Harvey Stack writes:

I have the distinct pleasure of announcing thatAbraham Kosoff, (aka A. Kosoff and Abe tohis friends) has be nominated to the RareCoin Dealers Hall of Fame.

Abe entered the numismatic profession in 1930at the age of 17 years, (two years after I was born)and began his venture through the hobby as thedepression of the 1930's took hold.

His earliest contacts sold him gold coins on which he couldsell to dealers and collectors for literally a few cents profit,and he also dealt with buying and selling gold scrap and artifactwhich fluctuated on a daily basis, and he was able to makea living .

He was an active member of the Brooklyn Coin Club which hadin its membership some of the great dealers and collectors of the1930's. These club members met once a month, had greatlearned discussions, showed their latest as well as cherishedcoins from their collections, and provided the unbelievable andrare knowledge that the collectors and dealers had during thisperiod and shared it with the new members as well as others whowere at all their meetings. The same group met with others at thegrowing New York Coin Club who met monthly and attractednumismatists, not only from New York but from New Jersey, LongIsland, The Bronx and Westchester. as well as Connecticut.

The coins seen and knowledge acquired at these meetings wasendless, and the personal knowledge obtained was priceless.

Abe Kosoff developed in this wonderful environment, and by 1937hung out his shingle "A. Kosoff, Professional Numismatist"

In the early 1940's he met F.C.C. Boyd and their friendship led to thesale in the mid 1940's of the World's Greatest Collection,, which Abesold on behalf of Boyd. After the second world war he partnered withAbner Kreisberg, and occasionally with Hans M.F. Schulman.

Is interests included a great interest in the growth of the Hobby andto make the dealer receive more respect from the American NumismaticAssociation. The professional collectors felt that the dealers were notwell informed and Abe with his writings and cataloging tried to prove thatthe dealer was important part of the hobby.

In 1953 he and Sol Kaplan called a meeting of the major dealers who wereavailable in New York after a coin show, met on my Uncle Joe's lawn inQueens, and set forth the formation of the what became in 1955 thePNG (the Professional Numismatic Guild), and Abe was its first president.He continued his efforts to elevate the status of the Professional dealer in theeyes of the collector.

At the same time in 1952 he led a delegation of dealers and collectors to Cairoto bid on the coins of King Farouk. Among those who went with him wasSol Kaplan, Hans M.F. Schulman, John J. Pittman, Gaston DiBello to mentionsome, together with bids in hand representing a number of well known collectors.

During the 1950's he conducted a number of important sales, and then in the 1970'she worked with Ken Bressett on establishing a newer form of grading known as the"Sheldon Numerical System" modeled after the one conceived by Dr. WilliamSheldon for "Early U.S. Large Cents". At a meeting in Colorado Springs at ANAHeadquarters in 1973, a large group of professional dealers and collectors passeda resolution to adopt Numerical Grading (with reservations)

Kosoff meanwhile acted as representative and dealer to many collector, and conductedseveral sales during the 1950's to late 1970's.He during this period help re-write theJudd Book on Patterns, which is still used till this very day. Early in life he developedshocking white hair, and as he was always dealing an negotiating he acquired thenick name "the Silver Fox", which he accepted, but since he always admired the wayB. Max Mehl developed his way in the business mostly before Abe obtained his statushe always hoped to acquire the name "Dean of Numismatic" as he was called bymany for his great knowledge, way of dealing and working towards elevation of theDealers in numismatics.

During his lifetime he continued to advocate the value of the Professional dealer, andtried to promote the hobby by lecturing and writing about coins and his experiencesand therefore made a major contribution to the growth and prestige the NumismaticHobby and Profession enjoys today.

It is with great honor and pleasure I nominate Abe Kosoff to the Numismatic DealersHall of Fame.

To read more about the PCGS Coin Dealer Hall of Fame, see:http://www.pcgs.com/pcgscoinfacts/CoinDealerHOF.html