ANA Recognizes Membership Boosters, Numismatic Author & Medallic Artist

Sep 29, 2021 | ANA, News

At this year’s World’s Fair of Money®, several hobby supporters were honored for encouraging coin enthusiasts to join the American Numismatic Association (ANA). The recruitment period was January 1 to December 30, 2020. The John and Nancy Wilson Booster Award (named after the duo who have recruited more than 2,000 new members) went to ANA Past President Steven K. Ellsworth, Ronald I. Macfarlane and John Youngblood III.

Numismatic professionals and companies who have sponsored members through their business activities are recognized with the Dealer Booster Award. This year’s recipient is Coin World. The 2021 Century Club Award, presented to those who have signed up a cumulative total of 100 or more ANA members, was awarded to Michael Contursi, Governor Mark Lighterman and Mike Dinger.

Recognized Researcher

The Burnett Anderson Memorial Award for Excellence in Numismatic Writing is presented annually to a researcher, author or journalist in recognition of their body of work and career contributions to numismatics. First conferred posthumously on its namesake in 1999 at the ANA’s 108th Anniversary Convention, the award is intended to recognize quality and integrity in numismatic wordsmithing of every kind. The recipient is selected in a cooperative process by the ANA, the American Numismatic Society and the Numismatic Literary Guild.

This year’s recipient is Joel J. Orosz, a prolific researcher and writer who has been working in the field for four decades. Burnett Anderson’s son Mark Anderson accepted the ward on Orosz’s behalf at the Awards Banquet held August 13 at the World’s Fair of Money®.

Orosz found a vocation in philanthropy and an avocation in numismatics. These interests brought balance to his life, for, as he puts it, he dedicated his workdays to giving away large sums of money and spent his leisure hours trying to claw a little bit of it back. Over the years, he has focused on tracing the literary byways of early American numismatics and also on gathering association copies (books inscribed by their authors and notable previous owners).

His numismatic corpus originated in the early 1980s. His research has been published in Rare Coin Review, The Numismatist, The American Journal of Numismatics and several other periodicals, and he is currently a columnist for The Asylum and Coin World. He’s authored two numismatic books and co-authored three more. His three most recent works – The Secret History of the First U.S. Mint (2011); Truth Seeker: The Life of Eric P. Newman (2016); and 1792: Birth of a Nation’s Coinage (2017) – all received the Numismatic Literary Guild’s (NLG) prestigious Book of the Year Award.

The philanthropic numismatist also has been honored with three first-place ANA Heath Literary Awards (2000, 2010 and 2017) and the Wayte and Olga Raymond Memorial Literary Award (2018). In addition to the NLG, Orosz has earned numerous accolades from the Professional Numismatists Guild, the John Reich Collectors Society and the Society of Paper Money Collectors. The Numismatic Bibliomania Society named its annual writer’s award after Orosz, who shared the 2020 NLG Clemy Award (the organization’s highest honor) with Len Augsburger.

Recognized Medallic Artist

The ANA’s Numismatic Art Award for Excellence in Medallic Sculpture is an annual honor given to an artist whose lifetime work in the field rises above all others. The 2021 recipient is Belgian artist Paul Huybrechts.

Over the course of 50 years, Huybrechts has designed countless medals, coins and dies. His work displays exceptional quality and innovation.

In his younger years, Huybrechts honed his artistic skills in Belgium and Germany. He spent time in Switzerland engraving at the firm Huguenin to further refine his technique. At age 23, Huybrechts returned to Belgium to establish himself as a professional in medal engraving and currency art.

In an interview with the Société Archéologique de Namur, Huybrechts explains that his desire to enter the field blossomed during his childhood. He recalls digging through the trash and cutting out stamps from letters his father received from various European countries. Huybrechts notes that history – and what we can learn from it – serves as a major source of inspiration for his work. He enjoys learning from ancient cultures and significant past events while employing modern artistic techniques.

