Renowned American numismatist Reed Hawn, whose 1974 acquisition of the Joseph J. Mickley Class I 1804 Draped Bust dollar in a private transaction established a sales record at the time, died June 29 in Texas.

Mr. Hawn was 72.

A native of Corpus Christi, Texas, Mr. Hawn was noted as an Arabian horse enthusiast and at one time operated the family’s oil and gas business established by his grandfather.

Following in the footsteps of his father, William H. Hawn, who was an avid coin collector and passed on his love of numismatics to his son, Mr. Hawn began collecting at the age of 9, pulling coins from different series and denominations from general circulation to fill spaces in Whitman coin folders.

At the age of 17, Mr. Hawn established a long business relationship with Stack’s, buying coins from their inventory as well as participating in their auctions.

Mr. Hawn earned an associate’s degree from Del Mar College in 1969 and a bachelor’s degree in 1971 from the University of Texas.

Mr. Hawn joined the membership ranks of the American Numismatic Association in 1974 and quickly became a prominent donor to continue the association’s mission.

Mr. Hawn consigned a collection of United States coins to Stack’s for their Aug. 28 and 29, 1973, public auction, with many of the coins presumably having been acquired by his father.

Reed Hawn purchased the Mickley example of the Class I 1804 Draped Bust dollar for $150,000 in 1974. The dollar and other numismatic rarities were offered at public auction by Stack’s Oct. 13 and 14, 1993. The 1993 sale realized $475,000 alone for the Mickley 1804 dollar, which is currently graded and encapsulated Proof 62 Secure by Professional Coin Grading Service.

The coin realized $3,737,500 in Heritage Auctions’ April 17, 2008, sale of the Queller Family Collection. The coin realized $3,877,500 in Heritage’s Aug. 9, 2013, sale where it was acquired for the Greensboro Collection. The coin was resold in Heritage’s June 14, 2018, auction for  $2.64 million.

The 1993 Stack’s sale also offered the Jerry Buss example of the 1913 Liberty Head 5-cent coin, which Mr. Hawn had secured from Superior Galleries’ Jan. 28, 1985, sale of the Buss Collection, where the coin realized $385,000. At the time, Buss was majority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers professional basketball team.

On March 11, 1977, Stack’s auctioned Mr. Hawn’s collection of United States quarter dollars.

In 1994, Reed was appointed to the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory Committee, the forerunner of the current Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.

In 2009, Mr. Hawn, a lifelong Democrat, was considered by President Obama to become the 39th director the United States Mint. The nomination was never made.

A celebration of Mr. Hawn’s life was held July 6 at Weed Corley Fish Funeral Homes in Austin, Texas.

Mr. Hawn is survived by his many friends; his wife, Margaret Hawn; son Richard Reed Hawn Jr. and his wife Kristina Koger; daughter Katie Khan and her husband Sameer Khan; and daughter Kristen Hawn and her husband Ted Derheimer.

The Hawn family requests that memorial contributions in Reed Hawn’s name be made to Yellowstone National Park at https://forever.yellowstone.org/give/176506/?&_ga=2.83349142.1040144428.1656698605-719872801.1656698605#!/donation/checkout.

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