2018 ANS GALA DINNER

On Thursday, January 11, 2018, approximately 180 friends of the American Numismatic Society gathered to honor the Rosen Family with the Trustees’ Award at the Annual Gala Dinner, held at the Harvard Club in New York City.

The Society was delighted to acknowledge the family’s exemplary devotion and commitment. The Rosens have supported the Society and numismatics as an academic discipline since the early 1980s. Moreover, they have done so through the efforts of three generations, setting an exceptional example of commitment to the numismatic community. The Rosen Family was among the biggest contributors to the Society’s 1980s endowment campaign, which was undertaken by then ANS President Harry W. Fowler. A. A. Rosen was named as benefactor in 1982, followed by his son Jonathan, who was honored for his extraordinary financial support a year later, a practice he has continued to the present. Adam Rosen is now following in his father’s footsteps, both as a collector and a philanthropist. He is a serious collector of ancient art and coinage, sharing his father’s passion for Greek coins and especially electrum.

Jonathan Rosen joined the Society 45 years ago. He was elected Fellow in 1997 and has been a member of the Augustus B. Sage Society since 2006.

Executive Director Dr. Ute Wartenberg opened the evening by thanking the many supporters and sponsors of the Gala. Personal perspectives on the honorees were then offered by two longtime friends of the Rosens: Harlan J. Berk and David Hendin, First Vice President of the ANS Board of Trustees.

Hendin recounted how he had first met Jonathan Rosen in the early 1980s through a mutual friend, the late Ya’akov Meshorer, curator of Antiquities and Numismatics at The Israel Museum. The Rosen family’s generosity to that institution was already legendary. Haim Gitler, a guest at the event and chief curator of Archaeology and Numismatics at the Israel Museum, fondly recalled that 30 years ago, when he arrived at the museum on his first day of work, he found on his desk his first assignment: to catalog a collection of 1,300 ancient coins just donated by Jonathan Rosen.

As one of the foremost collectors of Archaic coinage, Jonathan Rosen championed the publication of his collection, which was prepared by Nancy Waggoner, the Curator of Greek Coins at the American Numismatic Society and published in 1983. The volume, Early Greek Coins from the Collection of Jonathan P. Rosen, is a classic that shows the breadth of collecting in one of the most obscure areas of numismatics.

Jonathan’s wife, Jeannette, has steadfastly encouraged his interests over their many years of marriage, and together they support many important cultural institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Israel Museum, Bible Lands Museum, and the Morgan Library and Museum, where they have endowed a chair, the Jeannette and Jonathan P. Rosen Curatorship in the Department of Ancient Near Eastern Seals and Tablets. They also are major benefactors to such educational institutions as Amherst College, where they help fund the Chair of American Studies for Henry Steele Commager, and Emory, Yale, Cornell, and Columbia universities, along with the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University.

In addition to their extraordinary, generous support of the Society, the Rosens have greatly enhanced the ANS collections with many important donations. As Hendin remarked, “Academic numismatics and archaeologists, and of course, collectors, are lucky to have friends like Jon and his family.”

The ANS Annual Gala Dinner raised more than $210,000 for its research, publications and various programs. This includes $10,110 raised through its live auction, called by Melissa Karstedt of Stack’s Bowers Galleries. The eleven items included coins donated by Heritage Auctions, medals, wine, books, and other items donated by ANS members and Trustees, as well as a signed copy of Early Greek Coins from the Collection of Jonathan P. Rosen donated by Jonathan Rosen.

An unexpected surprise was the auction of a spectacular intricate gold necklace and jewelry ensemble on display from the Stack Family. The ensemble is made of ancient Greek and Roman coins, crafted by the premier 19th century French goldsmith-jeweler dynasty, the family Froment-Meurice. The ensemble has been in the Stack family for many years. Mr. Lawrence Stack promised to give whatever was raised over the reserve amount of $80,000 to the Society’s $4 million Campaign to Endow the Chair of the Executive Director. This ensemble was on display at the Gala with the intention of letting people know it would be available through auction at a later date. However, some guests were so enthusiastic about the pieces that they insisted on bidding on it that night. Renowned Sotheby’s auctioneer David Redden, who was attending the event, volunteered on the spot to handle the bidding. As a result of his spirited, and greatly appreciated, efforts, the necklace was purchased for $120,000, with $40,000 going to support the ANS campaign.

Past recipients of the Trustees’ Award include such notable numismatists and donors as Ms. Shelby White and Mr. Leon Levy, Mr. Jamie Stewart, Mr. Kenneth L. Edlow, Mr. George Kolbe, Mr. Q. David Bowers, Mr. Chester L. Krause, Mr. Donald G. Partrick, Mr. Harvey Stack, Mr. Victor England, Jr., Mr. Ira Goldberg, Mr. Larry Goldberg, Mr. Harlan J. Berk, Mr. Roger S. Siboni, Mrs. Marian Scheuer Sofaer and the Honorable Abraham D. Sofaer, Mrs. Elizabeth Forbes Hazard Scott and Mr. Stanley DeForest Scott, and Mr. and Mrs. John W. Adams, Anthony J. Terranova, and the Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society and the Newman Numismatic Portal.

Every year the American Numismatic Society raises critical revenue through Gala ticket sales, program advertisements, sponsorships, contributions, and the proceeds from a live auction. These funds are used to further the Society’s mission of supporting research and education in numismatics.

STANDING: Former ANS Librarian Frank Campbell, George Kolbe, David Menchell, David Fanning, Wayne Homren
SEATED: Rosa Campbell, ANS Librarian David Hill, Len Augsburger and his wife Debra Kurtz, Barry and Mrs. Tayman

STANDING: Neil Musante, Dan Hamelberg, John Adams, John Lupia, and Lev Tsitrin
SEATED: Regina Adams, Connie Hamelberg, Cindy Musante, Skyler Liechty and his wife.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: JANUARY 14, 2018 : The ANS Gala (http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n02a25.html)

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