While Huybrechts has designed dies for over 40 postage stamps and 12 coins for the Belgian government, his medallic work is where his artistry truly shines. Shown here is Huybrechts’s 2005 Kraepelin-Alzheimer medal that was exhibited during the 2007 International Art Medal Federation (FIDEM) congress. The obverse of this bronze piece features Emil Kraepelin, a German doctor who is considered to be the founder of modern scientific psychiatry. The reverse depicts Alois Alzheimer, a German psychiatrist who helped identify the disease that later became his namesake.

A retrospective of Huybrechts’s work commemorating his 50-year career will be on display in Leuven, Belgium, in April-June 2022.
The American Numismatic Association is a congressionally chartered, nonprofit educational organization dedicated to encouraging the study and collection of coins and related items. The ANA helps its members and the public discover and explore the world of money through its vast array of educational and outreach programs as well as its museum, library, publications, and conventions. For more information, call 719-632-2646 or visit money.org.

New Name for ANA Accolade

Sep 21, 2021 | ANA, News

The Association’s Board of Governors votes to remove Farran Zerbe’s moniker from the organization’s highest honor

During an open session meeting on January 19, 2021, the ANA Board of Governors honored the wishes of nearly 20 past Farran Zerbe Memorial Award winners by voting to remove Zerbe’s name from the ANA’s highest honor after the 2021 presentation (its 70th year). According to the motion, the accolade will be called the Distinguished Service Award “until such time as the name of an exemplary, deceased ANA member be brought forward to the Board, after vetting by the Awards Committee, for consideration of formal approval with proper funding arrangements for such naming rights.”

A well-known figure in 20th-century numismatics, Joseph Farran Zerbe served as ANA president from 1907-1909. A retrospective look at Zerbe’s professional dealings uncovered accusations that he made deceptively inflated claims about the future value of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition gold dollars he sold; complaints of hucksterism and fraud for his creation and sale of coin-like 1904 gold-plated exposition souvenirs; allegations that he unscrupulously obtained personal ownership of The Numismatist in 1908 from relatives of the ANA’s late founder, Dr. George F. Heath (then ANA Vice President W.W.C. Wilson subsequently purchased the periodical and donated it to the Association in 1910); and claims of bribery involving the 1909 ANA election in which Zerbe’s friend John M. Henderson was named president.

Exceptional Numismatic Writers Receive ANA Awards

Aug 27, 2021 | ANA, News

2021 Adult Numismatist Literary Award Winners

The American Numismatic Association’s 2021 literary awards – recognizing articles published in the 2020 volume of its official magazine, The Numismatist – were presented during the Member and Awards Celebration at the Chicago World’s Fair of Money® on Aug. 12. The Numismatist was launched by ANA founder and first editor Dr. George F. Heath in 1888.

The Heath Literary Award, introduced in 1949, acknowledges outstanding articles published in the preceding 12 months.

• First place went to David W. Lange for “Birth of the Blue Folder” (December 2020). The author will receive $250 and an engraved nickel-silver medal designed in 2013 by artist and ANA member Jamie Franki.
• David Schenkman earned second place ($100 and an engraved bronze medal) for “America’s First Superstar: The Musical Genius of Patrick Gilmore & His Peace Jubilees” (May 2020).
• In third place (engraved bronze medal) is Eric Brothers for “More than Pocket Change: Adolph A. Weinman’s Medallic Works” (June 2020).

The Wayte and Olga Raymond Memorial Literary Award, endowed in 1978 by the late John J. Ford Jr., is presented for articles that display original and comprehensive research in U.S. numismatics.

• William Eckberg received first place ($400 and a certificate) for “The Earliest Hubs of the U.S. Mint” (August 2020).
• Second place ($200 and certificate) goes to Mitchel Olszak for “Laura Gardin Fraser’s Washington & the Gold $5” (January 2020).
• Matthew Campbell received third place (certificate) for “Ivah Coles’ Carnegie Hero Medal” (March 2020).

Founded by an anonymous donor, the Catherine Sheehan Literary Award for U.S. Paper Money Studies includes $50 for first place.

