Kenneth Graeber (2018)

Born in Lawrence, Kansas, Kenneth Graeber was a pioneering numismatic author and the foremost authority on the local monetary issues of the Spanish Civil War. A commercial printer by trade, Graeber volunteered with the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War. Serving as an ambulance driver for the Republicans from 1937 to 1938, he traveled extensively, treating the wounded and collecting small pieces of local currency ("vales") from the towns he passed through. He later served in the Merchant Marine during World War II.

A true gentleman and long-time member of the New York Numismatic Club, Graeber was renowned for his gregarious nature and his generosity in helping nascent collectors. His frontline acquisitions sparked a lifelong passion, leading to several articles in the late 1960s and 1970s. His magnum opus, *Local Paper Money Issued During the Spanish Civil War*, was published by the IBNS in 1978.

This monumental catalog meticulously classified thousands of notes from over 1,500 issuing towns. It provided essential historical context, translated decrees, and pioneered the identification of counterfeits designed to deceive collectors. Decades later, his catalog is still referenced in modern auctions and is revered as “the Bible” by English-speaking collectors in the field.

Prominent Spanish numismatist Antoni Turró praised Graeber as the very first person to systematically and respectfully classify these wartime banknotes, doing so long before local historians undertook the task. Combining his scholastic authorship, his early identification of counterfeits, his dedication to the hobby, and his lifesaving wartime service to his fellow man, Kenneth Graeber leaves behind a remarkable and enduring numismatic legacy.