President's Message (2005)
by PNNA President Larry Gaye

4th Quarter 2005 – This is a very exciting time for the PNNA and numismatics in the Northwest. The upcoming October Mini Con being held in Portland October 28-30th as a joint venture with the Willamette Coin Club is sold out. We will have non-competitive exhibits, Numismatic Theatre, and Boy Scout Merit Badge clinics as well as a large bourse floor with 84 tables.

With this as a successful show it means other joint ventures in the Pacific Northwest are a distinct possibility. We have been approached by another Oregon club to help with their show in 2006. To make this all possible please consider volunteering in any way you can. Bring your talents to bear in any area that is of interest to you. Consider an exhibit of your favorite area in numismatics in a competitive or non-competitive exhibit, help with set up and tear down, give a presentation at the Numismatic Theatre, or spend a day out of your area to mix with old friends and meet new ones.

By its very nature numismatics is a solitary pastime and the only time we can share our hobby is at local meetings or regional or national shows. Make every effort to attend your club shows and support numismatics in small or large ways, the rewards is truly amazing.

Here’s hoping we will see you all in Portland, come on down and have some fun looking for treasure to take home in the form of new friends, new information and hopefully some new coins to add to your collection.

Editor’s note: see the PNNA calendar for additional info about the upcoming Portland convention. The show will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday (October 29-30). “Early Bird” passes may be purchased granting limited access on Friday afternoon during the dealer setup hours. Please contact Larry for more information.

3rd Quarter 2005 – Wow, its summer already and that means the ANA Convention is just around the corner literally and figuratively, as it will take place July 27-31 in San Francisco. I really appreciate that it’s on this coast as Suzanne and I won’t have to deal with a long travel day and the subsequent jet-lag.

Other folks are headed for the ANA Summer Seminar in Colorado Springs for the annual numismatic “love-in.” Who can argue with spending a week or two talking about nothing but coins and learning from each other the intricacies and fun of the science of numismatics? Nirvana!

We here in Oregon had the grand occasion of the unveiling of the Oregon Quarter. Folks lined up for the occasion and opportunity to purchase the newest of the 50 State Quarters® and in my opinion one of the most beautiful. Oregon has done well coinage wise as both the quarter and newest nickel in the Lewis and Clark series are 2005 issues.

The night before the event the folks at the US Mint held a Collectors Forum at the Oregon Historical Society to which collectors and the public was invited. While the crowd was by no means large, it was quite spirited. The folks at the Mint wanted to know what we thought of current and possible future programs and we shared our thoughts. Members of the Willamette Coin Club and PNNA were well represented. Much to our chagrin no samples were offered, we had to wait our turn for the next day and the official release of the Oregon Quarter. I’m sure Washington will share the same excitement for their quarter issue.

Finally as we all know, people are what makes this hobby so much fun and so dear to us all. We have been very fortunate to have in our midst a man that has been committed to the hobby in so many ways. He is a collector, author, Summer Seminar Instructor and ANA Chief Judge and the 2005 recipient of the ANA’s Farran Zerbe Memorial Award for Distinguished Service, our friend and fellow traveler on the road of numismatics, Joseph Boling. Congratulation to you, Joe, and thanks so much for all you have given to us through your service, and by just being you!

I hope all of you have a great summer and continued success in all of your endeavors. Take some time to smell the roses and enjoy life as each day is a gift. Keep Smiling!

2nd Quarter 2005 – Welcome to Tukwila – On behalf of the PNNA and its members and member clubs it is my great pleasure to welcome you the 2005 Pacific Northwest Numismatic Association Convention and coin show. We hope you enjoy the Numismatic Theatre, exhibits and a wonderful assembly of local, regional and national dealers with an extremely diverse array of numismatic material.

We are delighted and fortunate to have ANA Governor Art Fitts and partner Prue Fitts, president of WIN (Women In Numismatics) and the ADBC (Association of Dedicated Byzantine Collectors), as guest speakers in the Numismatic Theatre. Art is a scholar of medieval coinage, Prue will be speaking on Byzantine coinage and Women in Power throughout the ages. Dr. Walt Ostromecki will once again lend his time and talent to our Young Numismatist program which has proven such a success at past conventions.

Make sure you obtain one of the commemorative medal sets with dies designed by celator Greg Franck-Weiby for your collection. These sets sell out quickly and are sought after by token collectors around the country.

I cannot tell you how fortunate we are to have such talented people in the PNNA. Scott and Lisa Loos form a magnificent team as our bourse chairpersons. Other volunteers that judge the awards, set up the bourse, and make the show go are all in our debt. We owe all of them a great deal for their efforts over the past years.

Thank you for coming to the convention. We hope you have a great time securing treasures for your collection while meeting old friends and making new ones.

1st Quarter 2005 – Hello everyone out there in numismaland. Ok, so I take a few liberties with the English language, but, we do have a specialized hobby that demands a specialized vocabulary!

I always wonder what to talk about in this communication. First this has been an interesting year to say the least. Everyone in the Pacific Northwest was involved in the National Money Show™ held last March in Portland.  I for one had a great time in the doing and in visiting old friends and meeting new ones. Our connection with the ANA has never been better or more important, more about that later.

Secondly, American numismatics in general seems to be doing quite well. I say seems as there is a little Federal legislation that has been passed that could change that in a way we would never have thought possible. That legislation is called: Emergency Protection for Iraqi Antiquities Act. It was instigated and supported by the following archaeological organizations including:

While this all seems innocent enough the opposite is true. It was designed to address the looting of Iraqi museums immediately following the “end of hostilities” in Iraq. As we now know, in fact most of the items that were taken were recovered or not even stolen but hidden away for protection.

The archaeological community in fact was using this as a pretext to initiate an out and out ban on anyone who has a cultural item over 100 years old in their possession. They say they are the only ones qualified to handle and study such items and you as a collector are not.

What you say, “I only collect US coins and tokens, and this only affects ancient coins.”  The grim truth is that they want to ban all collecting of cultural items over 100 years old. If you collect US Coins, Hard Times or Civil War tokens, currency, artifacts (Civil War bullets, etc.) you can be affected. In fact they went after a major auction in London and forced the withdrawal of a stamp collection with items over 100 years old. At this point it is too late to stop it as the legislation was signed by President Bush, interestingly enough on December 7, 2004.

There is a grass roots organization formed specifically to fight further inroads into our freedom to collect coins. That group is called The Ancient Coin Collectors Guild. The ACCG is for ALL collectors of numismatic history. It doesn’t matter what you collect you can and will be affected by this type of legislation unless we support their efforts. I urge all members of the PNNA to support the ACCG. I urge you to take a look at the ACCG (the URL is http://accg.us/) and give them your support.  We don’t need another Pearl Harbor style attack by the archeological community to wake us up. The first shot has been fired and the fleet is in big trouble.

Getting back to the ANA; POVA or the Portland Oregon Visitors Association has requested that the ANA consider returning to Portland, Oregon in 2009 or 2010.  A joint task force has been formed by the PNNA and the Willamette Coin Club to pursue a bid for that contingency.

This would be a partnership by both organizations to bring the ANA back to the Pacific Northwest as soon as we can. Portland is a great venue and fits within the financial guidelines of the ANA from the standpoint of the cost of the facilities. Seattle has been and continues to be too expensive a venue for the ANA. I will keep everyone informed on the progress of this venture as we have the resources and talent to put on another great ANA event.

I guess that about sums it up from me for now.  I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you the best Holiday Season and a fantastic 2005.  See you at the 2005 PNNA Convention!