My article this week is about a man you probably never heard of and his international coin clubthat has nearly been forgotten. The club newsletter that might reveal club history is missing fromthe Newman Numismatic Portal leaving many questions unanswered.

William Hibbert was born on April 4, 1909, in Trenton, New Jersey, the son of Joseph WilliamHibbert (1881-1943) and Sarah Jane Hawthorn (1888-1942). Joseph owned a print shop. At thetime of the 1930 Census, William worked as a printer.

William married Elsa A. Bartz (1913-2007) on November 18, 1940. They had two sons. His latercareer was with the Philco Corporation in Philadelphia.

The October 1961 issue of The Numismatist announced that he was new member 42976. He wasnever mentioned in The Numismatist again.

Hibbert of Croydon, Pennsylvania, is credited as the founder of the Amateur Coin CollectorsClub in 1961, based on an idea by Bill Hulett. Membership was open to "any reputable person."That may have limited their potential membership. The club encouraged members to swap bymail. The newsletter offered buy and sell ads for members. They also conducted "members only"mail bid sales. Hibbert served as advisor and secretary-treasurer.

The club is first mentioned in Coin World in 1962, reporting that Hibbert made the colorfulsuggestion that beginning collectors should buy a copy of the Red Book and the Brown andDunn grading book. The second mention in 1963 reported club membership at 461. I don't knowhow Hibbert originally promoted the club to get it started.

There was also a Long Island Amateur Coin Collectors Club that predated the ACCC.

The Amateur Coin Collectors Club had their ACCC Bulletin originally issued monthly withHibbert as editor-in-chief. All that for dues of just $3 a year. Frequency was later reduced toquarterly. The name was changed to ACCC Tion Line around 1972. As the publication is notavailable in the Newman Numismatic Portal, the final date of publication is not apparent.

The Bulletin had a core group of writers including Barbara Ann Lyon, Donald H. Anthony, MarkE. Mennes and A. Robert Smith. Other members provided articles occasionally.

Barbara Ann Lyon took over as editor of the Bulletin following the death of Hibbert. She alsohad a coin column in at least eight general circulation newspapers where she promoted theACCC. Her column was discontinued April 26, 1970, and the ACCC was not mentioned again.

An Annual Meeting of the ACCC was held on May 16, 1964, at the Farbend Building in NewYork City. Add that as a location I never heard of. In May of 1965, an area meeting of the ACCCwas held in San Francisco at the home of Jim Rasmussen.

An annual meeting of the ACCC was held in 1967 at the home of Bill Hibbert in Croydon, PA.with twenty members from five states attending. During the gathering, the ACCC conducted aunique event, they had a mail bid sale with floor bidding.

William died of a heart attack at home in Croydon, Pennsylvania, on May 23, 1968, and is buriedin Bristol Cemetery. He published the first 46 issues of the ACCC Bulletin. Issue 47 was atribute to Hibbert.

David Pestell of Buffalo, New York was president of the club in 1965. On January 1, 1969,William B. Haverly became president and Herbert Galloway succeeded Hibbert as secretary.James Rasmussen was elected president in 1970. He was succeeded by Paul Waichulaits in 1971and he was reelected in 1972. Coin World did not announce election results after 1972.

The end of reporting does not mean the end of the club. The missing newsletter would probablyindicate how long the club remained active. Can any E-Sylum reader recall membership in theACCC some fifty years ago? Can anyone provide copies of the newsletter for the NewmanNumismatic Portal?

Len Augsburger added this comment: