It is with great sadness that the CTCC reports the passing away of William Jon (Bill) McKivor (1940-2021).
According to his wife June, “Bill passed away peacefully at home earlier this week [in March 2021] after a long illness. He would want you to know how much he enjoyed and cherished your friendship as well as the friendship and camaraderie of other members in your club.”
Bill served the Pacific Northwest Numismatic Association (PNNA) in several capacities, including board member and election chairman, and was a regular PNNA dealer. He received the prestigious Bob Everett Memorial Award in 2014 (https://www.pnna.org/wp/awards/everett-award/everett-winners/). He was born in 1940, the same year the PNNA was founded.
In his business, The Copper Corner, he specialized in British tokens and medals (including especially Conder tokens) and American colonial coinage. He produced 100 fixed price lists over a 25-year period up to his retirement in 2020.
See the blog post, Bill McKivor site archived, with a link to much of Bill’s Copper Corner website including photos.
He was founding member #3 of the Conder Token Collector’s Club. He travelled to the UK Token Congress many times, and convinced a number of his British friends to attend a memorable British-American Token Congress in Seattle in May 2009.
He was an ANA member, and had a dealer table at multiple ANA conventions, including San Francisco in 2005.
He was also a friend of the Boeing Employees Coin Club and its members, participating as a dealer in the BECC coin show for many years. His interest in Boeing dated back to his work in the newspaper business prior to his first retirement in 2000 at age 60.
He was an active member of the Seattle Numismatic Society, frequently sharing items pertaining to the monthly display topic.
Perhaps most of all, he was a great friend, a great source of numismatic knowledge, and always fun to visit with.
As some of you know, he was also a “car guy,” owning over 200 cars in his lifetime, but that’s another story!
Bill was one of those persons who truly exemplified the fellowship aspect of numismatics. I was his friend since meeting him at the Seattle Numismatic Society (then the Seattle Coin Club) in the 1990s, and visited his house many times, helping to photograph his tokens and medals, build his website, and make his computer work if needed! He always had a great story, including about Conder tokens and how he purchased his Boulton and Watt medals, but also about his cars, his days in the newspaper business and more. He remembered seeing the Seattle Space Needle built for the 1962 World’s Fair. He was fun to visit at home, fun to attend club meetings and PNNA shows with, and anywhere else. Although I didn’t visit him as often after moving to Oregon in 2008, I always looked forward to visiting for the annual PNNA conventions. Unfortunately I was unable to visit when the conventions were cancelled in 2020, and now he’s gone. Very sad, but he will always be remembered and greatly missed. – Eric Holcomb.