The ANA Summer Seminar is called “the best education in numismatics.” Take a look at the courses being taught by NGC experts.

Numismatists from NGC will be present in full force at this year’s ANA Summer Seminar. Now celebrating its 42nd year, Summer Seminar features a lineup of classes to suit virtually every collector’s hobby needs. Whether your interest is ancients, paper money, Colonial Americana, Lincoln cents, shipwreck coins, commemoratives, or medals and tokens, there’s a class or mini-seminar for you. Want to start or grow a business, or learn something about security? There’s a class for you. Students can learn to grade coins and detect counterfeits and, most important, hobnob with the hobby’s most distinguished scholars and successful business leaders.

Classes are held in small groups so everyone can actively participate. You’ll learn not only from instructors who are recognized leaders in their fields, but from the collective experiences of fellow students, who range in age from 13 to 90. And rarely do students or instructors attend just one Summer Seminar. They come back time and time again for the education, friendships and camaraderie.

To learn more about summer seminar, visit the information page on the ANA’s Web site, or download the full course catalog [PDF].

The following courses are instructed by professional numismatists from NGC:

Advanced United States Coin Grading and Problem Coins

This course concentrates on the nuances of high-grade, mint-state and proof coins. Students learn how to distinguish original surfaces from mint-state and circulated coins that have been cleaned or altered, and to identify minute imperfections and color variances that can affect a coin’s grade. Students will learn the methods used by experts, as well as their own strengths and weaknesses. Prerequisite: Successful completion of “Intermediate Grading of United States Coins,” or permission from the instructor, is required. Prospective students must complete a questionnaire before enrollment is confirmed. Each grading class is limited to 21 students. (more…)

Board Also Approves Fall Show and Spring 2012 Location

The American Numismatic Association Board of Governors, on March 27, approved a recommendation from Executive Director Larry Shepherd to name Chicago as the site of the summer ANA World’s Fair of Money® in 2013, 2014 and 2015, and to launch a fall show in 2011.

A third annual ANA convention will be scheduled between late September and mid-October, and will rotate among major cities like Pittsburgh, Boston and Denver. The ANA will continue to hold annual spring and summer shows.

The Board named Denver as the site of the 2012 spring ANA National Money Show™, scheduled for May to avoid Colorado’s unpredictable early spring weather.

“Successful conventions and auction contracts are critical to our future,” ANA Executive Director Larry Shepherd said. “We can now move immediately to ‘brand’ Chicago as an ANA city.”

Shepherd stressed the importance of branding Chicago as the home of the summer ANA World’s Fair of Money, noting the success FUN has had branding Orlando as its home, and Whitman establishing Baltimore as a show destination.

“By selecting a single good location, the ANA will brand its summer convention as an annual ‘coin show destination’ that all collectors and dealers will strive to attend. The dates will be tightly fixed, the location well known and easily accessible at a reasonable cost. But most importantly, it will give us an opportunity to expand our show and set it apart from all others.”

Shepherd said the convention hall space available at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center (formerly the Rosemont Convention Center) in Chicago allows the ANA to increase bourse space, create more room for museum-quality exhibits, provide free space for clubs and professional organizations to meet, and provide more table options to attract new dealers and first-time buyer tables. (more…)

Every year during the third full week of April, the ANA and its members celebrate National Coin Week with exhibits, educational resources, presentations and other activities at civic centers, libraries and schools to let the world know about the joys of collecting and studying coins and other forms of money.

“Beautiful Places: Landmarks and Mintmarks” is the theme of 2010 National Coin Week, April 18-24. The theme celebrates the many historic and scenic places that have inspired designs on coins and paper money throughout U.S. and world history.

This year, the ANA is going on a virtual road trip — and we want you to come along! The cross-country venture will double as a treasure hunt. Beginning Presidents Day, February 15, a clue to a numismatic object will be provided once a week via e-mail. Click Here to see all the clues.

The final clue will be revealed the Monday of National Coin Week, and all road-trippers who complete the hunt and register their findings will enter a drawing for a 1/2 ounce gold coin (revealed during the trip) and other great prizes.

To reserve a spot for the trip and have information and weekly clues sent to you via e-mail, send a message to ncw@money.org with “ROAD TRIP” in the subject line.