Jerome Remick

Jerome Remick

Jerome “Jerry” Hosmer Remick III (September 11, 1928 – March 1, 2005) was a Canadian numismatist, geologist and columnist for Canadian Coin News.

He had written more than 500 consecutive articles published in Canadian Coin News, dating back to 1978. These articles were related to municipal trade tokens, world paper money (more than 200 articles), and numerous book reviews. The same week that Remick died, two other Canadian luminaries died – Somer James and Earl Salterio, former President of the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association. In 2001, Remick was awarded the J. Douglas Ferguson medal at the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association convention in Quebec City.

Remick was born in Detroit, Michigan, on September 11, 1928. He died in his home in Québec City on March 1, 2005. His family has a long and proud history in the United States. His forebear Christian Remich had arrived in Maine by 1651 at about age 20, his country of origin unknown. This fact is proudly depicted on the reverse side of Jerry’s personal medal, showing a concept of a Remick family coat of arms and the inscription "Remich, Luxem-bourg to County York, Maine – 1651".

Successive generations of the Remick family made major contributions to the growth of their adopted country. Jerry’s grandfather, the original Jerome Hosmer Remick, was a famous music publisher and businessman in the late 19th century – early 20th century Detroit. His grandfather's company was one of the leading Tin Pan Alley publishing houses. The legendary George Gershwin worked as a song plugger for Jerome H. Remick in 1916.

Originally a stamp collector, Remick started collecting coins as a teenager, when his Aunt gave him a Newfoundland coin. The history of the coins is what intrigued Remick. This led to Remick’s numismatic contributions through his extensive numismatic writing and cataloguing. Remick was among the first collectors to inventory and list the coins of the British Commonwealth of Nations.

Jerry was also an ardent admirer and supporter of the Geological Association of Canada throughout his adult life. He spent his professional career with the Ministère des Ressources naturelles of Quebec, as a geologist. Later in life, he became the principal benefactor of the Canadian Geological Foundation.

He was a founding member of the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association in 1950. Ten years later, he was one of the founding members of the Quebec Numismatic Society. As a member of more than 70 clubs in 12 countries, he was also the founder of the Association of Personalized Medal Issuers (APMI). He struck nearly 200 personal medals, many of them Christmas issues, in three different metals since 1983.

Within the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association, he suggested or initiated a number of significant changes. He recommended establishing a fellowship, encouraged the RCNA to adopt a bilingual logo and suggested creating the Young Numismatists Kit. In 1994, he established a literary award for best article in a club newsletter.

Over more than 50 years, he encouraged many young collectors to remain in the hobby. On many occasions, he would supply these young collectors with coins or banknotes to start their collections. According to Graeme Petterwood, editor of the Numisnet World in Australia, Remick is the Canadian ambassador for world coins.