A letter on behalf of the "Committee for Concerned Fellows of the American Numismatic Society"
This letter was delivered to the ANS on February 1st and versions have been circulated on the internet. It is posted here so that readers may better understand the response by Dr. Wartenberg.


BY HAND

Paula Gellman, Esq.
Office of the New York State Attorney General
Charities Bureau
120 Broadway - 3rd floor
New York, New York 10271-0332

Re: The American Numismatic Society

Dear Paula:

We write on behalf of the Committee for Concerned Fellows of the American Numismatic Society (the "Committee"), an ad hoc group organized in response to recent alarming developments at the American Numismatic Society ("ANS"), a not-for-profit organization incorporated under New York law. In December 1999, the Executive Director and the President of the ANS unveiled a plan that would eliminate most of the ANS curatorial staff, thereby stripping the ANS of one of its most valuable assets and threatening the security of its priceless and world-renowned collection. The ANS management withheld critical information regarding this plan from both the Council (the governing body of the ANS) and the Fellows (the voting members of the ANS), and has ignored outpourings of concern from ANS members regarding the potentially grave consequences of its precipitous action. Accordingly, the Committee seeks a meeting with the Attorney General to address these issues before irreparable harm to the ANS occurs.

Background Of The ANS

Founded in 1858, the ANS has long been recognized as the leading institution for numismatic scholarship, education and research in the Western hemisphere. The mission statement of the ANS reflects these objectives:

"The mission of The American Numismatic Society is to be the preeminent national institution advancing the study and public appreciation of coins, medals and related objects of all cultures as historical and artistic documents, by maintaining the foremost numismatic collection and library; by supporting scholarly research and publications; and by sponsoring educational and interpretative programs for diverse audiences."

A critically-important aspect of the ANS is its renowned Graduate Seminar in Numismatics, held every summer for the past forty-six years, organized by the ANS curators to train future historians and numismatic specialists. The Graduate Seminar is a unique educational seminar, and alumni from the program are now curators and professors at leading institutions throughout the world.

The Plan To Eliminate The ANS Curators

As reported in the New York Times and Coin World (the leading U.S. publication specializing in numismatics), the ANS recently offered all five of its curators a "buy out" arrangement if they would agree to resign. Citing ANS financial difficulties and a current operating deficit, the ANS President gave the curators until January 17, 2000 to accept the terms of the plan or face an uncertain future. While it is unclear how many of the curatorial positions will eventually be eliminated, we have heard that three curators have already accepted the buyout and the ANS management is discussing the matter with the others. In addition to the buy-out plan, the ANS management reduced the number of security guards at the ANS by sixty percent. Although some security staff were reinstated on a part-time basis, this significant reduction in security calls into tquestion the safety of the ANS collection.

The Constitution of the ANS charges the ANS Council with "general management of the affairs of the Society," and ANS by-laws provide that "the staff of the Society shall consist of such persons as the Council may determine." Here, however, the ANS President and Executive Director failed to consult with the Council before crafting and implementing the buyout plan. Although told that financial difficulties might require cuts in "staff," there was no discussion in the Council of any plan to eliminate the ANS curators. After learning of the plan, at least one Council member resigned in protest and [several] have privately voiced their concerns to members of the Committee.

The Fellows and general members of the ANS have responded with understandable outrage at being kept "in the dark" about such a drastic, irreversible course of action and have voiced their concern over its potentially dire consequences. News of the buyout plan has also prompted letters from curators, collectors and professors throughout the world, many expressing concern about the future and mission of the ANS and the safety of the ANS collection.

The curator buyout plan threatens the very existence of the ANS. If prompt action is not taken, the ANS will suffer irreparable harm. Indeed, one outside organization that has loaned objects to the ANS has already expressed concern about the continued safety of those objects while they remain at the ANS. Because of the nature of its collection, the ANS relies on its curators more substantially than typically found in museums. In a collection of over 800,000 portable, highly-valuable objects, it is impossible to publicly display anything but a small portion of the collection in a significant or meaningful way. Instead, the curators are the key to unlocking not only the actual physical location of the coins and medals, but also to illuminating the meaning and relevance of the collection. When students and collectors visit the ANS, they rely on the guidance and assistance of the curators. Without the curators=92 help, the ANS collection is effectively inaccessible.

Further, the curators conduct the bulk of the scholarly research that constitutes such a vital part of the ANS, as indicated in its Mission Statement. Absent that scholarship, the coins and medals in the ANS collection are simply mute objects. With scholarship, they become a link to past societies and civilizations, revealing information about how these societies lived, worked and governed. Scholarship keeps the collection vital, alive and growing. The activities of the curators keep the ANS membership interested and, in many instances, relationships that the curators have cultivated over years have prompted donations and endowments to the ANS.

Finally, the curators are vital to the educational programs of the ANS. Already, the ANS has suspended the Graduate Seminar for 1999 and 2000. Without the curators available to organize and teach that program, its future is threatened and, with it, the future of the ANS. Unless future specialists in numismatics are trained, there will be no one to care for and promote the collection of the ANS. Indeed, because numismatics is a highly-specialized field, the departure of the current curators would be an irrecoverable loss. The current curators have spent over one hundred combined years devoted to nurturing and fostering the ANS collection; if they leave, no one can effectively replace them.

Additional Threat To The ANS Collection

The ANS buyout plan follows closely on the heels of ANS management's recently-announced plan to relocate the ANS collection to a new site at 140 William Street in downtown Manhattan. The reported cost of this move is over $13 million, including almost $8 million to purchase the building and an additional estimated $6 million for renovations. Much of these costs have been funded by withdrawals from the ANS endowment. Also, the Committee has learned that the collection is currently being appraised by Spink & Sons, a division of Christie=92s auction house. Although management of the ANS has denied a plan to deaccession portions of the ANS collection, the fact that the collection is being appraised raises concerns, particularly given the enormous expenditures involved in the contemplated move to William Street and the admitted financial difficulties of the ANS. Although not confirmed, there has been talk that the ANS collection may be used as collateral to secure a loan. Such a course of action, given the ANS' financial position and crisis of leadership, could have disastrous consequences.

The ANS Rejection Of Efforts To Reconsider Its Actions
In an attempt to allow for consideration and debate of the ANS plan to eliminate its curators, a number of the Fellows joined together to seek a special meeting and to recommend placing a one-year moratorium on any action regarding the curators. This period would allow further discussions and also give the Fellows and the Council an opportunity to explore alternate means for funding the ANS curators' salaries. On January 15, 2000, the ANS convened a special meeting. Although 90 of the 180 Fellows signed proxies in support of implementing the one-year moratorium, the ANS management ignored the constituency of the ANS and announced that it will not even consider temporarily delaying its course of action, but will instead press forward with the buyout plan. The management of the ANS is apparently unmoved by the outpouring of concern voiced from both within the ANS membership and the greater world of numismatics.

Because the ANS management has refused to even consider delaying the buyout plan - a course of action supported by a majority of the Fellows - the Committee has no choice but to seek a meeting with the Attorney General. Elections to the Council will not be held until October 2000. If the current management of the ANS is allowed to proceed with its announced course of action, the harm to the ANS will by then be irremediable.

We look forward to hearing from you on these important matters.

Sincerely,


[Signature]

cc: Donald R. Partrick, President of the ANS
    Ute Wartenberg, Executive Director of the ANS