Ventris C. Gibson Confirmed as Director of the United States Mint
Ventris Gibson
Director Gibson becomes the 40th Director of the Mint. She is the first African-American to serve as Director, and the seventh woman to serve in this position.
“I am honored and humbled to be confirmed as Director of the Mint,” said Gibson. “Since joining the Mint last October, I have been tremendously impressed by the dedication and professionalism of its workforce, and the outstanding quality of the circulation coins, bullion coins, and numismatic products made by the Mint.”
Director Gibson is a U.S. Navy veteran who joined the Mint from the District of Columbia government, where she served as the Director of Human Resources. In this role, Ms. Gibson provided executive oversight and execution of human capital programs and services for nearly 37,000 employees. Prior to that, she served as Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Resources in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She was responsible for the development, articulation, and delivery of Department-wide human resources policies, plans, and programs.
Director Gibson’s career with the Federal Government includes leadership roles in the Federal Aviation Administration, where she was Assistant Administrator for Human Resources, and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Resource Management and its first Deputy Assistant Secretary for Resolution Management. She was the VA’s highest-ranking woman veteran and directed human resources management and civil rights programs affecting 230,000 employees.
During a career spanning more than 40 years in human resources executive and professional positions, Director Gibson earned numerous awards and commendations. She received an Exceptional Service and a Meritorious Service Award from the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, an Exceptional Service Award from the Secretary of Transportation, FAA Manager Association’s Leadership Award, National Hispanic Coalition’s President’s Award, and the Northern New Jersey Metropolitan Area’s prestigious “Woman of the Year” award.
A graduate of the Federal Executive Institute, Executive Technique, and Aspen Institute, Director Gibson attended the University of Maryland, University College. She has three children and four grandchildren.
ANA Honors Distinguished Numismatists with Awards
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. 18 at 3 p.m. in room 25/26 of the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois.
The Adna G. Wilde Jr. Memorial Award for Exemplary Service recognizes collectors and hobbyists who are active at the regional and/or national level and work to advance numismatic knowledge among the general public. Recipients promote and strengthen the hobby by serving as club officers, newsletter editors, coin show volunteers, and the like. This year, three individuals will be recognized: Patrick McBride, David Schenkman, and Jeffrey Swindling.
Patrick McBride joined his first coin clubs in the mid ’80s, all in western Pennsylvania, and has consistently volunteered for those organizations since then. He holds several offices for the Pennsylvania Association of Numismatists and was the host club chair for the ANA’s 2019 National Money Show®. He has contributed extensively to the ANA’s educational efforts, including loaning several of his rare issues of The Numismatist when the ANA digitized the entire run of the magazine in 2015. Additionally, he lobbied for both versions of the bills proposing the creation of 2021 Peace and Morgan dollar centennial commemoratives. His efforts contributed to the successful passage of the legislation.
The Numismatist “Tokens &anp Medals” columnist David Schenkman has cheerfully and selflessly contributed countless hours to both the ANA and any fellow hobbyist who has sought his expertise. He has taught ANA Summer Seminar classes and has given talks for local, regional, and national numismatic organizations. He regularly shares his knowledge through the many columns, books, and articles he has written over the past five decades. A former president of the Token and Medal Society (TAMS), he was editor of the TAMS Journal from 1982-2010 and currently serves on the board of directors. The recipient of dozens of literary and achievement awards – including numerous ANA Heath Literary Awards – he was inducted into the ANA Hall of Fame in 2015.
Jeffrey Swindling has recruited over 500 members to the ANA in addition to donating his time as a regular ANA convention volunteer and district representative. He is committed to sharing the hobby with the next generation and has served as a Coin Collecting Merit Badge counselor since 2002, helping thousands of scouts earn their badges. During his time as chair of the ANA’s YN and Scout Committee, he instituted several key initiatives, including the “Coins for A’s” and the ANA College Scholarship programs. Swindling has received several ANA Member Booster Awards and continuously shares his extensive knowledge with collectors and non-collectors alike.
