Michael S. Fey, Ph.D.
Founder, Chairman, President
Dr. Fey is a professional member of all the most recognized grading services (PCGS, NGC, ICG, ANACS, and others) and has been engaged as a consultant to the grading services at times. He maintains membership in dozens of numismatic specialty organizations and has published extensively on new variety discoveries in U.S. and foreign coins. (see references at http://www.rcicoins.com)
In 1997, along with mentor and noted silver dollar expert Jeff Oxman, he published The Top 100 Morgan Dollar Varieties: The VAM Keys, which is now in its 4th Edition. The coin market, grading services, auction houses, dealers, and collectors enthusiastically accepted and followed the Top 100 Morgan dollar varieties, which led to the publication of dozens of other Morgan and Peace silver dollar references.
He published a quarterly newsletter, Top 100 Insights and Value Guide, with trading values used by Coin World, Numismatic News, and Coinage magazine. In 2008, this was published in a reference book titled A Decade of Top 100 Insights. In 2020, he published The Complete Virtual Guide to Pricing Your Morgan Silver Dollars, an e-book at Amazon Kindle and in print at IngramSpark. He has given dozens of numismatic talks in public venues and has taught, as the senior instructor, advanced Morgan dollar courses at the American Numismatic Association’s Summer Conferences. His books have become ground-breaking references for advanced silver dollar collecting. He also assisted several other authors with the editing and publication of their numismatic reference books. Dr. Fey has conducted numerous Ultra Rarity auctions through his company Rare Coin Investments (RCI) and has brought consignors record prices for their rare die varieties and collections.
Dr. Fey donated much of his time to the coin-collecting hobby. He is a past member of the Board of Governors of the American Numismatic Association (ANA; 2005-2007), a member of several ANA presidential-appointed committees, and served on the ANA Consumer Protection and ANA Mediation Committees. He currently serves as a member of the American Numismatic Association Advisory Board and as a member of the founding board of the Society of Silver Dollar Collectors (SSDC). He served as President of the New Jersey Numismatic Society (2002) and is currently serving the Combined Organizations of Numismatic Error Collectors of America (CONECA) as an attributer of Trade, Morgan, and Peace silver dollar varieties. Dr. Fey is currently the founder and Chairman of the not-for-profit Institute for Silver Dollar Education and Research (ISDER).
The hobby has recognized Dr. Fey’s efforts in numismatics with an ANA Glen B. Smedley award, three ANA Presidential awards, the ANA Medal of Merit, the National Silver Dollar Roundtable Presidential Award, the New Jersey Numismatic Society Charles F. Nettleship Award, as well as dozens of certificates and awards for speaking and teaching engagements.
Dr. Fey was the founder and president of New Life Health Products Corp., was awarded two patents and a trademark for a drug he developed to help people quit smoking cigarettes, and received grants from the National Heart, Lung, & Blood Institute. He was Chairman and founder of Venture Match of New Jersey, a founder and board member of the Venture Association of New Jersey, two not-for-profit organizations, and was a Director of the Rutgers University Technical Assistance Program.