ANA HONORS JAMES MEASE, DWIGHT MANLEY

The American Numismatic Association (ANA) is presenting its Chester L. Krause Memorial Distinguished Service Award and Hall of Fame honor to those who have left indelible marks within the numismatic community. The recipients will be recognized during the World's Fair of Money® in Chicago, August 6-10.

Eminent philanthropist Dwight N. Manley is the recipient of the 2024 Chester L. Krause Memorial Distinguished Service Award, the ANA's highest honor. Inspired by a pivotal experience at the ANA's Summer Seminar in 1981, Manley launched his career fresh out of high school in 1984. By 1990 he opened a dealership, Spectrum Numismatics. His business burgeoned and eventually handled major rarities, including the King of Siam 1804 proof set and two of the five 1913 Liberty nickels.

In 1999, on behalf of the California Gold Marketing Group, he negotiated the purchase of most of the treasure recovered from the SS Central America. He built a massive exhibit about the ship and its cargo that debuted in 2000 and was featured at the World's Fair of Money in Philadelphia. The extraordinary display led to record-breaking attendance at the convention, and the exhibit later traveled across the nation and overseas. Two books by Q. David Bowers and a History Channel documentary followed.

Manley channeled his success into philanthropic endeavors. He has donated more than a half million dollars to the ANA to the Library, which is named in his honor, and to establish the Florence Schook School of Numismatics. He also regularly donates rare books and manuscripts and recently contributed over 1,050 George Washington-related medals—valued at over $2 million—to the Money Museum, many from William Spohn Baker's penultimate collection and others from Manley's personal holdings. Manley's generosity to both the ANA and the public knows no bounds.

To recognize the most important collectors, scholars, and hobby professionals of all time, the ANA maintains the Numismatic Hall of Fame (HOF) at its Colorado Springs headquarters. ANA historian Jack W. Ogilvie proposed the HOF in the mid-1960s. By 1969 bylaws were drafted, and the HOF inducted its first honorees. The next group was enshrined in 1970, and now the HOF alternates recognizing persons from modern and historic eras every year. In 2024 pioneering numismatic author Dr. James Mease (1771-1846) joins the HOF's ranks.

Mease's comprehensive 1821 work "Description of Some of the Medals, Struck in Relation to Important Events in North America, Before and Since the Declaration of Independence by the United States" was the first numismatic article ever published in the United States.

Mease also has the distinction of having authored the second and third U.S.-published articles over the next 17 years. The third, "Old American Coin" (1838), was the first numismatic article about U.S. coins published in America. It describes nine notable copper coins.

Outside of being a trailblazing numismatist, Mease was one of the courageous physicians who stayed in Philadelphia to treat victims of the 1793 yellow-fever epidemic while many others fled. He also served as a surgeon during the War of 1812.

A polymath, Mease wrote about medicine, geology, and history. His book Picture of Philadelphia (1811) is a foundational work of local history and contains the first useful description of the U.S. Mint's operations.

On July 3, 1800, Mease married Sarah Butler, the daughter of South Carolina Senator Pierce Butler. They had two sons. Mease died in Philadelphia on May 14, 1846, and was buried in the cemetery of Third Presbyterian Church.

Both Manley and Mease will be recognized at the annual ANA Banquet during the 133rd anniversary convention on Friday, August 9.

 

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