• David Schenkman took the top prize for “From Doty & Bergen to Doty & McFarlan” (February 2020).
• Second place (certificate) went to the late Gerome Walton for “The Women Behind Nebraska Bank Notes” (August 2020).
• Michael E. Marotta received third place (certificate) for “Pay Warrants of the Texas Navy” (November 2020).

The Prue and Arthur Fitts Literary Award for Ancient and Medieval Coinage Studies recognizes literary excellence in those fields.

• Michael T. Shutterly received first place ($250 and a plaque) for “Leaves of Silver: The Art & Artistry of Bracteates” (April 2020).
• Earning second place (certificate) was Antonino Crisá, Ph.D., for “Ancient Tokens of Sicily” (February 2020).
• Steve M. Benner received third place (certificate) for “The Year of Six Emperors, Parts 1 & 2” (March-April 2020).

All feature articles published in The Numismatist automatically are considered for the Heath Literary Award; likewise, all qualifying articles are evaluated for the Raymond, Sheehan and Fitts Awards. For information about submitting manuscripts for review and possible publication, email Editor-in-Chief Caleb Noel at cnoel@money.org.

2021 Young Numismatist Literary Award Winners

The 2021 ANA Young Numismatist (YN) Literary Awards were announced Thursday, August 12, at the ANA Member & Awards Celebration at the World’s Fair of Money in Chicago. The three award categories are generously funded by Whitman Publishing and named after authors dedicated to educating the next generation of numismatists.

The Bill Fivaz Young Numismatist Literary Award honors numismatist writers who are aged 8 to 12. This year’s first place recipient was Caleb Meier for “Indian Head cents.” Collin Bube received second place with “What a 12 Year Old’s Coin Collection Looks Like.” In third place was Trevor Martin for “Trevor Martin’s ANA YN Essay.”

The Q. David Bowers Young Numismatist Literary Award honors numismatist writers that are aged 13 to 17. This year’s first place recipient was Christopher Buchanan for “Third Times the Charm.” Paige Price placed second with “Why We Won with West Point,” and Alexandre Bojko took third with his paper “An Analysis of Jacksonian Banking Policies & Politics through the Study of Hard Times Tokens.”

The Kenneth E. Bressett Young Numismatist Literary Award is given to writers between the ages of 18 and 22. This year, first place was won by William Cather for “The Coinage Act of 1783: The Crime of the Century.”

The first-place winners received a $500 cash prize, plus a $500 voucher with which to build a personal library of numismatic books produced by Whitman Publishing. Second- and third-place winners received book vouchers for $200 and $100, respectively. To learn more about this program, visit money.org. Select “Awards” from the “Community” dropdown menu.

ANA Members Recognized for Accomplishments During World’s Fair of Money

Aug 18, 2021 | ANA, News

Numismatics is the study and collection of coins, paper money, tokens and medals, but at the American Numismatic Association (ANA) it is the people who truly define the hobby. Several individuals were recognized for their service and commitment to numismatics during the ANA’s 130th Annual Awards Banquet and Member & Awards Celebration during the World’s Fair of Money®.

The Elvira Clain-Stefanelli Memorial Award for Achievement in Numismatics honors women who have made significant contributions in the field. This year’s recipient is Ellen Feingold, the curator of the National Numismatic Collection (NNC) at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History.

Feingold was first introduced to the history of money as a graduate student in economic and social history at the University of Oxford. A few months after she completed her doctorate in history, she says she was fortunate to be hired as a project curator in the British Museum’s Coins and Medals Department, a position that greatly influenced her career path. “On my first day of work there, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in the field. I’m very grateful to the British Museum for giving me that rare early career training and exposure to such an amazing collection.”

After moving with her husband to Washington, D.C., in 2013, she volunteered with the NNC and was hired as its curator six months later. In her current role, Feingold oversees a global collection of approximately 1.6 million objects that span more than 5,000 years.

