Colin R. Bruce, II Succumbs to Cancer

Colin R. Bruce, II, long-time editor and author at Krause Publications, succumbed to cancer onSunday, September 3, 2017, at Iola Living Assistance following an extended fight with thedisease. He was 77 years old. Raised in the Buffalo area of upstate New York, he had been aresident of Iola, Wisconsin, since 1974, having served as a member of the world coin and papermoney cataloging staff from then until his retirement in 2008.

Bruce was especially interested in and knowledgeable of the numismatic issues of Mexico,China, Japan, and the Indian Princely States. Through the years he developed an internationalnetwork of enthusiasts and experts in wide-ranging specialty areas, through both his staff andpre-Krause involvements as a part-time dealer operating out of North Tonawanda, N.Y., uponwhose expertise he successfully built to grow and refine the "Standard Catalog" reference line.

"Colin Bruce was an outstanding cataloger of world numismatic issues," former KrausePublications president Clifford Mishler observed. "He was, in my opinion, in a global sense, themost outstanding numismatic cataloger of his era."

"Colin was to the world coin and paper money collecting disciplines what R. S. Yeoman was tothe United States coin field a couple generations before," Mishler continued. "He was tirelesslydedicated to expanding the realm of knowledge available to collectors for fostering theirdevelopment in, and resulting benefits realized from pursuit of the world collecting realm."

A major specialist contributor to the first and second editions of the Standard Catalog of WorldCoins (Krause-Mishler), published in 1972 and 1973, Bruce came on board at KrausePublications in 1974 and spearheaded publication of the third edition in 1975 as its editor. Hewas the lead cataloger and editor of all subsequent editions published annually through the 35thpublished in 2007, during which time it expanded from a single volume reference of about 1000pages, to a massive five-volume set comprising a combined 6000-plus pages, covering allissues from the early 17 th century to the early 21 st century.

Bruce similarly served as the lead cataloger and founding editor of the Standard Catalog ofWorld Paper Money (Pick), the first edition of which appeared in 1975, and of the ongoingeditions that appeared prior to his retirement. That original 720-page reference grew to becomea three-volume set - dedicated to General Issues, Modern Issues, and Specialized Issues - thatembraced some 4000 total pages.

He was also responsible for the content and appearance of several specialized country andregional catalogs, drawn from consultant relationships and the Standard Catalog coin and papermoney databases, that were published in the intervening years. Multitudes of varieties anddates of known coinage types, generally unrecognized except by specialized scholars, were firstchronicled for the collecting universe as a result of his digging.

Bruce also found time to assemble and organize the diverse universe of non-governmental"coin" issues for publication of the popular Unusual World Coins, a title first published in 1987.He also authored numerous specialized articles and features published from time to time in World Coin News and the Bank Note Reporter over the years.

"From the mid-1970s onward, the materials compiled and published under Colin's direction werea major contributor to the great expansion of collecting interest, pursuit and satisfaction in theworld coin collecting realm from the early 1600s onward into the 21st century," Mishler observed."His capabilities in unraveling the often mysterious and challenging issues of Southeast Asia,which were of particular merit for the first two editions of the SCWC, first connected ChetKrause and myself with him."

A lifelong coin collector, Bruce had first become an aficionado of the coins of Mexico whileserving in the United States Army (1962-65) and based in El Paso. He subsequently becameenamored with the challenge of understanding and gathering the coins and paper money issuesof Japan, and China, along with the offerings of other Asian countries. His appreciation andunderstanding of all world numismatic issues spread much broader afield.

"Colin's passing will certainly be missed by all who made his acquaintance along the line, butparticularly so by those of us who worked beside and with him in pursuing enlightenment of theworld numismatic realm," Mishler concluded. "He and his contributions will be long rememberedby us all."

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