Mark Borckardt, a senior cataloguer and senior numismatist with the Texas-based Heritage Auctions, has received the seldom-awarded Herbert Silberman Award from the Early American Coppers Club (EAC).
The EAC’s highest honour, the award is presented to individuals who have shown exceptional service to their fellow members and to numismatics in general. Only 10 people, including Borckardt, have received the award in its 40-year existence.
“This is well-earned recognition for Mark, a specialist who has dedicated his life to furthering the advancement of numismatic knowledge and research,” said Todd Imhof, the vice-president of Heritage Auctions.
In addition to Borckardt, who currently serves as the EAC’s national historian, long-time Heritage client Denis Loring also received the award earlier this year.
Other past award recipients include:
- C. Douglas Smith (1981);
- Thomas Reynolds (2000);
- Rod Burress (2003);
- Harry Salyards (2011);
- Del Bland (2014);
- Chris McCawley and Bob Grellman (2016); and
- Jack Young (2018).
The award is named after EAC founder Herbert Silberman, who formed the club in 1967 along with 93 charter members.
Last year, the American Numismatic Association also named Borckardt its “Numismatist of the Year.”
A full-time professional numismatist since the early 1980s, Borckardt told the Intelligent Collector magazine in 2019: “Several decades ago, we would jokingly tell callers to hold the coin closer to the phone so that we could see it better. Now, that is possible. A quarter-century ago, Heritage co-chairman Jim Halperin, who saw the future of online technology, devoted exceptional resources to developing the company’s internet presence. I expect that the collectibles hobbies, coins and other collectibles, will continue to evolve with technology, although it is hard to imagine what technological advances will take place. Individual ownership of collectibles remains highly important.”