The ANA’s Medal of Merit honors individuals at the regional and/or national level who have dedicated numerous years of service to the ANA and hobby. This year’s recipients are passionate volunteers who spread the joy of numismatics everywhere they go.
Sandra “Sandy” Hill worked as an employee in the ANA’s membership department for 21 years until she retired. She now serves as a national volunteer and recruits throngs of new members at ANA conventions every year. She became a member of the Century Club in 2016 and has received the John & Nancy Wilson Member Booster Award twice (2019 and 2020). Her cheerful, charismatic persona is magnetic and is glad to help anyone with any task. She has even jumped in as a substitute Summer Seminar instructor when the scheduled teacher experienced travel delays.
Since 2011 she’s served as a district representative for Washington. She founded the Kalama Coin Club in Washington in 2008 and currently serves as its president. She also plans to introduce an incentive program for youngsters using world coins as educational tools.
Hill’s work ethic demonstrates that one doesn’t need to be a scholar to be an instrumental member of the numismatic community. She was recognized with an ANA Presidential Award in 2011 and Glenn Smedley Memorial Award in 2013.
During his 45 years of service, Bob Hurst has volunteered and exhibited at many coin conventions. He has also judged displays and given educational talks at state shows hosted by the Florida United Numismatists (FUN), Central States Numismatic Society, Georgia Numismatic Association, and others. He was the bourse chair for the Blue Ridge Numismatic Association for six years. A respected leader, he currently serves as president of both FUN and the Tennessee State Numismatic Society, where he’s been instrumental in stabilizing the latter organization’s finances.
Hurst developed an interest in ancient coins in 1973 while he was serving overseas in the U.S. Air Force, and he founded a club for like-minded collectors in San Vito dei Normanni, Italy. He participated in several archaeological digs in the country, and he led a dig under the auspices of the National Museum in Napes that unearthed an assortment of Roman coins. As a dealer and enthusiastic student of ancient and world issues, he’s become an authority on these pieces, particularly crown-size coins and talers, and he’s given numerous educational talks on the topic. Hurst has been recognized with several hobby accolades, including two ANA Presidential Awards (2007 and 2021), the Numismatic Ambassador Award (2008), and the ANA Glenn Smedley Memorial Award (2009).
Gary Lewi
s served in the U.S. Air Force, which took him on a journey from Illinois to Thailand to Colorado to Florida, and his travels didn’t stop there. He’s attended 54 ANA conventions since his first in 1963 and has visited all 50 states, attending coin shows or club meetings in about half of them. Lewis became an ANA district representative for Colorado over 50 years ago, and since then, has served in many capacities for the Association, including chief exhibit judge, National Coin Week chair, regional representative, governor, vice president, and by 2003, he was elected president. He has served on more ANA committees than anyone else in Association history, and today, he mentors students enrolled in the ANA’s Numismatic Diploma Program. A creative problem-solver, Lewis offers forward-thinking ideas. Years before technology evolved to its current state, he was looking ahead to the digital world he knew was imminent.
Lewis has served as an officer in nine local and regional clubs, including six presidencies in a 47-year time span. While he was president of the Colorado Springs Coin Club from 1972-74, he started the annual coin show that is now integrated with Summer Seminar. His reach extends beyond the collecting community – he was a member of the U.S. Assay Commission in 1974 and chaired the Florida State Quarter Selection Committee from 2001-2003. Lewis has written articles for several numismatic publications on a variety of topics that have interested him in his 66 years of collecting. He was named the ANA’s Outstanding Adult Advisor in 1979 and received the Glenn Smedley Memorial Award in 2005.
The ANA has named John Brush the 2022 Harry J. Forman Dealer of the Year. Presented annually, the award honors a professional numismatist who shows uncommon dedication to strengthening the hobby and the ANA; exhibits high ethical standards and integrity; and treats all members of the numismatic community and the general public fairly and consistently.
