ANS GALA: THE ‘ACADEMY AWARDS’ OF COIN COLLECTING

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V19 2016 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 19, Number 3, January 17, 2016, Article 23

Author Kabir Sehgal's book Coined has been reviewed in earlier E-Sylum issues. He was present at last week's American Numismatic Society Gala in New York, and published this article about it yesterday on the Fortune magazine web site. -Editor

On January 7, on a brisk winter evening, a throng of the money-obsessed gathered at the Waldorf Astoria, on Park Avenue in New York. But unlike many meet-ups at this Manhattan moor, this occasion wasn’t marked by hedge fund managers, investment bankers, and corporate lawyers fixated on making more money. Rather, this group was consumed with the study, collection, and dealing of it. Such was the annual dinner gala of the American Numismatic Society (ANS), an organization devoted to the preservation and scholarship of coins and currency.

“This is our Academy Awards,” said Sydney Martin, the president of the organization. The event was part fundraiser ($600 per ticket), part awards ceremony in which numismatic luminaries were recognized for their contributions to the field. But a more apt comparison would have been the Golden Globes, as guests were seated under three dimly lit chandeliers and at round white-linen clothed tables, as they dined on a menu of cucumber wrapped chopped salad, sliced tenderloin au poivre (with sugar snap peas), and chocolate savarin.

Among the notable guests were David Bowers, a legendary numismatist, and one half the namesake of Stack’s Bowers Galleries, an auction house and coin dealer located near Carnegie Hall. Larry Stack whose family founded the firm was also in attendance.

Also joining the occasion was Paul Volcker, former chair of the Federal Reserve, who isn’t a coin collector. “But once I got a bunch of coins from my grandmother, and they weren’t worth anything,” he said. He was there to support his friend John Adams who he had met on a fishing trip. Adams, along with his wife Regina, were the recipients of the Trustees’ Award, which honors those who have advanced the mission of the ANS. Adams was the founder of a Boston-based investment bank, and has written several numismatic works including Monographs on Varieties of United States Large Cents, 1793-1794. In his acceptance remarks, Adams confessed that numismatists are an odd bunch, but “these eccentricities are endearing,” he said.

One of the charming qualities of these collectors is how they see their muse as portals to the past. “Unlike an Ionian or Roman vase that is locked away at a museum, you can actually touch the coins that circulated in these ancient worlds,” said Matthew Wittman, an assistant curator at the ANS who runs their blog Pocket Change. “They are little pieces of history that anyone and everyone can interact with,” he said. At his table was a wide cross section of professionals who had fallen for the coin — an electronic technician interested in New Jersey pieces and a radiologist who wrote a book on pine tree shillings.

I clearly needed to mingle more - I have Kabir's book but never managed to meet him in person; I'm sorry I missed the chance to speak with him, Volcker, or many of the numismatic personalities present at the Gala. With 200 people in attendance, that's a lot of mingling. It was great event all around though, and my wife and I had a great time. The American Numismatic Association banquet is another annual highlight in our numismatic world, but only the ANS Gala has the glitz to be called "the ‘Academy Awards’ of Coin Collecting".