As a historian interested in global history, Feingold loves that numismatics allows her to make connections between a wide range of places and periods. “As I open cabinets in the vault of the National Numismatic Collection, I often feel that I am traveling the world, and the objects always inspire new research questions and pathways I had not previously imagined pursuing.” She has written two books, Colonial Justice and Decolonization in the High Court of Tanzania, 1920-1971 (2018) and The Value of Money (2015). Her articles on numismatics and history have been published in multiple journals, including Politico Magazine, Perspectives on History and Financial History.

Through her leadership, Feingold is able to contribute to numismatics and share the hobby with the millions of people who visit the museum. She has served as project director and curator or co-curator of several exhibitions. She is currently completing a long-term project to create a new gallery about money for children called “Really BIG Money.” It will feature some of the largest monetary objects in the NNC and is designed to help elementary school students learn about money and economics. She says she “can’t wait to open this new exhibition in 2022!”

Feingold adds that she is honored to receive this award. As a curatorial successor of Elvira Clain-Stefanelli, Feingold has a deep interest in Clain-Stefanelli’s career at the Smithsonian and her contributions to numismatics. “I am very grateful to the ANA for recognizing my work with this award and for the ongoing support of the numismatics community since I became curator in 2014. I have learned a great deal from many of the ANA’s members and look forward to continuing to learn from them and work together to raise awareness of our field.”

Each year, the Association honors an Outstanding District Representative who sets the standard for promoting the hobby and ANA-member clubs throughout the country. This year’s recipient, Robert Mellor, has also been recognized with the 2021 Lawrence J. Gentile Sr. Memorial Award for Outstanding Adult Advisor.

Mellor has made countless contributions to the ANA and the hobby. He is passionate about sharing his experience and depth of knowledge with others and gives many presentations each year to both numismatic and non-numismatic organizations. A regular volunteer instructor on the topic of numismatics for an adult continuing education outreach program, he also conducts a monthly CoinTalk event at his local library and teaches a grading course for the ANA’s Florence Schook School of Numismatics.

An advanced hobbyist, Mellor focuses on grading, attributions, errors and numismatic items associated with early American history. He says, “If it was struck with a screw press, it interests me!”

Mellor’s uncle, Charles V. Housman, was an avid coin collector who introduced him to the hobby when he was 8. Once bitten by the collecting bug, Mellor anxiously searched through the money he earned from his paper route for coins to fill his early blue Whitman folder albums.

After earning a bachelor’s degree from the Florida Institute of Technology, he embarked on a career in the aerospace industry that has spanned over 35 years. He retired from Lockheed Martin in 2001 as a program launch director and currently supports launch operations for advanced programs within the Department of Defense.

Mellor is a life member of the ANA, an ANA district representative for Florida, an ANA certified exhibit judge and a member of the ANA Outreach Committee. In 2017 he was recognized with the ANA’s Outstanding District Representative of the Year, an accolade the deserving hobbyist has earned once again. He holds memberships in multiple national and local clubs, including the South Brevard Coin Club, where he chairs its education committee. Mellor also volunteers his time with the Combined Organization of Numismatic Error Collectors of America (CONECA).

In an effort to recognize the most important collectors, scholars and hobby professionals of all time, the American Numismatic Association maintains the Numismatic Hall of Fame (HOF) at its Colorado Springs headquarters. ANA historian Jack W. Ogilvie proposed the Hall of Fame in the mid-1960s. By 1969 bylaws were drafted, and the HOF inducted its first honorees that same year. The next group was enshrined in 1970. with subsequent honorees inducted every two years. Today, individuals are recognized annually, with “modern” numismatists inducted in odd years, and “historic” personages in even years. This year, the HOF welcomes two familiar hobby luminaries – Barbara J. Gregory and the late D. Wayne (“Dick”) Johnson.

Born in 1954 in Upstate New York, Barbara Gregory received a bachelor’s degree in English from Alfred University in 1976, and later was employed as a typesetter and editor. Seeking new challenges, she set off for Colorado Springs, where she accepted a part-time editorial assistant position with The Numismatist in 1981. Seven years later, she became the first female editor-in-chief in the Association’s history.

