LAWRENCE B. FALATER (1935-2025)

Lawrence B. Falater, age 89, of Hillsdale, passed away Saturday, December 6, 2025, at Hillsdale Hospital. He was born on December 10, 1935, in Detroit to Louis and Mary Louise (O'Connor) Falater. Larry married Delphine Rozmary on June 11, 1960, at Our Lady Queen of Peace in Harper Woods, Michigan, and she preceded him in death on February 1, 2024.

Larry attended Servite High School and graduated from De LaSalle Collegiate High School in Detroit. He received his bachelor's degree in business from the University of Detroit. For over 25 years, Larry worked as a financial analyst for Chrysler Corporation. He was a member of St. Anthony Catholic Church in Hillsdale, and the Knights of Columbus. Larry had a lifelong passion for numismatics, a hobby that began as a young child when his father gave him his first Indian head cent.

He was life member #307 of the American Numismatic Association, charter member of the Michigan State Numismatic Society, Paper Money Collectors of Michigan, Society of Paper Money Collectors, Civil War Token Society, and former member of the Detroit Coin Club, and the Grosse Pointe Coin Club.

Survivors include four children, Joe, David (Linda), Denise, and Paul (Michelle); eleven grandchildren, Sarah, Matthew, Andrea, Nathanael, Maggie, Clare, Leah, Veronica, Sophia, Justin, and Elizabeth; ten great-grandchildren, Luke, Henry, Declan, John, Bennett, Mary Anne, Aurora, Margaret, Elisabeth, Catherine, and one great-granddaughter on-the-way.

In addition to his beloved wife, Del Falater, Larry was preceded in death by his parents, and one brother, Fred (Carlyn) Falater.

"Larry was a keen collector of Michigan paper money. He had extensive collections of Michigan national bank notes and Michigan obsolete notes.

"Larry was the author of Automotive Stock Certificates. This book set the standard for books on collecting stock certificates. Among other unfinished projects, Larry left a manuscript similar to his automotive book on aviation stocks ad bonds.

"Larry Falater was a wonderful collector and great friend. Over several (many?!) decades Larry and I drove to major shows around the country and a few in Europe. One high light was attending the IBNS paper money show in England. We planned a week of touring after the show. We wanted to visit the Channel Islands, but the ferry was canceled because of bad weather and the weather was indeed BAD. Instead, we then took a ferry to France, rented a car, and toured many World War II sites in Normandy. Those are memories that I will take with me."

"This is for those that may have known Larry. He was a legend in Michigan circles and is one of the old time classic dealers. And I miss him dearly. He had a pretty big circle of friends in Numismatics. He was also one the many key people that helped Neil Shafer write the 1984 book on Depression Scrip and supplied several of the plate notes. I knew Larry for many years and have a ton of stories of wheeling and dealing with him. Toward the later years, Larry started releasing his personal collection and I was lucky enough to get a large part of the depression scrip he sent back into the wild including several one of kind notes. I've bought many notes from him over the last 20+ years.

One of my best memories was seeing him at one of the annual Michigan state shows and I always made sure to hit him up first because he had a lot of Michigan material. At one show, I looked into his case and there sat a HUGE stack of Michigan depression scrip. Labeled Michigan scrip collection, $CRAZY. It literally said crazy on it, no dollar amount. I asked and he said he brought it along for people to look at and it was 200+ notes all different. He told me he only brought it to show it off because there's no one crazy enough to actually buy it. I held out my hand and said congrats, I'm that crazy person. We talked for a bit and then he asked why didn't I ask to cherry pick some notes and break up the group. I said nope, I want the walk out of here with the whole stack. Being a fellow Michigan collector, he entertained me and we actually came to a price. I had to go hit the ATM again and come back, but it was mine. And of course my day at the show was over just like that..within 20 mins of being at the show. I blew all my money on one purchase. I did do a quick round and visit with a few other dealers, but there was no way there was anything else there that would even come close to that purchase. Plus, I was now broke.

I was lucky once and was able to actually help Larry out. I came across a new Michigan note that no one had ever seen before. Gaylord Michigan 50 cent depression scrip. I showed it to Larry and his eyes lit up. He couldn't believe it. A depression scrip note from his own backyard he had never seen or heard of. After all, he hung with Ralph Mitchell, and Neil Shafer and others when they were researching depression scrip all the way back into the 60's. So this was a big one. He said he wanted it but said he knew I wouldn't part with it. But, he was really surprised when I pulled out a 2nd one and I told him I specifically came to him to sell/trade the extra one to him if he wanted it. I'll never forget that big sly smile. I already knew the answer. He pulled out some good trades from behind the table. It was another good day at a show dealing with Larry."

