Hobby Mourns Innovator, Maynard Sundman

One of the most influential coin and stamp dealers of the 20th century, Maynard Sundman of Littleton, New Hampshire, has passed away. He was 92, and until recently he went to work almost everyday, writing correspondence on his 1948 Royal typewriter. During the past half century his companies grew in size to hundreds of employees and assisted literally millions of people with the enjoyment of collecting.

Sundman founded Littleton Stamp Company in 1945, turning his childhood hobby into an innovative mail-order company that helped transform and extend the philatelic market. He and his family eventually also opened a numismatic division, Littleton Coin Company. One of his sons, David, today is President of the coin company, and another son, Donald, is President of the philatelic division, Mystic Stamp Company in Camden, New York.

While many of us may often think only about the expensive, great rarities of the numismatic world, there are tens of thousands of people who get tremendous pleasure and pride happily filling albums with $5, $50 and $500 coins – and learning about the hobby. Maynard Sundman and his family have always emphasized hobby education and the gratification of simply collecting. There is an annual American Numismatic Association lecture series named in his honor, and David Sundman is a frequent participant at the ANA Summer Seminars.

Our condolences to his family and many friends. Maynard Sundman was a gentle giant of the hobby whose enthusiasm for collecting lives on.