September 10, 2015 – Steve Ivy, Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Heritage Auctions, has received the highest honor bestowed annually by the prestigious Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG), the 2015 Abe Kosoff Founders Award.
“The Abe Kosoff Award is named for our founding president,” said Terry Hanlon, PNG Immediate Past President, as he announced the award for Ivy. “It is presented to a member who has made significant contributions to the Guild and the numismatic fraternity as a whole.”
“This year’s recipient began advertising rare coins for sale in national publications back in 1964,” added Hanlon. “He was only 14 at the time. Since then, he has served with distinction as a PNG President and Industry Council For Tangible Assets Chairman. Through his company’s extensive national and international marketing and promotion in 40 different categories – including of course, rare coins and bank notes – he has spread the word about the joy of coin collecting to 700,000 non-coin collectors.”
The award was presented at the PNG’s annual banquet, held in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois on August 10, 2015, the eve of the World’s Fair of Money there. It came as a surprise to Ivy.
“I can’t thank PNG enough,” he said. “I’m a lucky man to be in the coin business. I know that this award was given to me for service to the numismatic community, but the reality is that I really owe the community for what it has bestowed on me, not the other way around.”
Two other Heritage staff members also received awards from the PNG at the banquet:
Sarah Miller, Director of Numismatics at Heritage’s New York City office, was named a recipient of the PNG’s Sol Kaplan Award, presented to individuals who have given their time in an attempt to rid the hobby of professional fraud and thievery. Her efforts assisted in leading to the arrest and subsequent guilty plea of a thief who stole coins at coin shows in several states. In addition to Miller, Brenham, TX dealer Vic Bozarth was also given the Kaplan Award for this help on the same case.
Robert Korver, a member of Heritage Auctions’ Marketing team, received the PNG’s Achievement in Excellence Award for his “countless hours championing the fight against important restrictions,” said PNG Executive Director Robert Brueggeman. “The PNG, its members and the numismatic community as a whole are in his debt.”
To visit the website of the Professional Numismatists Guild please click here.
More information about Steve Ivy and a picture of him you will find here.
If you would like to know more about Abe Kosoff you may read his biography: “Abe Kosoff: Dean of Numismatics” written by David Bowers.