NEW JERSEY NUMISMATIC SOCIETY 1000TH MEETING

President Pete LaConte called the historic 1,000th meeting of the New Jersey Numismatic Society (NJNS) to order on Monday, September 18, 2023. This year marks the 90th anniversary of our club, which was founded in 1933. Our club logo is a horse and plow, emblematic of the New Jersey State Seal. We have held meetings in a number of locations over the years, including the Upper Montclair Public Library and the Madison Public Library.

At present, we meet on the third Monday of the month at the Library of the Chathams at 7:00 p.m. Our meetings start with business matters and numismatic news, followed by a presentation on a topic of interest. The last part of our gathering is a show-and-tell session.

We have had some distinguished numismatists as members of our Society. Earlier members include F.C.C. Boyd (1886-1958), Jacob N. Spiro (1889-1954), Willard C. Blaisdell (1903-1985), Harold Flartey (1914-2002), Henry Clay Hines (1856-1946), Herbert M. Oechsner (1904-1987), and Herbert A. Silberman (1916-2001). More recent luminaries include David B. Bailey (1946-2018), Chris Connell (1946-2007), David J. Ginsburg (1958-2016), David W. Lange (1958-2023), Steve Middleton (1952-2009), Charles Davis, Michael S. Fey, Scott Miller, Spencer Peck, Harry J. Rescigno, Arno Safran, Ron Thompson, Ray Williams, and many others.

Harry Rescigno deserves particular mention as our longest serving member. Having joined the NJNS in 1978, he has been a member for 45 years – half of the Society's existence! Rescigno came up with the idea to start the Charles F. Nettleship Award for Service to the NJNS. Harry moved to Wilmington, Delaware, several years ago and now is a frequent presenter at the Wilmington Coin Club.

We celebrated this special occasion with a pizza party. Pete LaConte unveiled our 90th anniversary NJNS commemorative medal and our 1,000th meeting pin to mark the event. The medal is 2 inches in diameter and the lapel pin is 1¼ inches in diameter, both struck in antique gold finish. Ray Williams provided a short presentation on the History of the NJNS: 1933 to 1937, and distributed hard copies to those in attendance. Ray collated references to the NJNS found in The Numismatist from the ANA website, starting with the earliest reference back in December 1933. Next, Harry Rescigno reminisced about his early days in the NJNS and Society members who mentored him in numismatics.

 
NJNS Medal. Member pin shown above

Dr. Lawrence S. Brown, Chairperson of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, was a special guest. Brown, a Brooklynite, offered to give a presentation at our October NJNS meeting. He will be speaking about designs on circulating and commemorative coins and how these pieces are minted.

Show-and-tell items included Scott Miller's 1899 portrait plaquette of Rene by Victor D. Brenner, and the Massachusetts Pine Tree Shilling PCGS VF 30 that Bill Liatys bought from John Kraljevich at the 2023 ANA World's Fair of Money in Pittsburgh. Bill's Small Planchet Shilling is a plate coin in Sydney Noe's The Silver Coinage of Massachusetts.

 

 

 

 

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