Harvey Gerald Stack (1928-2022)

Harvey Stack was the last of his generation with the family firm of Stack's. The numismatic andauction version of Stack's dates back to 1933. Joseph (1891-1974) and his younger brotherMorton (1901-1967) reformed their father's brokerage house to service the rare coin market. Thenext generation included Joseph's children, Shirley (1904-1991), Benjamin (1925-1984) andNorman (1928-1992), and Morton's son Harvey. After the death of Norman in 1992, onlyHarvey and his son, Lawrence, remained with the Stack's company.

I interviewed Harvey for his biography at the 100th anniversary ANA convention on August 14,1991. He gave me the basic information: he was born on June 3, 1928, in Manhattan andattended New York University. He married Harriett Spillman and had two children, Lawrenceand Susan, who also worked for the firm.

The death notice from Stack's Bowers stated that That would make him nineteen at the time.

Harvey was an activist in promoting numismatics. On February 28, 1973, he joined five others totestify before the Commerce and Finance Committee in support of the Hobby Protection Act. In1995 he testified before the House Committee of Banking and Coinage to support the statehoodquarters program.

Harvey was appointed to the U. S. Assay Commission for the bicentennial year 1976. He joinedthe PNG in 1978, served on the board after 1979, as vice president 1985 to 1989 and as president1989 to 1991. In 2000 the PNG presented him with their Lifetime Achievement Award.

Harvey Stack joined the ANA as Junior Member J-14827, effective November 1, 1947, again atage nineteen. The ANA gave him a Medal of Merit in 1991, and in 1997 he was namedNumismatist of the Year.

In 2021 he was included in the top 10 of Coin World list of The Most Influential People inNumismatics 1960-2020. In his listing he stated that as a licensed auctioneer he conducted morethan 800 public sales.

One of Harvey's contributions to his company and the hobby was to promote the history ofStack's. He provided a series of articles to the company blog This was reprinted in The E-Sylum.

He would have been eligible for the ANA 75-Year Member Award in 2022. He died on January3, 2022.

Stack's Bowers Galleries

To an uninformed collector, Stack's Bowers Galleries may sound like a partnership of tworespected long-time dealers. Today it is the subsidiary of a large corporate entity. The firmclaims a legacy back to 1933 and yet listed Harvey G. Stack as their founder. This misses a fewsteps along the way.

Stack's merged with American Numismatic Rarities on November 15, 2006. The mergedcompany, still called Stack's, listed Q. David Bowers and Harvey Stack as Co-chairmen.Lawrence Stack was also an equity partner. Anderson Press acquired a controlling interest in2008. Harvey Stack and Lawrence Stack retired in 2009 leaving Bowers as Chairman of theBoard.

The Escala Group changed its name to Spectrum Group International on May 19, 2009. Theyhad acquired Bowers and Merena Auctions from Collectors Universe. In 2011 Stack's wasmerged with Bowers and Merena to become Stack's Bowers Galleries. Harvey and Lawrencecame out of retirement to work with the new firm. At that time the company was owned 51% byBowers and Merena Auctions and 49% by Stack's. In 2013, Spectrum bought the remaining 49%to become sole owner of the company.

The Stack's Bowers website includes this opening statement, They list Q. David Bowers, Harvey G. Stack and Lawrence R. Stack astheir founders.

The first sale conducted by Stack's was dated October 15, 1935. Their first Internet sale camesome time later. The founders relate to a firm with the same name that came out of the 2006merger. They were only with Stack's Bowers since 2011.

Apparently, in acquiring the company, Spectrum acquired the assets, a respected company with along history and a set of founders who had been competitors through much of that history.

To read earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
DAVE BOWERS ON THE ANR-STACK'S MERGER(https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v09n39a20.html)
HARVEY AND LAWRENCE STACK REJOIN STACKS-BOWERS(https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v14n22a10.html)
HARVEY STACK'S NUMISMATIC FAMILY, PART 1(https://www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n39a14.html)