The Numismatist thrived under Gregory’s leadership, transforming from a black-and-white digest to a full-color, award-winning magazine. In 2015 she surpassed Frank Duffield, who led the publication from 1915 to 1942, as the longest-serving ANA editor. Aside from educating and entertaining hobbyists, she felt her most important responsibility was supporting the membership. She gladly accepted articles from new writers and helped them look their best. With the change to the magazine’s large format in 2003, she made the publication more personal by validating readers’ interests and encouraging them to expand their hobby horizons.

A fan of classic cinema, Gregory has assembled one of the largest and most complete collections of movie tokens. She has received the ANA’s
Edward C. Rochette Staff Service Award (2007); two Presidential Awards (1995, 2019); and two Heath Literary Awards (1992, 1996). Numismatic News named her a Numismatic Ambassador (2004); the Numismatic Literary Guild presented her its highest honor, the Clemy Award (2006); and the Central States Numismatic Society bestowed upon her its Sower Award (2020). A proud member of the Rittenhouse Society, Gregory remains active in numismatic publishing.

A respected and enthusiastic author and cataloger, Dick Johnson devoted his energy to the study of 20th-century American medallic art and technology. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2930, he graduated from Rosedale High School and briefly attended Baker University in Baldwin before joining the U.S. Air Force in 1950. During the Korean War, he was assigned to the National Security Agency.

Johnson developed an interest in numismatics and in 1951 attended his first national coin convention, held in New York City. There, he and several other young collectors formed the Rittenhouse Society. He went on to co-found the Middle Atlantic Numismatic Association, and, along with numismatist Walter Breen, edited its publication. In 1954 he enrolled at Washington University in St. Louis, where he pursued a degree in business administration. While in school, Johnson was president of the St. Louis Numismatic Society and was appointed to the Central States Numismatic Society’s board of directors. (In 1962 the latter awarded him its Medal of Merit.)

In 1960 Amos Press asked Johnson to help the Ohio publishing company start a weekly hobby newspaper, Coin World. He remained on staff for 18 months, not long after which he was hired as director of research for Medallic Art Company (MACO) in New York City. He cataloged its products, issued press releases, and edited the firm’s newsletter, The Art Medallist.

Johnson was heavily involved in MACO’s work for the 1976 American Bicentennial. The firm struck its first medal for the milestone celebration in 1972 and moved to a new facility in Danbury, Connecticut, in June of that year. After the event, MACO’s sales dropped, production lagged and staff was cut, leading Johnson to purchase 64,000 medals from the company’s stock.

That inventory was just what he needed to launch a medallic art dealership with fellow enthusiast Chris Jensen. The pair, doing business as Johnson & Jensen, conducted 27 successful auctions from 1978 to 1985, offering 27,000 lots of American art medals and related items to an eager collector base.

In 1987 Johnson became executive director of Collectors Auctions, Ltd., a position he held until 1990, when he retired from sales to write about the medallic art field. In 2012 he received the Carl Carlson Award for Cataloging from the Medal Collectors of America.

ANA Money Museum Receives Important Donation of George Washington Medals from Dwight Manley

Aug 14, 2021 | ANA, News

Benefactor’s multi-million dollar exonumia donation includes over 800 medals from Historical Society of Pennsylvania’s famous Baker Collection

More than 850 gold, silver and bronze medals related to President George Washington that were deaccessioned by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania have been donated intact to the American Numismatic Association’s (money.org) Edward C. Rochette Money Museum by prominent California rare coin dealer and real estate developer Dwight Manley.

Manley’s generous donation also includes other important Washington-related medals he separately acquired over the years that were not part of the historical society’s collection originally assembled by 19th century numismatist and researcher William Spohn Baker (1824-1897). In all, more than 1,000 medals and coins are in the donation.

