NNP

Herbert, Alan

Born in Chicago, Illinois; grew up in Franconia, New Hampshire. He served in the military September 1944 to December 1949 and saw combat in Germany. He returned to active duty September 1950 to December 1951 and served as a combat correspondent in Korea. He was recommended for a bronze star. Married Lisa Schellenberger October 8, 1948. Their one son died in infancy.

He began a career in radio with the Armed Forces Network in Germany in 1946. After military service he was a news and program director for various radio stations for 30 years.

Herbert began collecting coins in 1964 and began researching the minting process in 1966. In 1967 he was named secretary of the Collectors of Numismatic Errors (CONE). The club was later merged into Combined Organization of Numismatic Error Collectors of America (CONECA). He served as secretary until 1991. He was appointed an official coin authenticator for CONE in 1970 and continues with CONECA. He developed the PDS minting variety cataloging system. In 1988 he was inducted into the CONECA Hall of Fame.

He has been a regular columnist in numismatic publications. His columns began in Numismatic News in 1968 and in Coins magazine in 1970. He began contributing to Coin Prices Magazine in 1972. In 1981 he took over the question and answer columns in BNR, NN, Coins magazine and World Coin News. He answered several hundred questions by mail each month and has answered more than 13,000 questions in print.  His address file contains the names of more than 30,000 correspondents.  He also had a photographic file of more than 9500 examples of minting varieties.  Editor of Coins  magazine after 1992.

Herbert  made visits to the U. S. Mints and more than a dozen foreign mints.  Since 1976 he has attended the World Mint Directors' Conferences.  He is a consultant on mint errors for the various Krause publications.

Author of The Official Price Guide to Mint Errors and Varieties in 1974. The 5th edition was published in 1991.  Also author of The Official Investor's Guide to Buying and Selling Silver Dollars in 1982. His columns were compiled into Coin Clinic: 1001 Frequently Asked Questions, published in 1995.

He served on the ANA Board 1999 to 2001 and 2003 to 2007. He returned in 2008 to fill the seat vacated by the death of Radford Stearns. He received the ANA Medal of Merit in 1994 and Glenn Smedley Memorial Award in 2001.

He died at Fort Meade Veterans Hospital in South Dakota. In 2013 he was inducted into the ANA Hall of Fame.

bio by correspondence, 1991; interviewed 3/20/93, obit: CW 2/11/2013;  NUM March 2013