Chet's Last Days
Clifford Mishler writes:

Books on Krause Publishing History
David Gladfelter writes:

Redbook Editor Kenneth Bressett
Ken Bressett writes:

John and Nancy Wilson
John and Nancy Wilson write:

Dave Harper

It is probably appropriate that I was on the road when he passed as no individual was more responsible for opening my eyes to the wider world than was Chet.

Even though I wrote a blog in early April that he was in a bad way, like many times previously he had bounced back again and returned to his routine of going to his office on Main Street.

The last time I had coffee with him, some of the conversation of the four of us present was about how many caregivers he was going through. He always retained a sense of humor.

The numismatic world has lost a giant.

He did not like to be called Mr. Krause as I found out when I first addressed him as boss in 1978.

As the name of a book that was later written, he wanted to be called just plain Chet.

So Chet I called him.

I subscribed to his products as a kid, both Numismatic News and Coins Magazine. I went to work for him after college.

Through both aspects of my life in numismatics, Chet introduced me to the wider world.

Now it is time for me to pay respect as it is for others whose lives he enriched.

It is time to say thank you for a life well lived.

Thank you, Chet.

To read the complete article, see:
We'll miss you, Chet (www.numismaticnews.net/buzz/well-miss-you-chet)

To read the complete article, see:
CoinWeek Podcast #34: Numismatic News Editor Dave Harper on the Passing of Chet Krause (www.coinweek.com/recent-articles-video/coinweek-podcast-34-numismatic-news-editor-dave-harper-passing-chet-krause/)

Numismatic News Staff

The first issue of what became a monthly and then weekly periodical was published Oct. 13, 1952. It originally sold for $2 a year. Ithelped revolutionize numismatics and changed his life. He went from rural carpenter/building contractor into a pioneering hobby publisher.

Mr. Krause picked up on a need for ever increasing speed in numismatic business and communications, yet remained loyal to his hometown of Iola, Wis., which even now has a population of only 1,300.

It was this rural isolation, far from the urban areas that hosted coin shops and shows, that brought him to believe that many other collectors shared the same needs he had.

He was right. That single insight proved to be timely. It eventually became the basis of a large publishing business called Krause Publications serving collectors in many other fields beyond numismatics.

Numismatic News grew with coin collecting to the highs of the roll and bag boom that peaked in 1964. He acquired a magazine in 1962 that he renamed Coins. The numismatic recession that hit in 1965 along with clad coinage nearly cost Mr. Krause the company.

He sold his coin collection to support the business. He founded a new title, Coin Prices, in 1967, but soon he reached beyond coin collectors and it was this diversification that set off a period of consistent growth.

In 1971 he founded, Old Cars, a paper for car collectors. His business vision took him into other collectible fields that ranged from sports cards and comic books to firearms, antiques and paper money.

If there was a collector of something, there was a need for a price guide. Mr. Krause compiled the Standard Catalog of World Coins first published in 1972 and it became the bedrock resource for the world's many coin collectors and dealers. Today, the Krause-Mishler catalog numbers named after him and his co-author, Clifford Mishler, are the basis of the world coin identification system.

To read the complete article, see:
Hobby publisher Chet Krause dies (http://numismaster.com/ta/numis/Article.jsp?ad=article&ArticleId=28265)

Connor Falk and Others

Chet Krause's positive attitude and dedication to numismatics is his lasting legacy to a coin collecting hobby he cared deeply for.

Jeff Garrett, president of the American Numismatic Association, said he appreciates his time serving with Chet Krause on the ANA board.

"I liked Chet's wit and wisdom," he said. "I worked with him during some trying times in the ANA. He was one of the guys who could cut to the chase, get to the nitty-gritty, a no-nonsense type of person."

Chet Krause changed the industry when he formed Krause Publications, he said.

"He was a great businessman," Garrett said. "I think that's the way he wanted to have been remembered: as a great businessman. Numismatic News has a great legacy. This was someone who created something that is still around. I still read Numismatic News today.

"I think his biggest impact was the Standard Catalog of World Coins series. Those books transformed the market at a time where information on world coins was difficult to find. It was a giant effort."

Chet Krause's own collecting brought him to sales and shows often, Garrett said.

