CHARLES ROY CLARK, JR. (1928-2024)

The TAMS Journal for March-April 2025 noted the death of C. R. Clark, Jr. As a numismatic author, he deserves to be mentioned in The E-Sylum.

Clark was born on April 10, 1928, In Princeton, West Virginia. His father was Charles Roy Clark, Sr. (1902-1969), a pipefitter with the railroad, and mother was Hassie Roles Clark (1904- 1976). At age fourteen Charles joined his father to work as a brakeman on the Virginia Railroad.

He married Virginia Marion Vest (1927-2008) on March 18, 1949. They had a son, Robert.

Charles attended Bluefield Junior college. He was a star basketball player who led his team to the junior college final four. He graduated from East Tennessee State University in 1950 with a degree in engineering, physics and math.

C. R. Clark and Marion moved to Hurley, Virginia, for a year in 1950 to 1951 while C.R. taught math in high school. He also coached the basketball and football teams. He left to serve in the Air Force as an in-flight fuel instructor during the Korean War 1951 to 1955.

He received an MS in business administration from the University of Kentucky in 1960. The couple moved to St. Petersburg in 1957. Clark taught mathematics at St. Petersburg high school from 1957 until retirement in 1990.

He was a collector of Florida tokens and a specialist in the field. He joined the board of the Florida Token Society in 1975 and served as the president 1978 to 1980. He was the editor of Tokenews, their quarterly publication from 1979 to 1985. He wrote articles for the TAMS Journal and other token publications.

He was the author of Florida Trade Tokens published in 1980 and Florida Tokens published in 1990. He was an active member of the Southeast Token Society (SETS).

He was vice president of the American Play Money Society (APMS) and contributed articles to their newsletter, Fun Money. The June 1996 issue had his article on Northwestern School Supply Company Educational Toy Money. The December 1996 issue had A Close Look at Red Goose Premium Money©. These are just examples of many articles on toy money.

In 2007, the Florida Token Society presented C. R. Clark and Marion with their Lifetime Achievement Award. The club issued two plastic tokens and an elongated coin to commemorate the event. Clark died on November 6, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Florida. He was cremated with his ashes placed with Virginia Marion Clark at Bay Pines National Cemetery.

 

To read issues of Fun Money on the Newman Numismatic Portal, see:
Fun Money Newsletter of the American Play Money Society (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/publisherdetail/528207)

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