The Virginia Beach, Virginia, resident is well-known for his role as president of David Lawrence Rare Coins (DLRC), a position he’s held since late 2015. Brush joined the company as a staff numismatist in 2006 after working as a wholesale trader at Spectrum Numismatics (now Stack’s Bowers Galleries). As president, Brush oversees the direction of DLRC and serves as the chief buyer, traveling to all major shows on an annual basis. He is respected for his inviolable ethical standards and oversees what many consider the leading website in the industry. Brush also assists with curating the D.L. Hansen Collection for his business partner Dell Loy Hansen, a Utah real estate and business mogul.
Brush serves as chairman of the National Coin and Bullion Association and is the treasurer for the Professional Numismatists Guild. The former Summer Seminar attendee and later instructor has been a hobbyist since age five. He joined the ANA in 1987 at the urging of his father, and he has inspired countless others to do the same.
Treasury Applauds Appointment of Chief Lynn Malerba as Treasurer of the United States
Chief Lynn Malerba will become the first Native American to serve as Treasurer of the United States and will lead the newly established Office of Tribal and Native Affairs.
Marilynn “Lynn” Malerba, D.N.P., M.P.A., the newly appointed Treasurer of the United States (image courtesy of NIH)
Chief Malerba became the 18th Chief of the Mohegan Tribe in 2010 and is the first woman to serve in this position in the Tribe’s modern history. She previously served as a member of the Treasury Tribal Advisory Committee. Chief Malerba’s appointment as Treasurer of the United States will also mean that for the first time in U.S. history, a Native woman’s signature will soon be seen on the nation’s currency.
“I am deeply honored that Chief Malerba will serve as the nation’s Treasurer and spearhead the department’s new Office of Tribal and Native Affairs. This is an historic appointment,” said Secretary Yellen. “Her leadership and experience will deepen our commitment to help expand economic opportunities for all Tribal communities.”
“I am honored and humbled by Secretary Yellen and the Biden Administration’s commitment to ensuring that all voices are heard by Treasury as we work together to create an equitable and just society,” said Chief Lynn Malerba. “It is especially important that our Native voices are respected. This appointment underscores this Administration’s commitment to doing just that. I am excited to serve our communities as Treasurer and for the work ahead.”
As Treasurer, Chief Malerba will also oversee the newly established Office of Tribal and Native Affairs that will house staff directly dedicated to communication with Tribal nations and the hub for Tribal policy. Treasury previously created a Tribal team in 2021 as part of its efforts to develop the department’s growing relationship with Tribal nations and to help administer $30 billion in programs directed towards Tribes through the American Rescue Plan. The new Office of Tribal and Native Affairs will work across Treasury’s portfolio on issues related to Tribal nations, and Treasury intends to work with Congress to ensure this office has the resources it needs to carry out its mission.
In addition to leading the Office of Tribal and Native Affairs, the Treasurer of the United States directly oversees the U.S. Mint, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Fort Knox, and is a key liaison with the Federal Reserve. Chief Malerba will also serve as a senior advisor to the Secretary in the areas of community development and public engagement.
Secretary Yellen’s visit to Rosebud Indian Reservation marks the first time in history that a Treasury Secretary has visited a Tribal nation. During her visit, the Secretary will highlight how American Rescue Plan funds are supporting the Tribe’s recovery from the pandemic and expanding economic opportunity for its citizens. She will meet with residents who received Emergency Rental Assistance funds that helped them remain in their homes, speak with Tribal leaders about their plans to use a portion of their State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds to increase affordable housing supply, and highlight the investments that the Tribe is making to boost educational and economic opportunities for all households by expanding access to high-speed affordable internet.
ABOUT CHIEF LYNN MALERBA
Chief Mutáwi Mutáhash (Many Hearts) Marilynn “Lynn” Malerba became the 18th Chief of the Mohegan Tribe on August 15, 2010 and is the first female Chief in the Tribe’s modern history. The position is a lifetime appointment made by the Tribe’s Council of Elders. Prior to becoming Chief, she served as Chairwoman of the Tribal Council, and served in Tribal Government as Executive Director of Health and Human Services. Preceding her work for the Mohegan Tribe, Malerba had a career as a registered nurse, ultimately as the Director of Cardiology and Pulmonary Services at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital. She earned a Doctor of Nursing Practice at Yale University and was named a Jonas Scholar. She was awarded an honorary doctoral degree in science from Eastern Connecticut State University and an honorary doctoral degree in humane letters from the University of St. Joseph in West Hartford, Connecticut. Malerba earned a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Connecticut and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the College of St. Joseph.
