Arlene Jacobs interviewed Donald G. Partrick the new ANS President about his passion for collecting and his goals for the ANS.

How did you first get interested in numismatics?
About 1960 I needed a hobby to get my mind off business. I have always been athletically active but decided the hobby for me should not be physical. I wanted to be able to use it at anytime, anywhere, regardless of the weather.

My father had given me a few coins years before, but I had never paid much attention to them. Frankly, business was first and foremost to me, and I did not need to get "sidetracked". Subsequently, I elected to get a little "sidetracked" and decided to look into coins.

I was very suspicious of any chance of finding anything in circulation that would be worth more than face value. Searching coin bags that were weekly collected from washing machines became my focal point, and I bought one of those slide light machines where one could do 1,000 coins in an hour. Some very nice high quality specimens appeared every once in a while. I would come across a mint or proof-quality piece. I had a formidable collection of almost every date with exceptions like the '16D dime and the '32D quarter.

Certainly the mint state or proof specimens had to have been from someone's collection. More than likely, a husband left his wife without enough change to do the weekly laundry, so he paid the penalty when she cleaned out his pockets as well as his drawers.

Much to my surprise, not only did I achieve reasonable quality but also some reasonable value. Finding a dime worth $2.00 was, indeed, a big accomplishment, considering that in the beginning I was very sanguine about ever having any monetary success. After that experience, I began to circulate around the local dealers and found Civil War tokens (at 10 cents each). That really stirred my interest.

After these various episodes and 50,000 silver coins later, I went into the city to the Metropolitan Coin Show. After visiting various tables, one particular dealer had some lovely colonial coins— very interesting from a beauty standpoint and, more importantly, from their historical significance. This is when my collecting juices flowed, and I really went into high gear.

How did you get involved in the ANS?
In the early 1960s, I met Richard Picker, a well-known dealer in early Americana, and he set me straight and taught me what a collector had to learn in order to achieve a notable collection. It was Dick who first enlightened me about the existence of the American Numismatic Society. After my first visit to the ANS, I felt it was my duty to support the museum because of the wealth of knowledge and research that became so readily available to me for future learning about coin collecting and numismatic history in general. The availability of such wonderful coins, paper money, catalogues, books and records showed me that the ANS was a gem to be recognized and supported, so I joined the ANS in 1965.

Did your collecting interests enlarge or change over time?
With the exposure that the ANS afforded me and with my own thoughts of early Americana being of such immense interest, I gradually expanded my horizons from colonial coins to political merchant and historical tokens. George Washington, the father of our country, particularly aroused my patriotic feelings, and Washingtonia is of particular interest to me. I have limited myself to collecting from colonial times up to the Civil War; importantly, for their historical significance of the period and the particular enjoyment I derive from these fields.

This is not my concept of what every collector should do. I leave it up to individuals to decide for themselves. All areas of numismatics have tremendous intrigue and insight, and I can see where any collector in any field gets the same tremendous feeling of accomplishment that I have attained with my fifty years of collecting.

Do you collect anything else?
I also collect Indian Peace Medals, colonial silver, buttons, American Indian prints, beach glass, bottles, and insulators. As a youngster I collected matchbooks and World War II patriotic posters. Unfortunately, those collections were lost. All of the rest are still with me, and I enjoy them daily. I cannot say that the collections I still retain are any more valuable than the matchbooks or the posters, but having the fun of adding or finding new specimens always keeps my collector spirit at a full tilt.

What other interests do you have?
My other interest include hunting, fishing, and maintaining a wildlife preserve near Monticello, New York. Working out and practicing karate daily are other favorite activities.

I have been a member of the Council of the ANS for years. My interest in becoming a member of the Council was initially aroused by the late Harry Bass of Dallas, Texas. After his service as President, I made it my goal to become a Council member so that someday I could help lead the ANS to maintain, and eventually improve, its premier stature in the world of numismatics.

What will the ANS achieve under your presidency?
The ANS is on a course of destiny. Now removed from the proximity of other international museums, the ANS has found a new home at Fulton and William Street, a major intersection of New York City’s rapid transit system in the heart of the financial capital of the world. I look forward to the American Numismatic Society's continued growth with the new millennium, and I welcome its members to join in its success.