The Chicago Coin Club announces that the sixth person to be inducted into its Hall of Fame is former author, editor, and publisher Lee F. Hewitt.His Hall of Fame citation has been published on the club's Hall of Fame web page, www.chicagocoinclub.org/projects/hof .

Twelve Hall of Fame inductees have been selected. Each of the remaining six will be announced at the rate of one per month, July through December,during the Chicago Coin Club's centennial year, 2019.

The Chicago Coin Club was organized in 1912 as American Numismatic Association Branch No. 1, and reorganized under its present name in 1919. Allare invited to join. To become a member you must attend a meeting and submit an application along with a membership fee of $20 ($10 for Juniormembership). A first reading of your application will be held at this meeting, and a second reading at the next monthly meeting, followingpublication of your name in the club newsletter. (You are not required to be present for the second reading.) Upon membership approval, you willbecome a member.

The Chicago Coin Club holds monthly meetings in downtown Chicago, plus at major numismatic conventions such as Central States, with a speakerfeatured at every meeting except the annual auction, held at the November meeting.

On February 3, 1932, Lee Francis Hewitt joined the Chicago Coin Club as member No. 215. A frequent exhibitor, he provided many services tothe Club over the years, receiving the Club's Medal of Merit in 1957; he was elected President in 1971.

Mr. Hewitt (January 1, 1911 - April 15, 1987) traveled with a circus band before joining his brother Clifford in the printing business in theearly 1930s. Over his long career he wrote Mint Record of United States Coins (with fellow Chicago Coin Club member C. E. Green), PriceCatalog of Hard Times Tokens, United States Numismatic Dictionary (with Ted Weissbuch), Hewitt-Donlon Catalog of United States SmallSize Paper Money (with William Donlon), and Nevada Gaming Tokens. In addition to his own works, he reprinted Crosby's Coinage of1793 and Newlin's Early Half Dimes, eventually publishing a number of original booklets in his Hewitt Numismatic InformationSeries.

In January 1935, Mr. Hewitt founded Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine, originally intended to reprint classic numismatic studies (thus thename). It quickly expanded, added news and original articles, and eventually bulged with advertising. Sold to Amos Press in 1968, it was discontinuedby them in 1976. Mr. Hewitt was very instrumental in the revival of proof set issues in 1936. He spearheaded the formation of the Central StatesNumismatic Society, and received their Medal of Merit in 1959.

Mr. Hewitt was appointed temporary editor of The Numismatist from Sept. 1, 1942 through the end of the year, following the unexpectedresignation of Frank Duffield. And in 1943, he was drafted, serving in the Military Police until 1946. Despite these obstacles, neither TheNumismatist nor the Scrapbook missed an issue during this time. He received the ANA Medal of Merit in 1950 and the Farran Zerbe Award in1962. In 1978 he was elected to the ANA Numismatic Hall of Fame.

From time to time pricing mistakes would appear in the Numismatic Scrapbook, due to copy, typographical, or proofreading errors, andreaders would flood the advertiser with orders for "bargains," much to Mr. Hewitt's annoyance. After repeatedly warning of the possibility ofsuch mistakes, he wrote an Editor's Note in the January 20, 1958, issue, "No, Virginia, There Isn't a Santa Claus," adding, in the June 20,1959 issue, "Don't Believe in Santa Claus; At Least Not in the Coin Business," and occasional later issues under "No Santa Claus" or similarheadings. After he sold the magazine, this note became standardized as "There is no Santa Claus in numismatics" - now credited to him.

Tall and dignified, with a deep voice, Mr. Hewitt commanded respect from all. In his obituary in the May 1987 Chatter, Carl F. Wolf,Chicago Coin Club Archivist, wrote: "he was honest and 'called the shots as he saw them.'... [he] had great powers of concentration and had anoutstanding ability to absorb and retain information, which could best be described as an archival memory."

(Image courtesy of ANA.)

To read the complete article, see:
Hall of Fame - Chicago Coin Club - Member 6 Lee Francis Hewitt(http://www.chicagocoinclub.org/projects/hof/m06.html)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
CHICAGO HALL OF FAME INDUCTS M. VERNON SHELDON(https://www.coinbooks.org/v22/esylum_v22n18a18.html)