To read the complete article, see:
Lawrence B. Falater Passes (https://www.papermoneyforum.com/post/lawrence-b-falater-passes-13774360)

It was a great honor, bringing fond remembrances, to join 5 other Michigan State Numismatic Society members at the Mass of Christian Burial for Larry Falater December 10, 2025 at St. Anthony Catholic Church in Hillsdale, MI, with Fr. David Reamsnyder officiating. The funeral was held on what would have been Larry's 90th birthday.

Born in Detroit in 1935, graduating from De La Salle Collegiate and the University of Detroit, Larry experienced the growth and expansion of the City of Detroit as part of the "greatest generation" as defined by author Peter Jennings. Married to Delphine Rozmary in 1960 they began their family of four children and Larry's career in Detroit at Chrysler during the years of Iacocca's successes.

His obituary description included the following phenomenal numismatic path: "Larry had a lifelong passion for numismatics, a hobby that began as a young child when his father gave him his first Indian head cent. He was life member #307 of the American Numismatic As-sociation, charter member of the Michigan State Numismatic Society, Paper Money Collectors of Michigan, Society of Paper Money Collectors, Civil War Token Society, and former member of the Detroit Coin Club, and the Grosse Pointe Coin Club."

The family moved to Hillsdale, MI, and many readers of this tribute will remember weekend swap meets, private sales and periodic bid-by-mail auctions sent to his loyal friends. Some surely remember the "World Headquarters" on Bacon Street in Hillsdale.

My relationship with this true numismatist began through his annual summer trips to Michigan's Upper Peninsula to "look under rocks" for the often-elusive local national bank notes, mining scrip and stock certificates for his collection and for sales to his growing list of loyal customers.

About 10 years ago, as he learned of my knowledge of and passion for mining scrip, Larry inquired if I would be interested in meeting Chester Krause of Iola, WI, and Judy Davis of Copper Harbor, MI. These two individuals, with similar Upper Peninsula paper interests, began a scrip cataloging endeavor which melded into a stalled book project. Chet, Judy and I became an author trio and published Michigan Mining Scrip (Right) amidst the pandemic debacle of 2020.

The Gelwicks-Falater relationship continued to grow with many trips from Monroe to Hillsdale as Larry's days of longer drives were ending. Many memories were transferred and now I was the "youngster" looking "under Upper Peninsula rocks" for new material. Larry seemed to cherish the days I arrived with something unique to show the veteran collector.

This past week I have recalled three vivid memories from Hillsdale visits. Once, Larry called me to visit at their farmhouse instead of at his World Headquarters as Delphine's own medical challenges had accelerated. At that visit I purchased several rare Monroe obsolete bank notes which he knew I needed for my personal collection. One week from that visit I got the call that they had both survived a devastating homestead fire.

The next visit, in a small Hillsdale apartment, I dove into Larry's $3 banknote collection consisting of one note from most of the 60-plus Michigan obsolete banks with remainder notes. I was able to scan each of those notes for a future article. It was also during this visit that I learned of his common trend to collect one note from each respective bank in Michigan and not collect one of each variety or denomination. He was fascinated by this set of $3 notes!

Our final joint project came upon my insistence that Larry let me present a simple exhibit at the MSNS annual show, displaying his unique collection of the 21 of 22 national banks which included "Detroit" in their titles (as highlighted in prior issues of The MichMatist). While developing the exhibit, I was remiss in not recording our conversations pertaining to the pedigree of each note. "This note from Wally Lee, these notes from Paxton and Verhoven, and this note from Grinnell, who really was tough to deal with!" An unforgettable experience - and Larry could tell the back-ground stories of most of the bank president and cashier signatures from his personal exposure to many of the bank associates from his years living and working in the Detroit metropolitan area.

Not to be forgotten were Larry's passions for both automotive and mining stock certificates, as re-called by MSNS member Steve Bieda: "In addition to my numismatic interests, I have always been fascinated by the history of the American Auto Industry; I formerly served as Chairman of Motor Cities National Heritage Area and often sought out old auto stock certificates through Larry. Larry was a specialist in this field as well: he authored a book on the subject, entitled American Automotive Stock Certificates, which is an excellent resource on this collecting specialty and, to my knowledge, a pioneering book in this field."

Larry's journey and lifetime numismatic achievements are representative of the demographics of the 60 years of Paper Money Collectors of Michigan of which he was a charter member.

To read the complete articles, see:
Lawrence B. Falater Obituary (https://www.eaglefuneralhomes.com/obituaries/Lawrence-B-Falater?obId=46586294)
Lawrence B. Falater (https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/lawrence-falater-obituary?id=60224646)