Brian Fanton, an Iowa coin dealer and collector for more than 60 years, is slated to receive the Farran Zerbe Memorial Award—the top award of the American Numismatic Association (ANA)—at the World’s Fair of Money awards banquet tonight in Denver.
Fanton, who’s the owner of BE’s Coin Shop in Hiawatha, Iowa, has been a collector since childhood. He also spent nearly 40 years as a central office equipment installer for Northwestern Bell before retiring in 2003.
PROMINENT NUMISMATIST
He joined the ANA in 1989, and in 1994 and 1998 he was named outstanding district delegate of the association. He was named adult advisor of the year and received the ANA’s Presidential Award in 1998.
In 2002, Fanton was named outstanding club representative. Three years later, he ran for the ANA board of governors and lost; however, as the runner-up, he joined the board to fill a vacancy later that year.
More recently, in 2012, he received the Adna G. Wilde Jr. Award for Excellence.
Fanton has also attended 25 Summer Seminars, where he has worked as a numismatic instructor.