Read more about Chief Malerba via her NIH biography.
SS Central America Gold Rush-era artifacts at Chicago World’s Fair of Money®
Historic items from legendary “Ship of Gold” that sank in 1857 include Wells Fargo treasure shipment box remnants, gold miner’s jeans, and a mysterious “Mona Lisa of the Deep” photograph
June 22, 2022 — After a century and a half on the ocean floor and then decades in secure storage, dozens of historic California Gold Rush-era sunken treasure artifacts from the 1857 sinking of the fabled “Ship of Gold,” the S.S. Central America, will be displayed at the Chicago World’s Fair of Money®. The exhibit is jointly hosted by California Gold Marketing Group and Holabird Western Americana Collections at booth #1926.
Visitors will also see the first public display of the remotely operated vehicle nicknamed “Nemo” that was used by scientists and engineers to locate and recover the SS Central America treasures deep on the Atlantic Ocean seabed four decades ago. The six-ton submersible has been stored in an Ohio warehouse since 1991 and will be transported to the convention.
“Among the notable, recovered items that will be exhibited are a unique lid to the remnants of the oldest known Wells Fargo treasure shipment box; a pair of the oldest known San Francisco Gold Rush canvas jeans with a button fly that may have been made by Levi Strauss in his early years in business; and jewelry made from California Gold Rush ‘mother lode’ native gold in quartz as gemstones,” said exhibitor Fred Holabird, president Holabird Western Americana Collections, LLC (www.HolabirdAmericana.com) of Reno, Nevada.
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- One of the many historic items recovered from the fabled “Ship of Gold,” the SS Central America that sank in 1857, is the lid to the remnants of the oldest known Wells Fargo treasure shipment box. (Photo credit: Holabird Western Americana Collections.)
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- This pair of San Francisco Gold Rush jeans, recovered from the 1857 sinking of the SS Central America, is the oldest known of its kind and may have been made by Levi Strauss in his early years in business. (Photo credit: Holabird Western Americana Collections.)
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- One of the many sunken treasure artifacts recovered from the 1857 Gold Rush-era sinking of the S.S. Central America is this 19th-century daguerreotype metal plate photograph of an unidentified young woman that the scientific mission recovery team nicknamed, “Mona Lisa of the Deep.” (Photo credit: Holabird Western Americana Collections.)
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- This brass name tag and keys for SS Central America Purser Edward W. Hull may have been for a room where Gold Rush treasure cargo was secured on the ship. (Photo credit: Holabird Western Americana Collections.)
Insured for $1 million for this display, the jeans were discovered in a trunk belonging to passenger John Dement who survived the tragic sinking.
The S.S. Central America sank 7,200 feet deep in the Atlantic Ocean off the North Carolina coast during a hurricane on September 12, 1857. She was on a voyage from Panama to New York carrying tons of California Gold Rush coins, ingots, and gold dust from the San Francisco and Northern California area. The tragedy took the lives of 425 of the ship’s 578 passengers and crew members, and the loss of the gold cargo was a major factor in the economically devastating financial panic of 1857 in the United States.
Also in the display is a 19th-century daguerreotype metal plate photograph of an unidentified young woman that the scientific mission recovery team nicknamed, “Mona Lisa of the Deep,” after retrieving the photo in 2014 from the seabed where it was discovered in a scattered pile of the ship’s coal.
The exhibit also includes the Central America brass name tag attached to a set of keys that belonged to the ship’s purser, Edward W. Hull.
“Because these keys are larger than the type usually used for passengers’ rooms, we think these purser’s keys were for the locked room where the gold treasure cargo was kept on the ship,” said Holabird.
