ANS FIFTY YEAR MEMBERS, VOLUNTEERS HONORED
Gala ceremonies marked the first annual "ANS Members Appreciation Day" on July 19, highlighted by recognition of eight newly-elected Honorary Life Members of the Society, celebrating their fiftieth anniversary of ANS membership, and nine volunteers, honored for their assistance in a variety of ANS functions during the past year.
Remarks by Houghton
ANS President Arthur A. Houghton welcomed the audience that filled the Society's East Gallery, gathered to honor their fellow members. He summarized the program for the afternoon, noting that "today's program is joyous for several reasons. First, we are inaugurating a new tradition here at the ANS: the formal recognition of the Society's devoted cadre of volunteers - individuals who contribute of their time, their skills, and their knowledge in the furtherance of our objectives.
"We will also be conferring, for the first time, the Society's `Distinguished Volunteer Award,' recognizing volunteer efforts on our behalf over a period of some 40 years by our good friend, Ken MacKenzie.
"Next, we shall have the privilege of honoring eight members of our Society whose loyalty and devotion to this institution stretches back 50 years. This recognition program, now in its fourth year, continues to remind us that, as we come to know more about our fellow ANS members, we are better able to appreciate what noteworthy company we are in. Again this year, our honorees have distinguished themselves in various facets of numismatics, exemplifying by their contributions both the compass of the discipline and the range of interests and specialties among our membership.
"And finally, another cause for joy is that this occasion brings to our podium, Mark Salton, familiar to us all as the eloquent Chairman of our Huntington Award Committee, who later today will address the Society for the first time as our featured guest speaker."
Volunteers Recognized
Mr. Houghton called on ANS Executive Director Leslie A. Elam for the presentation of Certificates of Appreciation to the Society's 1997 Volunteers. Mr. Elam reminded the audience that "from its earliest days, the Society has benefited from the volunteer efforts of its members, a practice which happily continues unabated today. In fact, now more than ever, we rely on the good nature of our volunteers to carry out many and varied tasks, particularly those related to the organization and cataloguing of our collections, both in the coin rooms and in the library. It is only fitting that we pause in our daily work to give proper recognition and thanks to those who contribute their services for the benefit of all who use the Society's facilities, both now and in the future.
"On this occasion, we seek to honor our current cadre of volunteers and, in so doing, to encourage an expansion to their ranks, that we may recognize additional honorees at this time each year."
Several volunteers were unable to attend. Honored in absentia were: William S. Kable, who has catalogued essentially our entire world gold collection, exclusive of the United States; Adam Philippidis, who aids the library staff in the ongoing work of reorganizing the collections; Lili Wronker, who, for many years, has donated her artistic talents as calligrapher to the ANS, including our Fifty-Year Member Awards; and Philip L. Mossman, who serves as the volunteer Editor of the Colonial Newsletter, published by the ANS since the beginning of this year.
Regretting his inability to be present for the occasion, Dr. Mossman wrote "I look at our relationship as typically symbiotic since I derive so much benefit from you. I feel a real kindred spirit with the stated mission of the Society which supports `scholarly research ... and the publication of the results'."
Happily, five ANS volunteers were present to receive the Society's thanks and appreciation in person. Noting that several of our volunteers cannot easily be pinned down by department, Mr. Elam asked staff members under whom our volunteers are currently working to make the individual presentations.
Michael L. Bates, Curator of Islamic and East Asian Coins, introduced David Jen, who has spent the past year reorganizing the Society's Chinese collection, and Kenneth M. MacKenzie, a specialist and long-time volunteer in Ottoman Turkish coins, about whom more later.
ANS Librarian Francis D. Campbell recognized Normand Pepin for his ongoing help in the Library over the past year.
Carmen Arnold-Biucchi, the Margaret Thompson Curator of Greek Coins at the ANS honored two volunteers in her department: Hyla A. Troxell, whom she referred to as a "volunteer curator" whose research in the collection has resulted in several scholarly publications including the recently issued ANSNS 21, and Frederic G. Withington, who shares his cataloguing talents between the Greek and East Asian departments.
Distinguished Volunteer Award
Returning to the podium, Mr. Houghton thanked the volunteers and expressed, on behalf of the Society's Council, a debt of gratitude to all who labor unselfishly on behalf of our organization.
