John Kennel collected Columbiana for nearly a half century. Bolotin worked with John and his wife Heike as both buyer and seller during a roughly twenty-year relationship. John was fastidious in all aspects of his collecting. He was as much a historian as he was a collector. He studied the history of all aspects of the Columbian items he collected and the results are definitive notes on the items he left behind.
John was never happy with mediocrity and the result was a collection unparalleled in quality. He accumulated dozens of test pieces, proofs and unique examples other collectors had never seen, let alone owned. Besides these rarities, the vast percentage of John’s medals were some of the highest grades known. John’s specialty was the fair, not just an aspect of it. His collection includes tickets and passes, medals, spoons, all aspects of paper, glassware and hundreds of 3D pieces ranging from a Columbian Guard uniform to women’s auxiliary and Congress membership pins. Simply, he was the consummate collector of Columbiana.
After John passed away, Heike reconnected with Bolotin and The History Bank to assist with cataloging and selling the collection. After just the first several months, when that cataloging reached 150 pages for reference and use by collectors, Bolotin realized simply publishing a catalog of Kennel's collection would be far to large to publish. Instead, The History Bank provides Kennel Collection newsletters, updates and sales lists to customers and will utilize the collection as the backbone of a new book to be published in 2021.
John Kennel was that rare type of person everyone hopes to find when buying or selling: A professional, impeccably honest numismatist, a well-respected colleague and of course, a good friend.