“These incredible artifacts that were kept in secure storage in three different states since the 1980s are now giving us a glimpse of daily life for passengers and crew in the 1850s. They are a time capsule from the California Gold Rush,” said Dwight Manley, Managing Partner of the California Gold Marketing Group of Brea, California which owns the recovered items.
These items are among nearly 1,000 recovered artifacts from the Central America that Manley and his group consigned to Holabird for auctions planned for later this year.
Recovery from the undersea site of what has been described as “America’s greatest treasure” occurred in several stages between 1988-1991 and again in 2014. Thousands of retrieved gold coins and hundreds of gold bars have been sold since 2000; however, these latest items were kept in storage in three different states, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Ohio, until a court-approved settlement was reached ending a decades-long ownership dispute.
“Seemingly ordinary items from the passengers and crew today give us extraordinary insight into the everyday lives of the people who traveled on the steamship,” said scientist Bob Evans who was on each of the recovery missions.
Conducted by the American Numismatic Association (www.money.org), the 2022 Chicago World’s Fair of Money (www.WorldsFairofMoney.com) will be held August 16-20 at Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Hall F, 5555 N. River Rd., in Rosemont, Illinois.
Fresh-to-market SS Central America treasures in Goldberg’s June 2022 auction
First-time offerings of California Fractionals and other important items recovered from the legendary “Ship of Gold”
(Los Angeles, California) June 20, 2022 – California Gold Rush-era treasures recovered from the fabled “Ship of Gold,” the SS Central America that sank in 1857, will be offered for the first time in the Pre-Long Beach auction by Goldberg Coins & Collectibles (www.GoldbergCoins.com) on June 27, 2022.
The auction includes 15 of the finest condition California Fractional Gold coins offered to date from the legendary sunken treasure, a 51.78-ounce Justh & Hunter assayer’s gold ingot. and one of the finest known surviving 1854 New Orleans Mint Seated Liberty quarter dollars that was retrieved from the purser’s safe on the ship.
“The SS Central America is a time capsule of the California Gold Rush. Each of the treasure coins in the auction is housed in a special PCGS holder containing gold dust from miners’ pokes that were also recovered from about 7,200 feet below the Atlantic Ocean’s surface,” explained Larry Goldberg, co-owner of Goldberg Coins & Collectibles in Los Angeles.
“The California Fractionals being offered for the first are the finest quality coins released to date from the 103 found during the 2014 recovery mission. There are some beautiful gems and prooflikes,” said Dwight Manley, managing partner of the California Gold Marketing Group which consigned the sunken treasure items to the auction.
Highlights of the auction session include:
Justh & Hunter 51.78 oz gold bar
- 1856 Octagonal Liberty gold half dollar, Breen and Gillio-311, graded PCGS MS-66 PL;
- 1856 Round Liberty Head gold half dollar, Breen and Gillio-434, PCGS MS-65 Plus;
- 1854-O Arrows At Date, Huge O Mintmark, Seated Liberty quarter dollar, PCGS AU-55;
- Justh & Hunter 51.78-ounce, 889 fine gold bar. It was stamped by the Gold Rush-era assayers with its value at the time of creation, $951.57. Its current value is estimated at between $150,000 and $200,000.
The SS Central America was a 280-foot long, three-masted side-wheel steamship carrying what Life magazine later called “The Greatest Treasure Ever Found,” tons of California Gold Rush-era gold coins and assayers’ ingots. She sank in a hurricane about 150 miles off the North Carolina coast in September 1857.
The Goldberg’s Pre-Long Beach auction will be conducted June 26-29 with the SS Central America coins offered as lots number 747 through 764 in the June 27 session. The entire auction catalog with lot descriptions and color photographs can be found online at https://auctions.goldbergcoins.com/m/view-auctions/catalog/id/92. Printed copies of the catalog are available for $15 each postpaid.
For additional information, contact Goldberg Coins & Collectibles at 310-551-2646, by email at info@GoldbergCoins.com, or visit online at https://GoldbergCoins.com.
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