Chicago Coin Club Inducts Two Members into HOF
The Chicago Coin Club (CCC) announced two new inductees to the Hall of Fame at its December 2023 Banquet. The CCC Hall of Fame was created in 2019 to recognize a select group of prominent numismatists who made significant contributions to numismatics on the local, state, regional and/or national level. The original 12 inductees of 2019, one per month, were individuals who were no longer living. Since then, Hall of Fame inductees have included living and deceased members. The 2023 class of Inductees are Professor R. Edward Davis (1878-1940) and Mark A. Wieclaw. Biographies of each inductee follow.
Professor R. Edward Davis
Professor R. Edward Davis served as secretary and treasurer of the Chicago Coin Club from its formation in 1919 until 1927 and again from 1933 to 1936. He served as president from 1929 to 1932. A founding member of the club, he was (randomly) assigned charter number 1. Professor Davis was born on Jan. 20, 1878, in Aurora, Ill., where he grew up and first began collecting fossil specimens. He graduated from Illinois Normal University (now Illinois State University) in Normal, Ill., and from the University of Chicago. After graduation, he began his long teaching career as a science teacher at various schools in Iowa from 1900 to 1904 before moving to Fort Scott, Kan. He joined the faculty of the Lane Technical High School of Chicago as head of the department of chemistry in 1914, a position he occupied until his death. He was an active member of the Chicago section of the American Chemical Society and was elected vice president of the Illinois State Chemistry Teachers Association.
Prof. Davis joined the American Numismatic Association (ANA) in June 1909 as Member 1262 and was a founder of Branch 1 of the ANA in Chicago – the Chicago Numismatic Society. From 1938 to 1940, he served as the editor of the Chicago Coin Club’s Bulletin where he contributed many papers on Illinois numismatics. Among his publications was the booklet “Early Illinois Paper Money.”
He was elected president of Central States Numismatic Society in 1940 but died unexpectedly after a short illness on May 4, 1940, at the age of 62. His early death cut short the career of this well-known educator and numismatist. He was survived by his wife Frances, who he married in 1906, and two daughters, Isabella and Emily.
Mark A. Wieclaw
Mark Wieclaw attended his first Chicago Coin Club meeting in January 1984 and, after years of regular attendance, he became a member in June 1992 and a life member in July 1998. He served as president of the club from 1997 to 1998 and again from 2003 to 2004 and has been a member of the board for more than 20 years.
Wieclaw was born in Pennsylvania in 1952 and moved to New Lenox, Ill., as a child where his father worked at a local steel mill. His numismatic journey didn’t begin until he met his wife, Sally. Her father was a coin collector and that was the spark. Wieclaw has had a long career in the retail and collectibles industry in the Chicago area, working at both Harlan J. Berk, Ltd (1991-1995) and Gold Dust Coin (1995-2010).
Wieclaw’s collection encompasses a wide range of subjects from ancient coins to paper money to U.S. coins and tokens. He has enthusiastically embraced the club motto “Docendo Discimus” (We Live By Learning) and is a regular presenter on a variety of numismatic topics at local high schools. Wieclaw is a regular speaker at club meetings and presenter at club show-and- tells, having won the Cabeen award 15 times in first place and 12 times in second place. He regularly puts on educational displays at numismatic shows across the Midwest, having won multiple first-place awards and some Best of Show honors. He is an ANA-certified judge in two categories.
He is also very active in numerous other numismatic societies, where he has often served as an officer and board member. These include the Will County Coin Club (life member and past president), Illinois Numismatic Association (life member, past president, treasurer and board member), Central States Numismatic Society (life member), Ancient Coin Club of Chicago (past president), Token and Medal Society, American Numismatic Association, (life member, Presidential Award in 2000 and 2013, and recipient of the Goodfellow Award), and the Dr. George F. Heath Society (charter member). Wieclaw received the Numismatic Ambassador Award from Krause Publications in 2001 and the Chicago Coin Club Medal of Merit in 2003. The book Medals and Tokens of the Chicago Coin Club, published by William A. Burd (HOF Member 17), includes many medals that Wieclaw designed, produced and donated to the Chicago Coin Club.
Wieclaw married his wife, Sally, in 1974 and has two daughters, Jaclyn and Alexandra.