David E. Schenkman (born September 27, 1939) is an American

numismatist A numismatist is a specialist, researcher, and/or well-informed collector of numismatics, numismatics/coins ("of coins"; from Late Latin , genitive of ). Numismatists can include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholar-researchers who use coi ...

and author, specializing in tokens and medals.

Early life

Schenkman was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Career

Schenkman began collecting coins in 1949, and began his interest in tokens and medals in 1960. From 1975 to 1980 he was editor of the Copperhead Courier. Schenkman edited "A Survey of American Trade Tokens" in 1975. He authored “World of Exonumia” in ''

Coin World ''Coin World'' is an American numismatic magazine, with weekly and monthly issues. It is among the world’s most popular non-academic publications for coin collectors and is covering the entire numismatic field, including coins, paper money, me ...

'' between 1985 and 1988 and “Token Topics” to ''

Numismatic News ''Numismatic News'' is an American numismatic magazine which has been in circulation since 1952. History ''Numismatic News'' was founded by Chester L. Krause, and the first issue appeared on 13 October 1952. The publisher was by Krause Publicat ...

''. He currently writes the "Tokens and Medals" column for ''

The Numismatist ''The Numismatist'' (formerly ''Numismatist'') is the monthly publication of the American Numismatic Association. ''The Numismatist'' contains articles written on such topics as coins, tokens, medals, paper money, and stock certificates. All me ...

'' and contributes articles to the Token and Medal Society's ''TAMS Journal''. Schenkman has received more than seventy literary awards, including seven Heath Literary Awards. Over his career he has written ten books, including ''Virginia Tokens'' (1980), which was the first book to catalog trade tokens from the state. Schenkman served as President of both the

Token and Medal Society The Token and Medal Society (TAMS) is an American numismatic organization founded in 1960. The organization specializes in the study, collection, and research of different types of exonumia. History The Token and Medal Society was founded on Nov ...

and the

Civil War Token Civil War tokens are token coins that were privately minted and distributed in the United States between 1861 and 1864. They were used mainly in the Northeast and Midwest. The widespread use of the tokens was a result of the scarcity of governmen ...

Society, and has spent 18 years as an instructor at the American Numismatic Association's Summer Seminar.

Awards and honors

Schenkman received Heath Literary Awards in 1994 and 2013. He received the Glenn Smedley Memorial Award in 2003 and Medal of Merit in 2007, as well as the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. In 2013, Schenkman received the

Farran Zerbe Memorial Award The Chester L. Krause Memorial Distinguished Service Award (formerly the Farran Zerbe Memorial Award and ANA Distinguished Service Award) is the highest honor conferred by the American Numismatic Association.American Numismatic Association The American Numismatic Association (ANA) is an organization founded in 1891 by George Francis Heath. Located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, it was formed to advance the knowledge of numismatics (the study of coins) along educational, historic ...

. He has been inducted into the Civil War Token Society Hall of Fame (2004) and the American Numismatic Association Hall of Fame (2015).

Personal life

Schenkman is married to Joanne Crowley.

References

American numismatists 1939 births Living people Writers from New York City {{Coin-stub