The American Numismatic Society is pleased to announce the appointment of Elizabeth Hahn to the Francis D. Campbell Librarianship. She took up the position on July 1, 2008. Ms Hahn comes to the position during an exciting time as the ANS is currently in the process of moving to its new location at One Hudson Square.

Ms. Hahn is a trained librarian and completed a Master of Science in Library and Information Science from Long Island University. Her interest in specialized libraries compelled her to pursue a concentration in rare books and special collections as well as a certificate in archives, and she is particularly delighted about the extensive rare book collection at the Harry W. Bass Jr. Library at the ANS. When asked about her goals for the library, Elizabeth said that she is interested in updating the catalogs and databases in order to increase the efficiency of access to the collections. We live in a world where technology is constantly evolving and we need to keep up with those changes, she said. This is an excellent collection and it is important to convey the message to our members and the public of what resources we have and how they can be used.

Ms Hahn trained as an archaeologist and numismatist and has extensive library and museum employment experience. She holds a Master of Arts degree in maritime archaeology and history from the University of Bristol and a Master of Arts degree in classical art and archaeology from the University of Virginia. She is fluent in Italian and has a reading knowledge of German, French, ancient Greek and Latin. Elizabeth has worked on various excavations both on land and underwater in Sicily, Israel, and North America and spent a summer working at the Numismatic Museum in Athens, Greece. The ANS has played a fundamental role in my graduate studies, Elizabeth said, commenting on the research she conducted for a Masters thesis on the Greek coinage of Sicily and southern Italy. I have used the collections and resources in the past and I am thrilled to have the opportunity now to be a part of how those resources develop. (more…)

(Fallbrook, California) — The Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG), a nonprofit organization composed of many of the top rare coin and paper money dealers, has extended for another two years the contract of its veteran Executive Director, Robert Brueggeman.

“Bob has continued to manage a dynamic organization with zeal and dedication. His efforts have kept the Professional Numismatists Guild on a steady pace,” said PNG President Gary Adkins.

“Most of the disputes that come to the PNG office are quickly and fairly settled through Bob’s tenacious determination. Legal and financial matters are handled with professional, caring detail. Promotion and education continue to be keys to PNG’s success with Bob’s guidance, and the PNG is proud to have Bob as its Executive Director.”

Brueggeman has served as PNG Executive Director for the past 14 years.

“In 1994, when I first took over as Executive Director, the PNG was struggling in both membership and finances. I’m happy to say that today the organization has 275 members and is exceptionally sound financially,” Brueggeman said.

“We’ve also changed the perception of PNG from an elitist, ‘good ol’ boys club’ to that of an organization that is open to embracing all who meet the high standards of membership.”

All PNG members must adhere to strict Code of Ethics in the buying and selling of numismatic merchandise.

In the coming months Brueggeman will be working on plans for a series of small to medium-sized numismatic dealer-to-dealer conventions named the PNG Dealer’s Deal. Specific details about those conventions, including dates and locations, will be announced soon.

For additional information about the Professional Numismatists Guild, call (760) 728-1300 or e-mail info@PNGdealers.com. Online: www.PNGdealers.com.

Experts at SPPN meeting settle four decades of uncertainty

A panel of leading numismatists determined the questionable 1853 United States Assay Office of Gold $20 proof, prooflike, and similar coins to be forgeries produced from transfer dies. The panel’s discussion was the main program at the annual meeting of the Society of Private and Pioneer Numismatists (SPPN) held in Baltimore, Maryland Saturday, August 2nd, 2008 as part of the American Numismatic Association’s World Fair of Money.

The Transfer Die Forgeries first appeared during the late 1950’s, “discovered” by Paul Franklin through a bank teller in Arizona. Franklin and John J. Ford Jr. sold hundreds of these pieces throughout the 1960’s as genuine pieces struck in San Francisco by the U.S. Assay Office in 1853. An arbitration hearing of the Professional Numismatists Guild in the late 1960’s ruled that the pieces were not proof, but could not come to an agreement on the authenticity or vintage. For the next forty years the authenticity of the Franklin Hoard pieces lay in question.

