Collecting in small towns and rural areas could only flourishafter Rural Free Delivery expedited the mail and until theexpansion of America's railroads linked the hinterland to theurban centers. This was the hour of what historian John Kleebergcalls the "small-town intelligentsia": doctors, dentists, lawyersand clergymen began to discover numismatics and spreadappreciation of coin collecting across the map.

While the [American Numismatic Association] was taking shape,an up-and-coming youngster had begun his epic numismatic careeras a newsboy in the small industrial city of Tyrone insouth-central Pennsylvania. Joseph Farran Zerbe was born April16, 1871 to James Albert and Bridget Mary (née McAvoy) Zerbe. TheZerbe family was reasonably prosperous though by no meanswealthy, and a public school education equipped the boy for theworld.

Dropping the "Joseph" early in life, Farran was soon at workas a paper carrier for the Tyrone Daily Herald in1880-1889. One fine day in 1882 a customer fobbed off on theunsuspecting youth a French silver 50-centime piece as a dime,launching his lifelong interest in foreign coins.

According to the March 1900 issue of The Numismatist,he was soon conducting a varied retail business in his nativeTyrone as "Coin" Zerbe, offering all kinds of necessaries orvariety goods at his store as well as coins through the mail.

Zerbe developed an interest in numismatic writing despite aninadequate education in the English language that persistedthroughout his career. In 1899 he published a slim pamphlet,"Just What You Should Know, Nut Shell Facts on Coins, Stamps &Paper Money", that is today a major rarity. He joined the ANA in1900 and the March 1900 issue of The Numismatist noted hisbusiness name of Coin Zerbe in Tyrone in its review of Americancoin dealers.

From 1900 until the late 1920s, Zerbe played several roles onthe numismatic stage: coin dealer, ANA leader and publisher,exhibitor-showman, writer, and later curator of a nationallypublicized museum in New York City. Frequently these rolesoverlapped and generated varying degrees of controversy.

To read the complete article, see:
Farran Zerbe: Numismatist - Promoter - Hustler(www.coinweek.com/people-in-the-news/numismatic-personalities/farran-zerbe-numismatist-promoter-hustler/)