Williamson, Raymond H., 1907-1997

Raymond H. Williamson (1907-1997) was a collector primarily of U.S. large cents. He was born in Eagle Grove, Iowa, and earned degrees in electrical engineering from Iowa State (B.S., 1928) and Union College, Schenectady, New York (M.S., 1935). He worked for General Electric for 43 years before his retirement in 1972. He and his wife Hazel settled in Lynchburg, Virginia, in 1958, which is where he died. Williamson had an early interest in radio, operating an amateur station from 1921 to 1926. He managed a naval radio telegraph transmitter in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936 and 1939 and was chairman of the FM Broadcast Engineering Committee that set industry standards from 1942 to 1953. He began collecting coins in 1917 and published articles in The Numismatist, The Colonial Newsletter, Penny-Wise, The Virginia Numismatist, and other publications. Williamson became an associate member of the American Numismatic Society in 1949, a fellow in 1957, and chaired the Society’s U.S. coins committee in the 1950s. He was a member of the American Numismatic Association, Virginia Numismatic Association, and was charter member number 54 of the Early American Copper Society. He served on the U.S. Assay Commission in 1968.