He also performed as an extra or substitute with the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra under numerous conductors including Leonard Bernstein and Leopold Stokowski. He travelled through Africa with a musical group in 1964 and went around the world with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 1966; both were State Department tours.
It was during his time on Broadway that Hessler became a serious numismatist under the mentorship of Lester Merkin, musician and numismatic dealer.[6]
Numismatic career
He has published five books related to the history and the engravers of paper money, and has written for numerous magazines and journals, including the International Bank Note Society Journal, The Numismatist, Coin World, and was editor of Paper Money for fourteen years. He discovered and published several previously unknown designs for U.S. currency through research at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the Smithsonian Institution. He was curator of the Chase Manhattan Bank Money Museum (1967-1975, while he continued working as a musician), and the St. Louis Mercantile Bank Money Museum (1986-1989).[7][8][9][6] See also his correspondence with numismatist Eric P. Newman.[10]
Membership of specialist societies[6]
Hessler is a member of the American Numismatic Association (since 1967); the American Numismatic Society (elected Fellow c.1973); the Cincinnati Numismatic Association (board member 2005–present); the Essay Proof Society (vice president 1987-1993, director 1987-93); the International Bank Note Society (director in the 1980s); and Society of Paper Money Collectors (board member 1980s-90s).
^New Book: Hey! Mister Horn Blower, by Gene Hessler, review in The E-sylum, Volume 12, Number 13, March 29, 2009, Article 2. http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v12n13a02.html Retrieved 8 Feb 2018.
