Leroy Catlin Van Allen

Biography

(ANA Life Member 98)

Author (Born 3/8/1934)

Born in Seattle, Washington. Received B.S. and M.S. in electrical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. Married Margaret Ruth Cronshaw in 1957 and divorced in 1986. They had three children. Married to Marilyn Tiernan in 1986. Employed in electrical engineering, 1956 to 1980.

Served as president of the Maryland Numismatic Society, 1974 to 1975. President of NECA in 1980. Secretary for NSDR from 1983 to 1992. In 1992, he received a lifetime achievement award from the NSDR and from the American Numismatic Association. Dealer in Sidney, Ohio, after 1980.

Author of Morgan and Peace Dollar Varieties in 1965. Author with George Mallis of Guide to Morgan and Peace Dollars in 1971. Author with Mallis of the Comprehensive Catalogue and Encyclopedia of U. S. Morgan and Peace Silver Dollars in 1976. This was honored by the NLG as “book of the year” in 1977. Revised as the Comprehensive Catalog and Encyclopedia of Morgan and Peace Silver Dollars in 1992. He has also written about 20 books on Morgan and Peace silver dollars as well as numerous articles covering dollar varieties and errors, the minting process, Buffalo Nickel varieties, and coin market cycles.