Decorated exhibitor and judge John Eshbach is the recipient of the American Numismatic Association’s 2009 Farran Zerbe Memorial Award. The award is the ANA’s highest honor, and is presented annually in recognition of numerous years of outstanding, dedicated service to numismatics. Eshbach will receive his award Aug. 8 at the 118th Anniversary Convention banquet in Los Angeles.

The 88-year-old Eshbach was born and raised in Lancaster, Penn., where he still resides. He joined the Marines in 1942 and served four years in the South Pacific, finishing his tour of duty at Camp Pendleton. It was there he met and married Corporal Evelyn E. Henry in 1945, and together they raised a son and a daughter. Evelyn passed away in 1995. Eshbach was a longtime supervisor at RCA in Lancaster, retiring after 36 years with the company. Read the rest of this entry »

Gene Hessler is the 2008 recipient of the American Numismatic Association’s highest honor, the Farran Zerbe Memorial Award for Distinguished Service. He will be presented the accolade Aug. 2 during the Awards Banquet at the World’s Fair of Money® in Baltimore.

Hessler, of Cincinnati, Ohio, is best known in the numismatic world as a paper money expert, who coined the term "syngraphics."

He is the author of The Comprehensive Catalog of United States Paper Money, which garnered the Nathan Gold Memorial Award and the Robert Friedberg Award; An Illustrated History of U.S. Loans, 1775-1898; U.S. Essay, Proof & Specimen Notes; The Engraver’s Line: An Encyclopedia of Paper Money and Postage Stamp Art; and The International Engraver’s Line. A prolific writer for numismatic periodicals, he edits Paper Money, the Society of Paper Money Collectors’ journal.

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