Edward Charles Rochette, Jr. (February 17, 1927 – January 18, 2018) devoted nearly all of his adult life in service to the
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 ...
. His first exposure to the ANA was as an editor of ''
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 ...
'' from 1966 to 1972. From 1966-86 he served as executive vice president. In 1987 he was elected to the ANA Board of Governors, and would serve as its president from 1991 to 1993.
He returned to a staff position in 1998 and served as the executive director at the turn of the century.
Literary career
Rochette has written a variety of numismatic books, including ''The Romance of Coin Collecting'', ''Medallic Portraits of John F. Kennedy'' and ''Making Money: Rogues and Rascals Who've Made Their Own''. Another aspect of his writing career included a weekly coin column that was nationally syndicated by the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
''. Another column was contributed to ''
COINage
Coinage may refer to:
* Coins, standardized as currency
* Coining (mint), the process of manufacturing coins
* '' COINage'', a numismatics magazine
* Tin coinage, a tax on refined tin
* Coinage, a protologism or neologism
In linguistics, a neolo ...
'' magazine, and he contributed to a monthly column in ''
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 ...
'', "The Other Side of the Coin". A book of the same name, collecting a number of his columns, was published in 1985.
Before joining the staff of the American Numismatic Association, he served as executive editor of ''
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 has been the recipient of the Numismatic Literary Guild's coveted Clemy Award and the Sandra Rae Mishler gold medal for original research.
He was instrumental in developing the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...
's (IOC) numismatic exhibit at the IOC's museum in
Lausanne
Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...
, Switzerland. He also served as a numismatic consultant to the
United States Olympic Committee
The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) for the United States. It was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado ...
and the
United States Air Force Academy
The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academies, United States service academy in Air Force Academy, Colorado, Air Force Academy Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs. I ...
.
Rochette died January 18, 2018, at the age of 90 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Numismatic honors
Rochette is a recipient of various honours, including the ANA Glenn Smedley Memorial Award, Lifetime Achievement Award, Medal of Merit, and the Association's highest honor, 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. In 2005, the ANA named their museum in his honor.