18th Century Tokens from the Collection formed by the late Arvid Frank

Arvid Frank

Arvid began his British token collection and interest in the 18th century trade tokens when he attended his first coin fair in London in 1967. Here he acquired his first Conders in a trade for some British silver. The next acquisitions were from Corbitt and Hunter (Newcastle on Tyne), Seaby’s, Spink’s and Glendining’s in London, as well as from local San Francisco Bay Area coin shows. His collection grew with ‘coast to coast’ purchases from Paul Bosco (New York City) to Jerry Bobbe (Portland, Oregon). Before the internet there were only coin shows and conventions, occasional live auctions and dozens of ‘For Sale’ mail lists and catalogues from around the world. Arvid plied them all. He was only beginning to embrace email and the internet when he passed away in 2008 at the age of 90. Six months earlier, he was still placing bids by mail in the last token auction in London that he participated in.

Arvid began in numismatics in the late 1950s, like many others in the US, by filling blue Whitman folders with pennies and nickels initially discovered in pocket change, and later from rolls and even bags of loose coins from the bank. With a folding card table set up in the family room, Arvid would pore over his accumulations and slowly expand his collection. Over the years he collected and dealt in type coins of the world. A world traveller following retirement, he often sought out coin shops in cities around the globe. London remained a favourite for him and his wife, Jean.

Arvid was an early member of the Conder Token Collector’s Club as well as the American Numismatic Association. He took tables in several Bay Area coin club shows including those at Santa Rosa, Cupertino and San José. Assisted by his always affable wife and later occasionally by his son and grandchildren, he left a legacy of respectful negotiation, good-natured humour and a genuine curiosity for human history as revealed through the coins he studied. His was truly a lifelong and fulfilling interest.
William Frank