In 2006 Donald Kagin, Ph.D. and David J. McCarthy of Kagin’s, Inc. of Tiburon, Calif. were processing images of one of Kagin’s client’s collection for the upcoming 2nd edition of Private Gold Coins and Patterns of the United States. McCarthy noticed that the client’s unquestionably authentic 1853 Assay Office $20 bore bag marks in the same location as repeating depressions on the questionable Franklin Hoard coins. The marks of the original coin appear on all of the Franklin pieces, despite the best efforts of the forgers to evidently hide them with die polish. The panel agreed that the discovery of this authentic coin and the matching of the marks was the “smoking gun” in the case, condemning all of the Franklin pieces as the products of a one-to-one transfer die made from this authentic host coin.

At the conclusion of the discussion moderator Kagin asked the panel to accurately and succinctly title the coins in question. The experts unanimously agreed these pieces are best described as Transfer Die Forgeries. The panel also agreed efforts need to be taken to educate the numismatic community about these false coins.

The approach and decision of the panel is historic, creating a model for future forums to discuss other numismatic controversies. The SPPN would like to seek answers to other mysteries and controversies in the field of pioneer numismatics and is soliciting future topics for discussion.

The Society of Private and Pioneer Numismatists has been a non-profit organization since 1992. Membership is $35 per year and includes a subscription to the Brasher Bulletin, a thrice annual publication featuring articles by leading Private & Pioneer coinage experts and historians. S.P.P.N. is operated from the offices of Kagin’s, Inc. in Tiburon, CA. For further information, please contact Kagin’s, Inc. at 888.8KAGINS or 415.435.2601.

Spanish Coins Face Stealth Sale by Secret Museum, Frank Lorenzo Is Said to Change Hispanic Society of America

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press, in NYC: News Analysis

NEW YORK, August 6 — Under a leaking ceiling on 155th Street in West Harlem, paintings by Goya and Velasquez hang in near obscurity in the Hispanic Society of America. Surrounded by the vacant shells left by museums which have decamped to lower Manhattan, and with controversial airline investor Frank Lorenzo now taking a leading role on the board of trustees, the Hispanic Society has taken to selling off the treasures collected by its founder, Archer Milton Huntington. Last year a 13th century Koran was sold in London.

On August 6, Sotheby’s began cataloguing for immanent auction a collection of 38,000 coins which Huntington lent to the American Numismatic Society. The HSA’s board of trustees have assumed unfettered discretion to under-promote, under-protect and ultimately sell off Huntington’s collection, in a process some analogize to Lorenzo’s treatment of airlines during his heyday.

“This is to cry,” a Spanish art lover sighed during a recent visit. It didn’t have to be this way — and the coin sale could still be stopped. Potential bidders should be aware of the history, particularly how the sale may run counter to not only the spirit but also the letter of Huntington’s intent.

Despite Huntington’s transfer of the coins to the American Numismatic Society being described as a “permanent” loan, the HSA has fought and litigated to regain the coins, but only for the purpose of selling them, not for display. In early 2007, the HSA drafted a Loan Agreement which gave it the right to cancel Huntington’s transfer. In response to persistent questions from the New York correspondent of the Madrid newspaper La Razon, HSA management denied the intent to sell the coins. But in a contemporaneous series of court filings and letters to the New York State Attorney General viewed by Inner City Press, the HSA refers to its board of trustee’s January 23, 2008 resolution to “deaccession” the collection — museum terminology for selling off. Then Sotheby’s today began cataloguing the coins for sale.

During an August 6 visit to the American Numismatic Society’s new location at 75 Varrick Street, Inner City Press observed a team from Sotheby’s and a spin-off company specializing in coin sales, Morton & Eden, preparing to catalogue the coins, which number 38,000. A sworn affidavit by Sotheby’s David Redden spells out the auction house’s demands during the cataloguing process: a separate, carpeted room to which they will have their own key, Internet access and, strangely, the right to bring in their own food. Once catalogued, the coins will be sold the highest bidders. Pending a legislative proposal in New York State, A995A, which would limit the uses of “deaccession” profits, the Lorenzo-led Hispanic Society of America could put the proceeds to any use whatsoever. (more…)