This rare 1862 brass emancipation medal was engraved to Henry Clarck, who may have been a freed slave in Washington, D.C. at the time. It is from the fabled Baker Collection of George Washington-related medals and is among the more than 1,000 historic medals and coins donated to the ANA by Dwight Manley. (Photo courtesy of Stack’s Bowers Galleries.)

“This collection is the ultimate grouping of numismatic Washingtonia not only for its size but, more importantly, for its provenance – it was formed by William Spohn Baker, the first numismatic researcher to compile a systematic and comprehensive catalog of the vast series of medals related to George Washington,” states Doug Mudd, curator and director of the ANA museum.

Hundreds of different medals celebrating George Washington were privately produced in the decades before and after his death in December 1799.

In 1885, Baker authored what is still considered the standard reference book on the subject, “Medallic Portraits of Washington,” and donated his famous collection in 1897 to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Manley purchased more than 75 percent of the society’s Baker Collection of Washingtonian medals when 1,102 of them were offered at auction by Stack’s Bowers in November 2019.

“The Baker Collection languished for more than a century in storage at the historical society. When the medals came on the market, I wanted to keep as much of the collection intact as possible,” says Manley. “Now these important numismatic treasures will be part of the ANA’s holdings and available for public exhibits and future study.”

“These are the Mount Rushmore of medals; each one has a story. In addition to exhibits in the Money Museum and at ANA conventions, they could be used for Summer Seminar and Florence Schook School of Numismatics classes, for research to update the Baker reference book or even create a ‘Birth of a Nation’ book using illustrations of George Washington medals. The collection is a portrait of American history through images of our first president,” he states.

One of only ten known George Washington Commander in Chief, Armies of the United States (C.C.A.U.S.) silver medals is among the more than 1,000 historic medals and coins donated to the ANA by Dwight Manley. (Photo courtesy of Stack’s Bowers Galleries.)

• A rare 1862 brass Washington, D.C. emancipation medal depicting George Washington (Musante GW-566, Baker-620), PCGS AU58, engraved to Henry Clarck, who may have been a freed slave at the time. President Abraham Lincoln signed the national Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863, but Washington, D.C. enacted emancipation months earlier in April 1862.
• A superb quality example of a silver 1805 medal commemorating the Peace of 1783 (Musante GW-92, Baker-58, Julian CM-5), PCGS SP64, the fourth and final entry in the History of the Revolution Medal series.
• One of only ten known 1805 Commander in Chief, Armies of the United States (C.C.A.U.S.) silver medals (Musante GW-90, Baker-57, Julian CM-6), PCGS SP58, produced as the first of an intended series of medals celebrating the history of the Revolution. Stack’s Bowers, the auction house that sold the historical society’s Baker Collection, stated: “The C.C.A.U.S. medal has long been considered a landmark of the Washington series.”

Among the important medals separately acquired by Manley and now donated to the ANA are:

• A spectacular, silver 1792-dated oval Indian Peace medal with an engraving
  depicting Washington extending his hand in friendship and peace to a pipe-smoking native American who has placed his long-handled battle axe on the ground as a gesture of goodwill. It is one of only five known of this date.
• An 1800 gold funeral medal produced by diemaker Jacob Perkins (1766-1849) of Newburyport, Massachusetts that was worn at a February 1800 funeral procession in Boston held in honor of Washington about two months after he died at his Mount Vernon home in Virginia.

“We are beyond thankful to Dwight Manley for bestowing this incredible gift of history and art to the Association,” says ANA Executive Director Kim Kiick. “We look forward to sharing pieces from this wonderful collection in the upcoming Money Museum exhibit in March of 2022.”

Manley has been a benefactor to the ANA for many years. In 2003, the Association named its library in his honor.

As Managing Partner of the California Gold Marketing Group, he is well-known in the numismatic community for his work with recovered sunken treasure from the fabled “Ship of Gold,” the SS Central America that sank in 1857 while carrying tons of California Gold Rush-era coins and assayers’ ingots. He also is Managing Partner of real estate development company Manley Fanticola Partners in his hometown of Brea, California.

