Kolbe, George F.

Numismatic bookseller (since 1967) and auctioneer (since 1976), co-owner of Kolbe & Fanning Numismatic Booksellers

George F. Kolbe (*1941) attended Loyola University of Los Angeles after he moved from his hometown of New York City to Pasadena, CA in 1943.

He published his first sales listings of rare and out of print numismatic literature in 1969 and his first auction was held in 1976. At first named G. Frederick Kolbe, his company then soon became known as George Frederick Kolbe/Fine Numismatic Books. His first public auction was held in June 1979 as part of the Los Angeles Convention of International Numismatics (C.O.I.N.), followed by many auctions, for example, at the New York International Convention (N.Y.I.N.C.).
Next to duplicates stemming from the ANA and ANS, Kolbe has auctioned off holdings of many libraries of notable numismatists.

In 2010, Kolbe joined forces with David F. Fanning, PhD, and founded Kolbe & Fanning LLC, Numismatic Booksellers.

Georges F. Kolbe has published a series of books about numismatic literature and medals. In 2012 he published “The Reference Library of a Numismatic Bookseller”, which presents the most extensive collection of numismatic bibliographies.

Kolbe was a longtime member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America. He is also a member of the International Association of Professional Numismatists. He is co-founder of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society and fellow of the Royal Numismatic Society.

Please click here to go to Kolbe & Fanning LLC, Numismatic Booksellers.

Here, you can find his memories about his life as a numismatic bookseller.

The book launch of his reference library you will find here.

And if you’d like to contact George F. Kolbe, you can write him an email.

*as of 25 October 2020