Mark Wieclaw attended his first Chicago Coin Club meeting in January 1984 and, after years of regular attendance, he became a member in June 1992 and a life member in July 1998. He served as President of the Club from 1997 to 1998 and again from 2003 to 2004, and has been a member of the board for more than 20 years.
Mr. Wieclaw was born in Pennsylvania in 1952 and moved, as a child, to New Lenox, Illinois where his father worked at a local steel mill. His numismatic journey did not begin until he met his wife, Sally. Her father was a coin collector and that was the spark. Mr. Wieclaw has had a long career in the retail and collectibles industry in the Chicago area, working at both Harlan J.Berk, Ltd (1991-1995) and Gold Dust Coin (1995-2010).
Mr. Wieclaw’s collection encompasses a wide range of subjects, from ancient coins to paper money to US coins and tokens. He has enthusiastically embraced the club motto DOCENDO DISCIMUS and is a regular presenter on a variety of numismatic topics at local high schools.
Mr. Wieclaw is a regular speaker at Club meetings and presenter at Club show and tells, having won the Cabeen award 15 times in first place and 12 times in second place. He regularly puts on educational displays at numismatic shows across the Midwest, having won multiple first-place awards and some best-of-show honors. He is an ANA certified judge in two categories.
He is also very active in numerous numismatic societies in addition to the Chicago Coin Club, where he has often served as an officer and board member. These include the Will County Coin Club (life member and past president), Illinois Numismatic Association (life member, past president, treasurer, and board member), Central States Numismatic Society (life member), Ancient Coin Club of Chicago (past president), Token and Medal Society, American Numismatic Association (life member, Presidential Award in 2000 & 2013, recipient of the Goodfellow Award, and charter member of the Dr. George F. Heath Society). Mr. Wieclaw received the Numismatic Ambassador Award from Krause Publications in 2001, and the Chicago Coin Club Medal of Merit in 2003. The book Medals and Tokens of the Chicago Coin Club, published by William A. Burd (HOF Member 17), includes many medals that Mr. Wieclaw designed, produced, and/or donated to the Chicago Coin Club.
Mr. Wieclaw married his wife Sally in 1974 and has two daughters, Jaclyn, and Alexandra.
Page history: created on 14-December-2023; last updated on 14-December-2023.