ANS COMMISSIONS ERIC NEWMAN MEDAL

To celebrate the 100th birthday of its Trustee Emeritus and benefactor, the American Numismatic Society is presenting Eric Pfeiffer Newman a portrait plaque, which was commissioned to commemorate this event. The portrait will be handed over by ANS Chairman Kenneth L. Edlow at a ceremony on May 29th in New York City.

The ANS commissioned sculptor Amy Kann of Philadelphia, PA to create a medal as part of its celebration of Eric Newman's contributions to numismatics and the American Numismatic Society. Ms. Kann is well known for her beautiful bas-relief portraits. The portrait of Mr. Newman is surrounded by images of books and numismatics objects related to his research. The map of the world behind him represents his love of travel. The plaque is framed in red-oak by sculptor Stephen C. Layne of Philadelphia. A limited edition bronze medal will feature the bas-relief image on the front and a depiction of Mr. Newman in his library on the reverse. Information on the medal will be released later this summer.

Eric Newman joined the ANS in 1944, was nominated as a Fellow of the Society in 1950, became a Life Associate member in 1964 and was named an Honorary Life Fellow in 1994. Mr. Newman served on the ANS Council (Board of Trustees) from 1962 to 2003, when he was named Honorary Trustee. The Society presented its highest honor to Mr. Newman in 1978, with the Archer M. Huntington Medal in recognition of outstanding career contributions to numismatic scholarship.

Eric has served the ANS in many ways including in the early 1990's being instrumental in the return of dozens of rare U.S. large cent pieces stolen from the ANS collection by Dr. William Sheldon circa 1949. Eric also served on the ANS Huntington Medal Award Committee. As a leading proponent of education, for nearly every year between 1969 and 1999, Eric participated as a lecturer in the ANS's Summer Seminar. In 1981, he also took responsibility for supporting the program financially, providing a yearly grant of $10,000; in 1996-99, he fully endowed it. The program has been named in his honor: the Eric P. Newman Graduate Summer Seminar. A feature article in the ANS Magazine 2011 no. 2 issue by Robert Hoge will discuss his accomplishments.

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