After 31 years in aerospace and defense systems, Joel Forman made a successful transition to being a professional appraiser, specializing in numismatics, coins and currency. He has additional expertise in personal property and collectibles. Currently, he is a Senior Appraiser, certified and accredited by the American Society of Appraisers as well as a member of the trusts and estates section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. For well over 20 years, he has been an expert witness, testifying at both depositions and trials while working with lawyers. Often, clients want to dispose of their personal property or collectibles. As a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), he works closely with well-established auction houses and specialized brokers who assist clients in selling.
Since June, 1979, Joel has authored 28 articles in Coin World and numerous articles in peer- reviewed publications. He often appears on the Op-Ed page. After considerable research, he wrote a scholarly article about the monetary systems that existed in Nazi Concentration Camps. This peer-reviewed article was published in the Simon Wiesenthal Center Annual and can be found here: http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/site/pp.asp? Today, it is one of the papers used in the curriculum for the study of genocides. In addition to ongoing numismatic research, he has published several articles in the Jewish Bible Quarterly, which is headquartered in Jerusalem. These articles mathematically decode numbers in the Torah explaining events, which took place in biblical times.
For many years, he served as numismatic advisor to a variety of national museums to develop coin and currency collections. The Forman family multi-generation coin collections currently reside in 14 different national American museums. Two museums, B'nai B'rith and the Karabakh Foundation, have dedicated to Joel and Linda Forman sections on their website to the donated coins and currency. Of particular interest, two museums house the coins that were used in the national slave trade that took place under both British and American governments.
Joel and his wife Linda are seasoned travelers, with their travels taking them to every continent except Africa. Longtime environmentalists, they have their family forest. This consists of 10,000 fruit trees, located in the Negev region of Israel very close to the biblical city of Beer Sheva. Their daughter, Debby, lives in Sao Paulo, Brazil while their son David lives in South Florida. Their three granddaughters live in three different countries on three different continents. Their grandson went into the Coast Guard in October, 2017.
After proudly serving three years in the Marine Corps, this led to his lifetime membership in the First Marine Division Association. An active member of Rotary, he served as Club President from July 2014 to June 2015. His educational background consists of a BA in Mathematics, a master's degree in Computer Science, and a second master's degree in Valuation Science. JLF Appraisal Services offers Joel’s clients a full range of professional services.
Joel truly enjoys reading, history, and coin collecting. He resides in Culver City, California.
International Alumni Association Member, Joel Forman, can be found on the Association Directory where he is looking forward to networking with you.
