The co-founder of Professional Coin Grading Service, the first private third-party grading company in the country, has died.
At age 63, Jon Bruce Amspacher, also known as a coin dealer and newsletter writer, succumbed Jan. 18 to complications from diabetes, according to a PCGS press release.
?His passing is a loss for his friends and the numismatic community,? said PCGS founder David Hall, president of Collectors Universe, Inc., parent firm of PCGS.
Born on Feb. 25, 1942, in Oklahoma, Amspacher grew up in Norman, and received a degree in English from Oklahoma University.
He become a rare coin dealer in 1969 and worked in the early- to mid-1970s for Fred Sweeney Rare Coins in Kansas City. Later, Amspacher worked for top numismatic firms like A-Mark in Los Angeles, Steve Ivy Rare Coins (now Heritage Galleries & Auctioneers) in Dallas, and Jim Halperin?s New England Rare Coins in Boston.
In the 1980s he started his own dealership, Bruce Amspacher Rare Coins, and published the rare coin newsletter, the Bruce Amspacher Investment Report.
?Bruce was known for his great eye for quality, his encyclopedic memory of coins and coin prices, and his great writing ability.
He was one of the original founders of PCGS in 1986, and in fact, is credited with coming up with the name for the company, according to Hall.
Amspacher specialized in top-quality silver dollars and type coins, according to Hall, ?... but was considered an all-around numismatist with world-class coin knowledge.?