Acclaimed Coin Designer Emily Damstra Signs and Donates Eagles Artwork To ANA

Aug 12, 2021 | ANA, News

(Rosemont, Illinois) August 12, 2021 – Acclaimed artist Emily Damstra, whose designs are now on 11 United States coins including the new reverse of the popular Type II silver American Eagle bullion coins, hand-signed a poster size canvas print of her eagle artwork and donated it to the American Numismatic Association (www.money.org). The signing and donation took place at the ANA’s Chicago World’s Fair of Money on August 11, 2021.

Coin designer Emily S. Damstra signs a canvas print of her artwork that she donated to the ANA. (Photo by Donn Pearlman.)

Three officials of the ANA witnessed the signing of the large, 30 by 42 inches artwork depicting images of an eagle in flight and an eagle perched: Executive Director Kim Kiick, 2019-2021 President Col. Steve Ellsworth and 2021-2023 President Dr. Ralph Ross. Kiick accepted the artwork on behalf of the association.

From left to right, Col. Steve Ellsworth, Emily Damstra, Kim Kiick and Dr. Ralph Ross. (Photo by Donn Pearlman.)

A participant in the United States Mint’s Artistic Infusion Program, Damstra has designed over 40 coins and medals for the U.S. Mint and the Royal Canadian Mint including the reverse of the new Type II 2021 silver American Eagle.

A closeup of Emily Damstra’s signature on the artwork she autographed and donated to the ANA. (Photo by Donn Pearlman.)

ANA Honors Distinguished Numismatists with Awards

Jul 22, 2021 | ANA, News

Every year, the American Numismatic Association (ANA) recognizes members who go above and beyond with their service and dedication to numismatics. The following awards, which are presented at the World’s Fair of Money®, will be awarded during the Member & Awards Celebration, Thursday, Aug. 12 at 3 p.m. in room 25/26.

The Adna G. Wilde Jr. Memorial Award for Exemplary Service honors an ANA member who enthusiastically dedicates their time, expertise and resources to strengthen the hobby, and in particular, further the educational mission of the ANA. This year’s recipient, Eric Holcomb, has accomplished this many times over, primarily thanks to his aptitude for the written word.

Holcomb has served as the editor of MintMark, the newsletter of the ANA’s Representative Program, since 2002 (with a brief hiatus from 2006-08). Under his adept leadership, the quarterly bulletin has seen dozens of successful issues. The Oregon resident also lends his writing skills to his local area – since 1996, he has edited the Pacific Northwest Numismatic Association’s journal, The Nor’wester. Holcomb also serves as president of the Bend Coin Club of Central Oregon, a position he’s had since 2012.

The retired aerospace engineer has been an ANA member for 42 years and a district representative for 13. In that time, the Association has recognized him with the Outstanding District Delegate award (2013), Presidential Award (2004), Glenn Smedley Memorial Award (2014) and Medal of Merit (2017).

The Association’s Medal of Merit is bestowed on members who have dedicated years of service to numismatics.

Prue Morgan Fitts came to numismatics later in life than most and has since become deeply involved on all levels, from personal to quasi-professional. Volunteering at conventions in the mid-1990s fueled her interest in several collecting areas, but she became focused on the Byzantine Empire when she inherited a clutch of gold “scyphates” and solidi from her father. She took ANA Summer Seminar courses on Roman and Byzantine coins and soon became an instructor on the latter topic and earned accreditation as an exhibit judge. She also developed a unique seminar course titled “Women in Power and in Art.”

Fitts regularly shares her enthusiasm with local and regional clubs as well as at ANA events. Her contributions as a lecturer plus her willingness to serve effectively in any capacity as a convention volunteer was recognized with a Glenn Smedley Memorial Award in 2002.

Fitts is empress of the Association of Dedicated Byzantine Collectors and a past president of Women in Numismatics. Her articles on Byzantine coinage, published in The Celator, have been well received. Her book The Beginner’s Guide to Identifying Byzantine Coinage was published in 2015.

