WES RASMUSSEN (1934-2018)

I met Wes Rasmussen in the early 1980’s through our mutual friend, Dick Punchard. The three of us became the Minnesota contingent to EAC conventions and travelled together to California copper auctions including Phil Van Cleave (1986), Robbie Brown (1986) and Jack Robinson (1989). On a couple of our trips we were joined by Bob and Tom Matthews.

When Wes bid at auction, he was not just interested in adding to his collection. It was a competition and he did not like to lose. There were times when I saw two large egos with deep pockets go up against each other. The result may have been a sale price well above current market value.

Wes was in the printing business doing general commercial printing with Litho-Tech Services. I recall that they specialized in printing vinyl covers for loose leaf binders. In 1986 Wes arranged for Litho-Tech to print and distribute Penny-Wise to members of EAC.

Litho-Tech printed the Attribution Guide for United States Large Cents 1840-1857 by J. R. Grellman and Jules Reiver (1986). The two-volume set had a printed vinyl cover.

Litho-Tech also printed Bill Noyes’ book on large cents. In 1991 I traveled with Bill Daehn to Chicago for the ANA convention. We packed up 100 copies of the book in Bill’s car to deliver to the show in Chicago.

Litho-Tech published the John Wright book on middle date cents in 1992. They continued to publish Penny-Wise until 2005. The company was sold to Glen Taylor, owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Wes was active with the Lions Club and served as president of the local chapter. He asked me to speak about Colonial coins at one of their lunch meetings. I learned about the Lion’s tail twister but don’t think he would do well at a coin club meeting.

Canterbury Downs opened as a Minnesota race track in 1985 and the state promoted horse racing as an industry. Wes hopped in the saddle as a horse owner (not as a rider). I don’t recall if he won any races as owner.

I frequently visited him in Bloomington, Minnesota, in a large house on the bluff overlooking the Minnesota River. Wes enjoyed watching deer and other animals in the parkland below. When Wes was considering a move to Las Vegas, he and his wife, Judy, wanted to stay in Minnesota until their daughter Kathy was married. Wes wanted to see his daughter coming down the grand staircase in her wedding gown.

I didn’t see much of Wes after he moved to Las Vegas in the 1990’s. He served as president of EAC from 1996 to 1999 and as host of the EAC convention in 1997 and again in 2002 with Al Boka and Jeff Gresser. I don’t know how much he was a gambler. I know that he collected casino chips and was an active member of the “Silver Strikers”.

In 2005 I attended the FUN show with my employer. The Heritage sale of the Wes Rasmussen collection was held at the same time. I greeted Wes and Judy and a lot of old EAC friends at the sale. I had my eye on a couple of coins but was not a successful bidder.

In June of 2010 I went to Las Vegas for the CC&GTCC convention. I was surprised to see that Wes had a table there. He was selling ten ounce silver rounds from casinos. As the show was closing I talked with him about his success at the show. He said that sometimes you can buy your way out of a show. Apparently his purchases were better than his sales.

Judy died on October 29, 2016, after sixty years of marriage. Wes moved to Wisconsin, at least for the summers, but continued to visit Las Vegas. It was on one of these visits in October that he suffered a stroke and did not recover.

Pete Smith, Dick Punchard and Wes Rasmussen at the 1986 Philip Van Cleave sale; photo courtesy Kagin's via Pete Smith

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