Mr. Houghton continued, "I am very pleased, therefore, to announce the inauguration of the Society's Distinguished Volunteer Award, in the form of a suitably engraved silver medal, recognizing long-standing, dedicated service to the Society in a voluntary capacity. We can think of no better way to establish the criteria for this award, which others can strive to emulate, than to name as our first recipient, our very dear friend, Kenneth M. MacKenzie."
To make the presentation, he called upon a fellow member of the Council, himself a student of Ottoman coinage, Mr. Landon Thomas, who read the citation, prepared for the most part by Dr. Bates:
"Kenneth MacKenzie, a native of Devon in England, but--as we can never forget--a Scotsman to the core, joined the American Numismatic Society in 1952, four years after he came to America. His collecting interest was already Ottoman Turkish coins, which he began to collect in London after serving in the Middle East, Kenya, and Burma during the war. Turkish coins must have seemed easy to him, after all he started collecting at age seven with Chinese copper cash!
"At the Society he met George Miles and Geoffrey North, and began to help out `a wee bit' in the library. When Nuri Pere, author of the best-known guide to Ottoman coins, came to visit Dr. Miles in 1968, Miles presented him to Kenneth and left the two of them to work things out. The result was Numismatica Orientalia, Kenneth's book distribution agency, which marketed Pere's book in the U.S.
"About 1971, the editor of Spink's Numismatic Circular invited Kenneth to submit an article, the first of a flood of publications numbering some 180 articles and books in the subsequent 16 years. In 1974, Kenneth's publications and service to the ANS earned him election as a Fellow.
"When Miles died in 1975, he left the publication of the Islamic coins from Sardis unfinished. The identification and cataloguing were turned over to Kenneth, who became the co-author of the Sardis excavation volume with Theodore V. Buttrey, Anne Johnston, and Michael L. Bates. At this point, Kenneth's services to the Society's collection began in earnest. He inaugurated a complete survey of our Ottoman collection, bringing the identifications and labeling up-to-date, and when the computer cataloguing of the collection began in 1980, Kenneth edited and amplified the data. His work for the ANS only increased when he retired in 1987. In addition to the Ottomans, Kenneth has also worked over the coinage of their predecessors, the Beys of Anatolia, and has assisted with many other series.
"His great coup came this year. For some years he had worked with Mr. and Mrs. George Lincoln, who had purchased the Ottoman collection of William Holberton, known as the `Jem Sultan' collection in its luxurious publication, and with their curator, I.G.C. Campbell, another Scot. Toward the end of 1996, Kenneth persuaded the Lincolns that the best home for their collection, which had grown to 5,601 coins, was the ANS. They made the donation in January 1997, along with a separate collection of more than 7,000 Indian coins. A full report on the collections, with an exhibit of some of the more interesting items, will be presented at the Society's Annual Meeting on October 25.
"For his faithful, constant, and indispensable service for many decades, Kenneth MacKenzie is now the first recipient of the Society's Distinguished Volunteer Award. The award is intended to recognize, not donations of material, although Kenneth has given us quite a few coins and books, and not donations of cash, although Kenneth has been generous, but to recognize service, work, assistance, to the numismatic and library collections. The ANS, after all, is a Society, and its Members have to work together to help accomplish its mission. Kenneth MacKenzie has done that, and sets an example for all of us."
Mr. Thomas then spoke personally of his admiration and respect for Mr. MacKenzie as an expert in the coinage of the Ottoman Turks and of his generosity toward those who are similarly interested in this important historical period.
Mr. Thomas then called Kenneth MacKenzie to the podium for presentation of the silver medal, saying, "Kenneth, I am honored to present to you, on behalf of the Society and all its members, this Distinguished Volunteer Award which is engraved:
KENNETH MALCOLM MACKENZIE
DISTINGUISHED VOLUNTEER AWARD
1997
Mr. MacKenzie, accompanied by his wife Jean, expressed his gratitude and appreciation for the honor bestowed upon him, and looked forward to many happy hours wrestling with the Society's newest bountiful addition to its Ottoman cabinet.
By happy coincidence, immediately following the ceremony, it was learned that Kenneth had won the Fred Philipson Award of the International Bank Note Society for an article of his appearing in that journal in 1996.
