A Video Tribute to Numismatist David Akers

Jay Cline, John Dannreuther, Kenny Duncan, Mark Salzberg, Don Slouffman
Interviewer: David Lisot

A great numismatist passed away on July 11th, 2012.

David Akers started his career at Paramount Coin and went on to write definitive books about gold coins, research die varieties, catalog and sell the John Jay Pittman Collection, consult for PCGS as well as help and inspire other numismatists.

Some of the people who knew and worked with him share their thoughts and feelings.
Video Runtime: 7:21.

Copyright © CoinWeek – July 2012

Editors Note: Over the weekend CoinWeek also posted and article by Doug Winter about David. It is available here.

In addition, the following was posted from a CoinWeek article of August 19th, 2011 on David Akers being inducted into the PCGS CoinFacts Hall of Fame:

“David Akers is considered one of the top rare gold experts of all-time,” David Hall

Akers started collecting coins in 1949. After graduating from Notre Dame, obtaining a Masters degree in mathematics from Oregon State and serving as a U.S. Army combat artillery officer in Vietnam, David became a full-time coin dealer in 1971. He was President of Paramount International Coin Corp., one of the largest and most influential dealerships of the 1970s and 1980s. In 1973, Akers was instrumental in Paramount’s purchase and sale of the Dr. John E. Wilkinson collection of gold U.S. patterns and produced the definitive book on those legendary rarities.

Between 1975 and 1982, Akers published a six-volume analysis of U.S. gold coins that is considered one of the key references for the market. He conducted numerous important auctions, including the three-part 1997 – 1999 sale of the legendary John J. Pittman collection. He is one of only two dealers to ever receive all three of the Professional Numismatists Guild’s three top honors: the Robert Friedberg Literary award, the Abe Kosoff Founders award, and the PNG Lifetime Achievement award.

Tags: Don Slouffman.David Akers, Jay Cline, John Dannreuther, Kenny Duncan, Mark Salzberg, vidicon