EDWARD LEE CRAIG (1946-2024)

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V27 2024 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 27, Number 15, April 14, 2024, Article 9

"The Maryland Token and Medal Society (MD TAMS) has lost its long-time president and guiding light, Edward Craig. Ed was a 35 year member of our organization and president for over 25 years. Much of the success of MD TAMS during this time period was due to Ed. He presided over meetings and swap-meets, wrote articles, and aided in the publishing of MD TAMS reference books.

"A member of several collecting organizations, Ed was a past-president of the Maryland State Numismatic Association (MSNA) and for many years could be seen helping behind the desk of the Whitman Coin Expos held in Baltimore. He was a member of the national Token and Medal Society (TAMS) and the National Token Collectors Association (NTCA) as well. While Ed's primary collecting interest was Maryland tokens and medals, he also was a well known collector of Alaska and Hawaii exonumia. For many years Ed traveled to Hawaii to visit friends and fellow collectors.

"In a time of declining membership Ed was the glue that helped keep our club together; his loss is enormous. He was a good friend who will be missed not only by MD TAMS, but by many in the collecting community."

The first time I recall speaking to Ed Craig was at the Baltimore ANA show in 2008. He was the general chairman. I inquired about some other token collectors I knew from Baltimore. At the time, MD-TAMS was giving a one-year free membership to ANA members who signed up at the show. I was impressed with the catalogs of Maryland tokens that had been published by MD-TAMS.

I attended the National Token Collectors Association (NTCA) show in Fargo in 2010. The first night I saw Ed sitting in the lobby, I think we talked for a couple of hours. I recall that he had an interest in pickers and packers tokens. The next morning my roommate and I walked into breakfast and saw Ed sitting alone. We joined him and had another good conversation. I attended several other shows in Baltimore but I don't recall other conversations with Ed.

Edward Lee Craig was born on October 25, 1946. His parents were Edward Callow Craig (1920-2000) and Eleanor Evelyn Arnick Craig (1923-2019). His father was an engineer with Bethlehem Steel.

He graduated from Loyola College and served with the Maryland National Guard, Other than a posting in Hawaii 1981 to 1984, he lived in Dundalk, Maryland, most of his life. He had the same address in 2000 as he had in 1950. It appears that he bought his parents' house in 1993.

In 1972 there was an announcement of the engagement of Antoinette V. Chiazza to Edward Lee Craig. She married someone else eight months later in 1973. It is believed that Edward Craig never married.

As Edward Lee Craig, he joined the ANA in 1989. He later became life member LM 6091.

White living in Hawaii. Craig developed an interest in school lunch tokens. Living in Maryland fueled his interest in pickers, packers and canners tokens.

Ed Craig was a regular volunteer at the Baltimore shows. He became the president of Maryland Token and Medal Society (MD-TAMS) in June 1996, following the resignation of Greg Ruby. His leadership has kept MD-TAMS going through a period of declining membership. He wrote articles for the journal resurrecting a project to catalog Maryland wooden nickels and published regular updates. Craig is a strong believer in documenting exonumia as it is produced. An example is a catalog of Maryland food stamp change tokens. Craig mentioned in a 2008 interview that the club had produced twenty listings by then.

He was president of the Baltimore Coin Club and the president of the Maryland State Numismatic Association (MSNA) in 2003-2005. Craig served as executive director and bourse chairman for the Baltimore Area Numismatic Coalition 1997 to 2007. He was also an active member of CWTS (LM), EAC (LM), NTCA, TAMS (LM) and TEC.

Craig retired from employment with the U. S. Defense Department in 2008 after 40 years of service. When asked about his work, friends commented that he never talked about it.

For the 2008 ANA Convention, Craig produced a 39 mm brass personal medal. It identified him as a "MARYLAND AND HAWAII EXONUMIA COLLECTOR. He also produced elongated coins for the occasion.

He returned to Hawaii for a visit in 2016 for the 75 th (Diamond) Anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Craig commissioned two medals to commemorate the occasion. One obverse has King Kamehameha III based on the 1847 Hawaii cent. The other obverse features a fantasy 1891 dollar struck in England by Pinches & Co.

The common reverse mentions the USCGC Taney Baltimore – Maryland and Last Ship afloat that saw action in Hawaii 7 December 1941. The medals were struck in red bronze, yellow brass and white silver plate.

To read his online obituary, see:
Edward L. Craig (https://www.ruckfuneralhomes.com/obituary/edward-craig)