Fifty-Year Members
Mr. Houghton announced that at the Society's board meeting earlier that day, the Council recorded eight new Honorary Life Members of the American Numismatic Society, recognizing individuals celebrating fifty years active association in the American Numismatic Society. He noted that, "happily, one of our recipients is with us today as the representative of the class of 1947. For the other seven, from whom we have received expressions of regret that they cannot be here to take part in the proceedings in their honor, we are recording our program on videotape to be sent to each of them. I know that they will all be happy to see so many of their friends here today.
"To mark this milestone, we are pleased to present to each honoree a certificate hand lettered for this occasion by ANS member and volunteer, Lili Wronker."
Mr. Elam introduced the seven honorees in absentia:
Frederick H. Armstrong received his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in 1965 and is now Professor of History at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, where he received the President's Medal in 1978. A member of the Canadian Historical Association and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, his extensive bibliography includes several books on Canadian history, notably Canadian urbanization and the growth of colonial elites. He received the Award of Merit of the American Society for State and Local History in 1984. Prof. Armstrong was a Newell Fellow at the ANS in 1947 and 1948, a program of study which, in 1952, was formalized into the ANS Graduate Seminar. In a letter of June 25, 1997, Prof. Armstrong writes that "my interest in numismatics continues and I am honoured by your recognition of my long membership."
Antonio Beltran, a Corresponding Member of the ANS, is Professor of Archaeology and Numismatics at the University of Zaragosa, Spain. He directed the Museum of Cartagena from 1942 to 1950 and the Museum of Zaragoza, 1956-74. He has written extensively on archaeology and numismatics, with over 50 entries in the ANS card catalogue, and is the founding director of the scientific journal, Caesaraugusta e Hispania Antigua Epigraphica.
While a student at Princeton University, T.R. Fehrenbach of San Antonio, Texas, was recruited as a member of the ANS by Professor Louis C. West, at the time, the President of the ANS. A collector of ancient coins, Fehrenbach is a prolific writer of popular history, including This Kind of War, published in 1963 and considered a text book on U.S. ground forces in the Korean War, and his widely-read history of Texas, Lone Star, published in 1968. A Sunday editorial columnist for the San Antonio Express-News, Mr. Fehrenbach has contributed fiction and nonfiction to a broad range of periodicals and is a Fellow of the Texas State Historical Association and a Knight of San Jacinto, the highest order of the Society of the Republic of Texas.
Frank Lenoir of Houston, Texas, was at the Naval Training School at MIT when he discovered that ancient coins were not just to be seen in museums. From Boston's Commonwealth Avenue coin shops, he progressed to Wayte Raymond and Edward Gans in NYC who introduced Mr. Lenoir to the beautiful coins of Syracuse. He later consulted regularly with Leo Mildenberg and Silvia Hurter of Bank Leu in furthering his collecting interests. Now retired, he has disposed of his collection and most of his 500-volume library, retaining, however, the memories. In a letter to the ANS of July 15, he noted "I believe I have enjoyed the numismatic books as much as the ancient coins that came my way, and also the people I've known through coins and books."
Felip Mateu y Llopis, Professor Emeritus at the University of Barcelona, Spain, is considered the dean of Spanish numismatics. Elected a Corresponding Member of the ANS in 1947, he received the Society's Huntington Medal in 1979. Prof. Mateu y Llopis, an Honorary Member of the International Numismatic Commission, published his first numismatic book, La Ceca de Vallencia, in 1929. From his prolific mind has flowed a steady stream of important research, numbering in addition to several books, over 150 articles and 100 reviews, published in the leading Spanish journals. In addition to seminal catalogues, his Bibliografia de la historia monetaria de Espana is indispensable to students in the field.
Alfredo G. Porraz of Mexico City collects, appropriately enough, Mexican coins; he published an interesting article on mintmarked silverplate, "Platos de Plata con las cecas de Mexico y de Madrid," in the Boletin of the Mexican Numismatic Society in 1969.
Homer A. Thompson, a resident member and Professor of Classical Archaeology at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, was director of the Agora excavations in Athens for over 20 years, the subject of several of his books. He received the Gold Medal of the Archaeological Institute of America in 1972. Over the years, Professor Thompson has been a frequent and welcome visitor here at the ANS and is cited by Margaret Thompson in the foreword to her book, New Style Silver Coinage of Athens, for his important epigraphic contributions.
