Bill went from Marshall Fields to work at Rarcoa in the mid 1960’s shortly after the formation of the company. He was there several years before I started in 1968. He ran the foreign coin department for Rarcoa. Bill had an amazing memory for Coins and History. He built the amazing foreign and ancient library that Rarcoa had until it moved to the suburbs and sold off though George Kolbe and the Money Tree auctions.

He could talk on almost any foreign coin you showed him, and had an incredible collection of coins. He was the Chairman of the 1st Chicago International Coin Fair that was created by Rarcoa. He went to work for Krause Publications to work and preparing the first of the telephone book sized World Coin books after leaving his employment in Chicago. He and his wife and two daughters moved to Iola where they stayed for many years. He was a good friend and well respected colleague.

Bill Pettit Ran the world coin department for RARCOA while they were at 31 N Clark St in Chicago (now the home to HARLAN BERK (who was previously in Joliet, Ill.)) I remember doing some business with him in the early 1970's, while I was just starting out as a world coin dealer. His knowledge was great and he had no problem sharing with others. I also remember a talk he gave at the Morton Grove coin club about the possible state of Franklin in the 18th century. Only in the past couple of years have I read more about it and I remember his talk.

William Pettit was a KP staff member in the Catalog Division. By the time I came to KP he had moved on and was the Director of the New London (WI) Public Museum. There is a memorial page dedication to him in one of the later 1990s century editions of the Standard Catalog of World Coins.

I first met Bill in the early 1960s, probably at a Chicago area event. He was a very active member of the Chicago Coin Club for many years, of which he was president in 1973-74.

In 1977 I hired Bill to join the world coin cataloging staff at Krause Publications in Iola, where he was engaged for roughly ten years, leaving the company in 1986. At that time he moved on to become curator of the historical collection and exhibition of the nearby New London Public Museum, where he was engaged from then until his passing in 1995. While engaged at Krause Publications he pursued a focused engagement with the development and refinement of the late 16th through 18th century listings incorporated in the Standard Catalog of World Coins, and contributed occasional by-lined articles in World Coin News.

I’m afraid that at this juncture I can not provide a more detailed insight into his interests and contributions to the numismatic realm.

One interesting insight into the depth and range of interests I’d like to share; he was also an active collector/accumulator of newspapers from around the country, and the world, with an interest in correlating their news contents to the world perspectives on the dates of their publication. While travelling overseas I invariably picked up newspapers in the cities visited, conveying them into his possession upon my return, where they were eagerly and appreciatively received.

He goes down as one of the most unassuming cerebral minds of the hobby that it has been my pleasure to meet and interact with on an ongoing basis