Bob Fritsch
New Hampshire
ECI #72

I am confident ECI members are familiar with Bob Fritsch from his many activities in the hobby. He is currently the Assistant General Chair for the ANA 2010 convention in Boston. You will read below how he combined his career travels with his numismatic interests and collections.

“I started collecting in 1968 as a result of my Navy service in Japan. I had saved all my Japanese change in a coffee can and just before I transferred out, I emptied the can, kept one of each date/denomination I could find, and spent the rest on a ‘sayonara Party.’ Subsequent tours in Germany, Scotland, and Spain, plus sea duty that took me to several Mediterranean countries only expanded the collections. I currently collect the circulating coins of each country I have visited…currently 28.

Following retirement from the Navy with 24 years of service, I settled in New Hampshire and started getting involved in local clubs, including: the Nashua (NH) Coin Club the New Hampshire Numismatic Association and the New England Numismatic Association.  I served as President of the above three clubs at the same time, and am one of the few people who have held that office in a local, state and regional club simultaneously.  I discovered NH Town Medals and the NENA medal series and so I joined TAMS to learn more about them. The NH collection soon expanded into elongated, woods,  encased, food stamp change, and just about any other numismatic item that
came from New Hampshire. I joined the clubs to learn more about the stuff I was collecting.

At the same time I started going to ANA conventions even though I was a 18-year member when I participated in the 1993 Baltimore show. Only one convention between then and now has been missed (Anaheim 1995), and I started getting seriously involved in national clubs, plus exhibiting, judging and speaking. And I kept joining clubs because I liked the people and the specialized items -- plus taking on the presidency of three national clubs -- IOWMC, TEC and TAMS. My experience as an exhibit judge gets me invitations to several large shows throughout the year but I can attend only a few.

Being a restless sort, I also volunteered for several ANA committees, including Education and Future of the Hobby. I served as a Club Representative, Regional Coordinator and now as a District Representative for that ANA program. I have received the Terry Armstrong Award for Outstanding Regional Coordinator and the Glenn Smedley Award from ANA, plus several awards from local and regional organizations. My writing has gotten me two NLG awards and some local/regional recognition.

My current collecting focus is the medals of Antoine Bovy (1795-1877) who did medals for both the French and Swiss. Eventually I will get around to writing a catalog, but that is in the indeterminate future.”

Bob’s travels provided him with many opportunities to enjoy the hobby. The depth of his knowledge and enthusiasm for the hobby reminds us once again just why we all love collecting.