HARVEY STACK AND STACK'S BOWERS GALLERIES

PREV ARTICLE NEXT ARTICLE FULL ISSUE PREV FULL ISSUE

V25 2022 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 25, Number 2, January 9, 2022, Article 13

American Numismatic Biographies author Pete Smith submitted this article on the late Harvey Stack and the creation of Stack's Bowers Galleries. Thank you! -Editor

Harvey Stack was the last of his generation with the family firm of Stack's. The numismatic and auction version of Stack's dates back to 1933. Joseph (1891-1974) and his younger brother Morton (1901-1967) reformed their father's brokerage house to service the rare coin market. The next generation included Joseph's children, Shirley (1904-1991), Benjamin (1925-1984) and Norman (1928-1992), and Morton's son Harvey. After the death of Norman in 1992, only Harvey and his son, Lawrence, remained with the Stack's company.

I interviewed Harvey for his biography at the 100th anniversary ANA convention on August 14, 1991. He gave me the basic information: he was born on June 3, 1928, in Manhattan and attended New York University. He married Harriett Spillman and had two children, Lawrence and Susan, who also worked for the firm.

The death notice from Stack's Bowers stated that it wasn't until 1947 that he went to work full time for Stack's Rare Coins. That would make him nineteen at the time.

Harvey was an activist in promoting numismatics. On February 28, 1973, he joined five others to testify before the Commerce and Finance Committee in support of the Hobby Protection Act. In 1995 he testified before the House Committee of Banking and Coinage to support the statehood quarters program.

Harvey was appointed to the U. S. Assay Commission for the bicentennial year 1976. He joined the PNG in 1978, served on the board after 1979, as vice president 1985 to 1989 and as president 1989 to 1991. In 2000 the PNG presented him with their Lifetime Achievement Award.

Harvey Stack joined the ANA as Junior Member J-14827, effective November 1, 1947, again at age nineteen. The ANA gave him a Medal of Merit in 1991, and in 1997 he was named Numismatist of the Year.

In 2021 he was included in the top 10 of Coin World list of The Most Influential People in Numismatics 1960-2020. In his listing he stated that as a licensed auctioneer he conducted more than 800 public sales.

One of Harvey's contributions to his company and the hobby was to promote the history of Stack's. He provided a series of articles to the company blog Harvey Stack Remembers Growing up in a Numismatic Family. This was reprinted in The E-Sylum.

He would have been eligible for the ANA 75-Year Member Award in 2022. He died on January 3, 2022.

Here's a photo from the Baltimore show March 28, 2014 with Dave Bowers, Harvey Stack,myself and Larry Stack. -Editor

To an uninformed collector, Stack's Bowers Galleries may sound like a partnership of two respected long-time dealers. Today it is the subsidiary of a large corporate entity. The firm claims a legacy back to 1933 and yet listed Harvey G. Stack as their founder. This misses a few steps along the way.

Stack's merged with American Numismatic Rarities on November 15, 2006. The merged company, still called Stack's, listed Q. David Bowers and Harvey Stack as Co-chairmen. Lawrence Stack was also an equity partner. Anderson Press acquired a controlling interest in 2008. Harvey Stack and Lawrence Stack retired in 2009 leaving Bowers as Chairman of the Board.

The Escala Group changed its name to Spectrum Group International on May 19, 2009. They had acquired Bowers and Merena Auctions from Collectors Universe. In 2011 Stack's was merged with Bowers and Merena to become Stack's Bowers Galleries. Harvey and Lawrence came out of retirement to work with the new firm. At that time the company was owned 51% by Bowers and Merena Auctions and 49% by Stack's. In 2013, Spectrum bought the remaining 49% to become sole owner of the company.

The Stack's Bowers website includes this opening statement, Stack's Bowers Galleries has been conducting live, Internet and specialized auctions of rare U. S., World and ancient Coins and Currency since 1933. They list Q. David Bowers, Harvey G. Stack and Lawrence R. Stack as their founders.

The first sale conducted by Stack's was dated October 15, 1935. Their first Internet sale came some time later. The founders relate to a firm with the same name that came out of the 2006 merger. They were only with Stack's Bowers since 2011.

Apparently, in acquiring the company, Spectrum acquired the assets, a respected company with a long history and a set of founders who had been competitors through much of that history.