MEDALS OF THE LITERARY SOCIETY OF KING’S COLLEGE

The Gouverneur Morris specimen

Vicken Yegparian, Vice President of Stack’s Bowers Galleries, was the distinguished guest speaker for the nine hundredth meeting of the New Jersey Numismatic Society (NJNS) at the Madison Public Library in Madison, New Jersey, on January 20, 2014. The New Jersey Numismatic Society was founded in 1933.

Ray Williams, former President of C-4, introduced the speaker, who is well known to NJNS members. Vicken and John Kraljevich were star pupils as young numismatists in the group. Yegparian remembered that as a teenager, he enjoyed attending NJNS meetings and going out to dinner afterward with more seasoned numismatists. Vicken is grateful for the mentoring and support he received from the older members of the Society.

Yegparian’s topic was, “The Medals of the Literary Society of King’s College in New York, 1767-1771: The Unheralded First Civilian Medals Produced in America.” Vicken gave an engaging PowerPoint presentation featuring images of medals and archival documents at the well-attended meeting. He explained that in 2001, Stack’s was responsible for a hand-engraved silver medal of King’s College, the colonial precursor of Columbia University.

Although the medal was little known or understood by numismatists at the time, Vicken’s research in primary source documents at the New-York Historical Society and a study of the three surviving King’s College medals have increased our knowledge of the items. Vicken ranked the three specimens alongside the Betts medals in importance. He also pointed out that in contrast to the Betts medals, which were military or strategic in nature, these items were the first purely civilian medals produced in the colonies. As a Columbia alumnus, Vicken had a particular interest in researching these works of art, the third earliest colonial medals.

Refreshments were served to celebrate the Society’s historic milestone. During the photo op, NJNS President Dave Bailey and Ray Williams presented Vicken with a beautiful medal designed for the 900th meeting of the NJNS. Vicken also was offered an honorarium, but he politely refused it, requesting that the funds be given to another young numismatist to be helped as much as he was by the NJNS.

Wayne Homren, Editor

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web