ALPHONSE ANTON KOLB (1893-1983)

 

I have about fifty medals struck from dies produced by Alphonse Kolb. He is known for producing dies for the presidents of the Rochester Numismatic Association. One of those was for Kolb himself.

Kolb was born in Waldsteffen, Gmund, Germany on December 5, 1893. He was the son of Karl Kolb and Mary Kinle. He was an apprentice at a jewelry company at age fifteen and studied art and sculpture in Munich and the Hamberg Art Institute.

Alphonse married Elfrieda L. Reichelt (1877-1945) on September 4, 1918. At the time, he was 25 and she was 41. His second marriage was to Kathryn Yohann Kolb (1887-1968).

Much of his story was in his obituary in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle for March 31, 1983.

Kolb joined the Rochester Numismatic Association on November 14, 1922. He joined the American Numismatic Association on June 1, 1923, as member 2528 from his home at 453 Clinton Avenue in Rochester, New York. He converted to life membership in February 1949. as LM 228 from 120 Collingwood Drive and remained a member for 59 years. His collecting interests focused on medals.

The Rochester Numismatic Association had a series of presidential medals by Joseph A. Koeb, a charter member of the RNA. He produced the first nine presidential medals for the club.

Alphonse A. Kolb began his series of presidential medals with the 1921 medal for Woolf H. Amberg. Kolb was club president in 1931 and received one of his medals. After fifty-six years, the series ended with the medal for Willian Coe in 1977. Has any other medalist exceeded this record?

Kolb did a medal for the 500th meeting of the club in 1934, the 700th meeting in 1943 and the 1000th meeting in 1958. He did a dollar-size medal for the fiftieth anniversary of the club in 1962. He also did medals for the 25th, 35th, 60th and 70th anniversaries.

Kolb worked with Koeb on the 1917 medal for the ANA Convention badge. Kolb did the 1928 ANA convention badge. He did the ANA badge again in 1947. He did medals for the 20th anniversary of the Buffalo Numismatic Association in 1947.

For the RNA presidential medals, Kolb cut the image directly in the steel die. For his large plaques, he sculpted in clay for the plaques to be cast in bronze.

I was surprised to learn that Kolb did the dies for the George J. Bauer personal medal. This features an obverse based on a Syracuse decadrachm.

He died in Rochester on March 30, 1983, and is buried with Elfreda at Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester. Kathryn is in a different section of the same cemetery. The headstones of both women have bronze plaques sculpted by Kolb.

To learn more and see photos of many of his plaques see The TAMS Journal for August 1973 and a TAMS special issue, "Alphonse A. Kolb. M. A. The Man and his Works" by Charles J. Ricard.

 

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