Gene Hessler was given the Clemy Award Aug. 9 during the Numismatic Literary Guild Bash at the American Numismatic Association World?s Fair of Money in Milwaukee, Wis.
Barbara Gregory, Numismatist editor, presents the Clemy Award to Gene Hessler.
The award is the highest that the NLG can bestow and by tradition, the previous recipient gets to choose the next one from a field of nominations made by the NLG board.
Barbara Gregory, editor of Numismatist, and last year?s winner, cited Hessler for his many achievements, including writing a column for her for 15 years.
Hessler is a student of paper money and the vignettes that appear on them as well as the artists who created the vignettes.
His exhibits on vignettes and artists are renowed for their visual quality and factual content. This he also uses to good effect in his articles and books.
He is a former editor of Paper Money, the official journal of the Society of Paper Money Collectors.
In his acceptance speech Hessler said, ?I thought it would never come.?
When someone whom he thought was a friend got one, he said his hopes would rise only to be dashed. This happened a number of times over the years and ?you know who you are,? he joked.
?Barbara surprised me and gave it to me,? he said. ?It is a highlight that I will remember.?
Hessler said, ?I knew Clem Bailey,? the man for whom the award is named.
?So my name is going on that list. I want to make sure that it is spelled correctly.?