Fitts currently serves on the board of the Boston Numismatic Society and the New England Numismatic Association. She is a former Governor of the ANA (2005-07). In addition to the Medal of Merit, Fitts has received ANA Presidential Awards (2004 and 2009), the Farran Zerbe Memorial Award (co-awardee with Arthur Fitts, 2012) and Elvira Clain-Stefanelli Memorial Award (2018). Her record of leadership and accomplishment, as well as her enthusiasm and cheerfulness, is exemplary. The ANA Medal of Merit is a fitting and worthy recognition of her contributions to the ANA and the hobby. Few women have so selflessly devoted as much time, talent and treasure to numismatics.

Ricardo de León Tallavas is the epitome of a numismatic ambassador. He represents the ANA throughout Latin America and is the Association’s district representative for Mexico.

Tallavas is a dedicated elementary schoolteacher and incorporates his love of numismatics into his students’ curriculum. He meets weekly with a coin club composed of 5th and 6th graders nominated by their teachers to partake in this extracurricular opportunity. He provides coins for the kids to research and worksheets for them to record what they have learned. His educational fervor also helps fuel his numismatic enthusiasm, as evidenced by his recurring role as an ANA Summer Seminar instructor. Tallavas is a leading authority on Mexican numismatics, and his classes are well attended.

He has delivered more than 50 lectures outside the seminar programs, many in countries south of the border. He has been a designated representative at six major international conferences of numismatists and historians in almost as many nations.

Tallavas has attended ANA conventions as a national volunteer for over a decade, serving at registration, providing interpreting when needed, and assisting at the Kids’ Zone. He has written or contributed to nine books and over 40 articles, the latter mostly in Spanish-language journals. He is a licensed broadcaster in Mexico and anchored a numismatic program in his hometown before moving to Houston, Texas.

His passion for the hobby has earned him many accolades. He was awarded the Glenn Smedley Memorial Award (2011), Catherine Sheehan Literary Award (2011) and Outstanding District Representative award (2019), among other honors. He has certainly proven to be worthy of the Medal of Merit, for which the criteria for bestowal are accomplishment of “numerous years of service to the ANA as well as promotion of numismatics.”

This year’s Harry J. Forman Dealer of the Year award recipient is Michael Fuljenz. Fuljenz is a longtime advocate and benefactor of the ANA, as well as a former ANA authenticator, grader and seminar instructor. He is not only an outstanding numismatic educator and community leader, but he also has helped many collectors and dealers who were victims of fraud. His primary focus is combating counterfeits in the marketplace and assisting law enforcement agencies in solving numismatic crimes.

In 2020 Fuljenz provided the funds for an investigative reporter to purchase coins and bullion ingots from the Chinese Internet sales platform Wish. One of the coins was a counterfeit 1933 Saint-Gaudens double eagle (gold $20) that violated the United States Protection Law for counterfeits. Once, he helped a Louisiana physician obtain a $1 million refund; this is one of many fraud cases he has helped solve. He also has served as a consultant to the Federal Trade Commission, the United States Mint, the Royal Canadian Mint and the Texas Attorney General.

Fuljenz sits on the boards of the National Coin & Bullion Association (NCBA) and the Crime Stoppers of Beaumont (Texas). The former Numismatist columnist also is a contributor to A Guide Book of United States Coins (the “Red Book”), and he teaches numerous seminars on counterfeiting and numismatic crime.

Fuljenz has been recognized with more than 60 Numismatic Literary Guild awards since 1986. Past ANA honors include a Presidential Award (1995), Glenn Smedley Memorial Award (2013) and Medal of Merit (2014).

The American Numismatic Association is a congressionally chartered, nonprofit educational organization dedicated to encouraging the study and collection of coins and related items. The ANA helps its nearly 28,000 members and the public discover and explore the world of money through its vast array of educational and outreach programs as well as its museum, library, publications, and conventions. For more information, call 719-632-2646 or visit money.org.