About the Principals behind this project

Adams, John W. – John is an investment banker in Boston. His celebrated collection of 1794 large cents, offered by Bowers & Ruddy fixed price list in 1982, contained 32 Chapman plate coins, 22 pieces depicted in Hays-Frossard and a majority of the 94s plated in both Parmelee and Beckwith. This “Adams Spirit” was a motivating factor in forming the 2004 EAC Provenance Exhibit and for Provenance Gallery of the Year 1794. Adams possesses a superb library from which selections were sold by George Kolbe in 1990.

Boka, Jon A. “Al” – A Trenton, New Jersey native and later of Bordentown, New Jersey [as was Joseph Wright], Al was the organizer and executive director of the Las Vegas Marathon from 1982 until he sold it in 2004. He began collecting Lincoln cents the age of 9. At about that age his uncle Harry, living in the shadow of the Battle Monument in Trenton [commemorating the Battle of Trenton during the Revolutionary War], showed him a cigar box full of large cents which he had “found in his basement.” Al became fascinated by the large coppers but was not to own one for many years. Boka purchased his first large cent, a middle date, in a coin shop in Amsterdam, Holland around 1965 while serving with the USAF in France. In 1972 he became an EAC member no. 406. Al assembled a  high-grade date set [1793-1857] featuring the different obverses from 1793-1857 including all 58 of the 1794 collectible varieties; the collection is exhibited elsewhere on this web site. Al created the 2004 EAC “Provenance” Exhibit and the book, herein offered, documenting it.

                                                                 contact Al Boka at:     EAC406 @aol.com

Husak, Walter J. – A resident of Burbank, California, Husak was the owner of an aerospace hydraulic fittings manufacturing company until it was sold in 2010. He began collecting Buffalo Nickels and Lincoln Cents in 1954 at age 12. In 1962 he liquidated his collection to buy a 1957 Triumph sports car that he sold 9 months later to buy the 1954 Cadillac convertible which he continues to drive today. During the 1980s he became an avid runner and completed 4 Los Angeles marathons. His interest in coins eventually returned and in 1980 he purchased his first large cent, an 1804b. He has assembled an extraordinary set of Sheldon varieties, purchasing many from the Dr. Allen Bennett and Roy Naftzger collections as well as at auctions throughout the country. Husak is the current owner of the fabled “Abbey” 1799 cent. Walter sold his entire collection of early date large cents (complete except for three) through Heritage Galleries on February 15, 2008 in Long Beach. The gross sales amount was in excess of $10,700,000 for the 301 large cents sold. Walter photographed the fifty-eight 1794 varieties depicted in Provenance Gallery of the Year 1794.

FUNDING SUPPORT FOR THIS PROJECT

Daniel W. Holmes, Jr.