Charles Hersh Honored
Mr. Houghton called on Dr. Arnold-Biucchi to cite Charles Hersh, who was present for the ceremonies honoring him on the occasion of his fiftieth anniversary as an ANS Member.
"When Charles Hersh joined the ANS 50 years ago in 1947, he was a young man and yet he had already accomplished many of the important things of his life--more than most of us would ever dream of--he had completed his college education with a B.A. with honors in history, Phi Beta Kappa, from Amherst College in 1946 (actually the class of 1944 delayed by WW II) and had started a Master's program in English history at Harvard University which he finished in 1948. He had served with honors in the war; he entered the Army Air Corps in 1942 and became a navigator on a B-24 bomber. He flew 30 dangerous missions over continental Europe from England around D-day; returning to the U.S. with the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Oak Leaf Air Medal with Clusters.
"Those years also turned out to be determinant for his numismatic career. Charles Hersh had started collecting coins seriously when he was in high school. He then lived in New Jersey and his grandmother took him to Thomas L. Elder's one day where he bought his first coin, a coin of Caligula. The following week his grandmother took him to Wayte Raymond to whom Charles proudly showed his first acquisition only to be told it was a Becker. It was promptly returned.
"While in the Air Force, he was stationed in London and frequented Baldwin's and Spink's, acquiring even then an impressive collection. After his M.A., he briefly tried law at Harvard. His family expected him to continue in business. One of his professors at Harvard noticed his lack of enthusiasm and offered him a fellowship to the British Museum where he spent three years from 1950 to 1953. Those must have been golden years with E.S.G. Robinson as Keeper and Kenneth Jenkins and Robert Carson as Greek and Roman curators respectively! Here no doubt Charles received his formal training as a numismatist and his keen eye was set off to work.
"Charles at first collected Roman Imperial coins, then from 1948, encouraged by Mr. Forrer at Spink's, he specialized in Roman Republican coins, a field in which he wrote two fundamental articles, one about the intricate marking system of the denarii of Publius Crepusius, NC 1952 and one on the importance of overstrikes for the dating of early Roman coins in the NC of 1953.
"While at the BM Charles was also able to purchase some of the Alexander coins from the H.L Haughton Collection and started studying a field that is today his main area of interest.
"Charles could have become a curator of coins but he chose a career as a loan officer at different major banks, most recently at Republic National Bank from which he retired a few years ago.
"Today Charles is best known for his publications: I already mentioned the two ground breaking articles on Republican coinage. He was one of the editors of Edward A. Sydenham, The Coinage of the Roman Republic, with L. Forrer. He is also one the best living specialists on Alexander coinages along with Georges Le Rider and Hyla Troxell. With the latter, he published an important hoard of Alexander drachms in AJN 1993/94. His contributions to Martin Price, The Coinages in the Name of Alexander and Philip Arrhidaeus, as well as to Margaret Thompson, Alexander's Drachm Mints and to Hyla Troxell, Studies in the Macedonian Coinage of Alexander the Great, are given ample credit and can be followed in these works. He participated in the symposium organized in memory of Nancy M. Waggoner as one of her close friends and contributed an important article in its publication Mnemata.
"Finally Charles Hersh also has a passion for Greek silver fractions and for the coinages--mainly the bronze--of the Macedonian kings before Alexander and it is in this domain that Charles and I have the most fun together, trying to identify his new acquisitions.
His collection of Roman Republican coins, of Alexanders, of the Macedonian kings and of fractional Greek coinages rival those of the major public collections of the world. He has been an active and generous donor to the Greek department and also to the library and the Roman department.
Charles, Vota Quinquagesima Mvltiplicanda Sexagesima, or VOTA L, MVLT LX, for many more years of fun and collaboration together! Congratulations!
Mark Salton Featured Speaker
Continuing a tradition at meetings recognizing Fifty-Year Members, a previous Fifty-Year honoree, Life Fellow Mark Salton, was invited to present an illustrated address. Introduced by ANS Curator of Medieval Coins and Medals, Alan Stahl, Mr. Salton spoke on "Love and Politics in the Renaissance," featuring the Society's magnificent Maximilian and Mary marriage medal, on which he has done the essential research.
Following a reception at the ANS, members of the Council, honored guests and ANS staff enjoyed an informal al fresco dinner at the Boat House in Central Park.