were told in an obituary in the April 6th, 1983 issue of Coin World:
"Abraham 'Abet Kosoff, dean of professional numismatists, lost his valiant fight against a malignant brain tumor on Saturday, March 19, in Eisenhower Center Hospital, Palm Springs. He was 70. Death came after a long illness and a coma just before he died.
"Funeral rites were held at Weifels Mortuary, in Palm Springs, on March 21. Rabbi Joseph M. Hurwitz officiated. In his eulogy, Rabbi Hurwitz drew a warm word picture of a devoted son, husband and father, a generous man who gave time as well as financial support to his temple, a kind man who was thoughtful of others, and a man who shed a light in his vocation as a numismatist in his vocation as a numismatist.
"Condolences from all over the world began to reach the Kosoff home as word of his death spread in the United States and abroad. Virginia Culver, a former ANA president, and her husband John, from the Los Angeles area, represented the ANA at the Palm Springs service for Mr. Kosoff. Many friends joined Professional Numismatists Guild executive director Paul Koppenhaver in Los Angeles for the committal rites in the family crypt later in the day. Koppenhaver said from his Van Nuys office:
'What can one say about Abe, the founder of the PNG, its founding president-hi loss is not one felt just by the PNG-it is one which will affect the entire hobby.'
"Abe Kosoff, the professional numismatist, was a dealer's dealer. His imagination was fired, again and again, in his 54 years in the business. In turn, he inspired others. He handled, professionally, most of the all-time great coins. He knew many numismatic immortals. His career spanned one fourth of the nation's history, years most significant in the development of numismatics in the United States.
"Abe Kosoff played a unique role in this growth. Often eulogized as the dean of numismatics, he shared his accumulated knowledge in a hundred different ways. His literary contributions, which began in auction catalogues, themselves collectors' items today, climaxed with his role as co-compiler, arranger and editor of two editions of The Official American Numismatic Association Grading Standards for United States Coins ...
-"Surviving with his wife, Molly, and his daughter Sonnie, are four grandchildren, Keith and Kari Kliman, Troy and Lorin Fromin.
"A past president of El Caballero Country Club, he sewed as an officer of Temple Beth Hillel and an officer and benefactor of the California Home for the Aged. He served on the National Committee for heart and cancer funds and was a member of B'nai Brith.. . His two sisters are Mrs. Gertrude Schrier, Los Angeles, and Mrs. Sophia Schwartz, in New York. Two brothers survive, Artie Kosoff and Sam Kosoff, New York."
In the April 6th, 1983 issue, Margo Russell, editor of Coin World penned an editorial tribute to Abe Kosoff and his accomplishments: "The sages of time, of the world, seem to fail us when we search for words to pay tribute to Abe Kosoff, whose days on earth ended March 19th.How can we convey what he meant to numismatics?
"Gilbert Highet comes the closest when he describes books, not as lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves. Abe Kosoff was committed to living history, and thanks to his foresight, we can reach on the shelf and pull down a volume, Abe Kosoff Remembers.
"From this voice goes out Abe's own voice. Just as the touch of a button on our set will fill the room with music, Highet wrote, so by taking a volume and opening it, one can call into range the voice of a man far distant in time and space, and hear him speaking to us, mind to mind, heart to heart.
'Those of us who encouraged Abe to record the numismatic lore he lived, before it was lost forever, are sad because he never got to the second volume of his memoirs. The first was gathered together for more than a decade of columns in Coin World and was published in a book by Sanford Durst.
"Just as we are saddened, we are grateful for the Kosoff chapter in numismatic history. His 54 years as a professional numismatist saw him as the dean, a friend, a confidant, and a business associate to both the great and the little people.
"Nothing excited Abe Kosoff more than the fascination, the story which a coin held for him. He often said 'money talks' but he meant the familiar expression in quite another context from that of profiteering. It was the story behind the coin that counted, and this fascination kept him enthusiastic about coins for more than 50 years.