"I admired seeing his paper money collection when it went to auction in 2008," he said. "He collected a lot of Wisconsin National Bank Notes. It was inspirational to see him assemble such a collection while also working in the business.

"I always enjoyed seeing him at coin shows. He traveled often. I would see him on the bourse floor and he'd stop over to say hello and chat for a bit."

Harvey Stack, founder of Stack's Bowers, successor firm to New York's venerable Stack's, said he has fond memories of Chet Krause going back to before Numismatic News.

"It was 1951 when Chet came into the store and asked, 'Do you think I should start a coin newspaper?'" Stack said.

Chet Krause founded Numismatic News a year later.

Ken Bressett, editor of A Guide Book of United States Coins, said he admires Chet Krause's focus on advancing numismatics.

"I think his work impacted the whole hobby," he said. "I knew him before he started the magazine. He was way ahead of his time in his thinking and in his attempts to stimulate the hobby. Numismatic News is his greatest contribution. Way above anything else. His Standard Catalog series was also very useful, but I think Numismatic News was his pride and joy."

To read the complete article, see:
Chet fondly recalled (www.numismaster.com/ta/numis/Article.jsp?ad=article&ArticleId=28268)

Obituary

Lifelong Iola resident and perhaps its best-known citizen, Chet Krause, 92, died June 25 of complications of congestive heart failure. At the time of his death he was under hospice care at Iola Living Assistance where he had been admitted June 22.

Chester Lee Krause was born Dec. 16, 1923, in Helvetia Township, rural Waupaca County, about six miles east of the village of Iola. He was the youngest of six children born to Carl and Cora (Neil) Krause. His education began in a one-room schoolhouse that had been built by his father next door to the family farm. From an early age, Chet learned the building trades working with his father who was an accomplished stone mason. He attended high school in Iola, graduating in 1941.

In October, 1952, Chet published the first issue of Numismatic News. The paper was meant to fill a niche he had identified to serve coin collectors nationwide who were far removed from metropolitan areas. He was the prototypical customer for his new venture: a serious coin collector who was geographically cut off from that hobby's mainstream.

For the next five years the publication grew in advertising volume and circulation as Chet nurtured it on evenings, weekends and when inclement weather kept him away from current construction projects. In 1957, Chet finished the last building he would ever construct, a 40' x 40' brick and glass office a block off of Iola's Main Street. That would remain, with occasional additions as expansion dictated, the offices of Krause Publications for nearly two decades as Numismatic News and Krause Publications expanded through acquisitions and start ups of periodicals to fill identified needs in the coin collecting community.

Chet guided the growth of his publishing company through the 1980s, expanding into more that a dozen collectible hobbies and outdoors activities, producing dozens of periodicals and more than 150 book titles, with revenues approaching $100 million annually.

In retirement as he neared the age of 90, Chet spent much of his time writing monographs on subjects ranging from family and local history to a compendium of places named Iola throughout the U.S. These publications were a continuing facet of his lifelong goal to preserve historical information for future generations, whether they be coin collectors half a world away, or neighbors from down the block.

In January, 2014, Chet suffered a stroke that impaired his ability to read and write. He recovered much of his lost mobility and retained his generally upbeat attitude. He came nearly every day to his Main Street retirement office, remaining active behind the scenes in the planning and financing of village improvement projects. His office was a morning coffee-break meeting place for local friends, out of town visitors and former employees.

Among the most regular visitors to Chet's office was his former right-hand man in the publications' business, Cliff Mishler. Cliff maintains a Main Street office of his own just two doors down from that which Chet occupied. In retirement, Chet and Cliff were in almost as close a proximity as they had been for more than 40 years operating Krause Publications. Cliff remained a liaison to the numismatic world for Chet and continued to act as a sounding board on community affairs.

To read the complete article, see:
Chester L. Krause (www.voiefuneralhome.com/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=3763168&fh_id=12037&lud=CE046A80BCD44155B21CF02E524A26BF)

To read the earlier E-SYlum articles, see:
CHESTER L. KRAUSE, 1923-2016 (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v19n26a02.html) CHET KRAUSE: THE AUTHORIZED INTERNET BIOGRAPHY (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v19n26a03.html)