William Bishoff, former ANS Curator dies

Dr. William Bishoff, former curator of Modern Coins at the American Numismatic Society died in mid-January.

While I was at the ANS as computer systems operator, Dr. Bishoff was hired on to succeed Dr. Richard Doty, who had left to become curator at the Smithsonian.

It was a hard position for me to be in, as he had the degree and title and I had the knowledge which was often called upon to assit him with his collection. Luckly for me, I left the ANS soon thereafter.

Bill, lasted a few more years and also left the ANS. He bounced around a bit, before landing a part time position as curator of the numismatic collection at the Newark Museum in the 1990s.

Sadly, it was a good person with a Harvard degree who was not quite suited to the teaching word or the academic world, nor could he hold his liquor well which gave him some awful mood swings, some of which I was the brunt of as a subordinate.

However, in later years he was encouraging and supportive in my various research projects, so distance did make a difference.

George