The Joseph R. Lasser Collection

Triton XVIII, Lot: 1367. Estimate $1000. Sold for $650. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

MEROVINGIANS, Uncertain. Circa 710-750. AR Denier (12mm, 0.82 g, 6h). Large + RI; long bar above / Large AS; long bar above. NM p. 170, 13; Belfort 6636; MEC 1, –. VF, find patina.

From the Joseph R. Lasser Collection for the benefit of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, purchased from Wade Hinderling, 15 January 2010.

The following selections from the Lasser Collection are being sold according to Joe’s explicit wishes. All proceeds from the sale of these coins will be used to acquire additional items for the numismatic collection at Colonial Williamsburg.

Born in New York City, Joe grew up in a huge, family-packed house in New Rochelle, not far from the home of Julius Guttag, the famed numismatist of the first half of the 20th century. Working for Guttag in the mid 1930s, Joe got his first taste of numismatics, and formed his first collection, which was sold a few years later to pay for college. While at Lehigh University, where he excelled at everything, including golf, Joe opted to interrupt his education by joining the Army Air Corps shortly after the United States entered WWII. As a bombardier/navigator in both B-26 “Marauders” and A-26 “Invaders,” Joe completed 41 missions over Europe with the 391st Bomb Group of the 9th Air Force, and was highly decorated for his service. Once back in the States, he continued his education, started a family with Ruth, his childhood sweetheart, and began a career as a writer for a financial newspaper. Shortly thereafter, Joe changed direction and began what was to become a very successful career as a securities analyst, stockbroker, and portfolio manager.

Joe’s childhood fascination with things numismatic resurged as his young family matured, and he began to collect the paper money of the colonial period, including the Continental Currency issues of the Revolutionary War period. Always brilliant and inquisitive, it was in this area that Joe made his first significant contribution to numismatics. After painstakingly reading through tens of thousands of pages of Continental Congress papers, Joe assembled the universally accepted list of authorized Continental Currency signers, which appears in Eric Newman’s The Early Paper Money of America. Shortly thereafter, Joe set out to collect anything and everything that circulated in colonial America, including coins of the world trade. Over the years, the Lasser collection grew in size and scope, and now contains world-class holdings of American colonial material. Areas of great strength include Betts and Indian peace medals, Massachusetts silver coins by die variety, and French, Dutch and Spanish Colonial coins. In the latter category, Joe’s collection of Colombian coins formed the basis for his The Cob Coinage of Colombia (2000), co-authored with Jorge Restrepo, and now the standard reference on the subject. Other numismatic publications include The Coins of Colonial America (1997) in addition to some two-dozen articles appearing in various publications over the past four decades. Further immersing himself into collecting and publishing, he began not only to lend coins and paper money to museum exhibits, but he began giving them to various North American institutions that had a use for them.

Joe never lost sight of how lucky he was, and his unique circumstances allowed him to assemble a collection few could even dream of doing. A lover of numismatics to the core, he was aware of the value of education, and thus his primary focus shifted from the acquisition of material to sharing it with those inside and outside of the numismatic community. After a long and difficult search, and with the support of his family, Joe decided that this unique collection could be best “used,” as he put it, by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Today, the Foundation’s multitude of ventures ranging from museum and virtual exhibitions to national educational programs, have found “uses” for the collection that go well beyond what Joe initially imagined. With more than 3600 coins, medals, and pieces of paper money, the Lasser collection at Colonial Williamsburg is truly a national treasure.

Although the vast bulk of his holdings had already been given away, his acquisitive urge remained undiminished. Finding material for the collection at Williamsburg proved ever more difficult, so Joe pursued the origins of the silver penny and began collecting Carolingian coins in 2009.

Predeceased by Ruth, his wife of more than 60 years, in early 2010, Joe passed away on January 17, 2011. They are survived by a wonderful, loving family, including three children and their spouses, nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, and countless friends. Joe and Ruth also leave an unparalleled numismatic legacy, destined to continue so that future generations may enjoy and learn about the money and medals of early America. As he was so fond of saying, “we continue to learn and move forward.”

Erik Goldstein
Curator of Mechanical Arts and Numismatics
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
July 2014