My 2023 ANA Summer Seminar Adventure

Editor’s Note: This piece was submitted and the author asked to be ran under a pseudonym. Normally, I would not do that, but on occasion if a submitter has a good reason I may make an exception or two.

My trip to Colorado Springs to attend the ANA Summer Seminar was exciting. My friend Jason, who is the president of the Madison Coin Club, and I arrived on Saturday, June 24. After registering and getting our dorm room for the stay we went out and over to a local show sponsored by the Colorado Springs Coin Club.

After the coin show, we attended opening ceremonies, after which we went to the ANA book sale. The evening ended with a spectacular view of Pike’s Peak from the university’s lounge before classes started up at 9 a.m. the following Sunday.

We attended the Early American Copper Coinage Class taught by Jim Carr. We received educational materials including John D. Wright’s famous book “The Cent Book (1816-1839).” All were used for education, reference, and attribution of early American copper coins, and after class, more coinage learning followed.

I went to a presentation called “Redbook – Behind The Scenes” by Jeff Garrett and Ken Bressett who are Red Book editors. Later on, Sunday evening, I went to a lecture called “William Wyons UNA and the Lion Coin” given out by Bob Blair.

Bright and early Monday morning we were back to class. We started with a visit to the ANA Money Museum. Highlights included an 1804 Dollar Type One (Dupont), a 1913 Liberty Nickel (McDermott), and a 1792 Half Dime. The 1823 cent restrike die was even brought out from the vault to the excitement of all.

A demonstration at the mini mint was held downstairs on the early minting process. After lunch, it was back to class. Evening seminars included a talk on "Early Islamic Coinage." The second session was presented by Jerry Bobbe on "My Early Numismatic Education, A Nostalgic Look At The Past.” Day three (Tuesday) included a very intense learning session on copper. ln the evening we attended the YN benefit auction and this is great for younger ANA members.

Here, you can be educated, and experience and socialize all to the benefit of the ANA scholarship funds for youth Summer Seminar Sessions. Later, we went back to the lunar lounge to socialize and network. The last day of class on Wednesday included studying more coins. We recapped the material and talked about having a Copper II class next year. The graduation and banquet were held that evening.

There, awards were presented to deserving ANA members. Once again, I met many like-minded individuals/members, including novices and famously experienced people. Driving home, we stopped at the Durham Museum in Omaha, Nebraska to see the Byron Reed Collection. Here we saw one of the top rare coin collections (circa 1891). A couple highlights included an uncirculated 1793 Chain Cent and our second 1804 Type One Dollar this week. We stopped at a couple of coin shops on the way home. It was a fabulous experience I hope to repeat next year and I thank the South Shore Coin Club for this opportunity.

Have an interesting numismatic topic you’d like to share with your fellow NOW members?

Send your article to evan.pretzer@protonmail.com today!!!

For more NOW Articles Written By Members, join N.O.W. today!