Continuing Education Volunteers Wanted
The Care and Feeding of Our Collector Community
by James C. Bard
As noted in “Sowing the Seed now for a Harvest of Collectors later” by Thomas Tullis (published in the 3rd Q 2018 edition of The Nor’wester), the continuing education of our community of coin, token, and currency collectors is vital if we are to sustain their interest and participation in the hobby.
We all know that people enjoy a challenge but when a collector has secured just about all the Buffalo nickels needed to fulfill their collecting goals, be it finding outstanding examples of the type or building a date and mint-mark set; his or her interest can flag, and boredom can set in.
Continuing education is something we are all responsible for. If not us, who? Who will step up and create educational programs for monthly coin club meetings held throughout Oregon, Washington, Idaho and beyond? Who will develop more elaborate presentations for our PNNA coin shows? Who will step up and visit youth groups (the Scouts, etc.) and introduce them to the hobby of coin collecting?
Scott Loos and I are PNNA directors charged with bringing educational programs and events to our two annual coin shows, and we are looking ahead. We will be working together to care and feed our members, guests, and young people with interesting, educational, and hopefully fun programs, workshops, and presentations.
Please get in touch with us if you share our passion for numismatic education and wish to contribute to this vital ongoing effort. We can help you develop talks (presentations), workshops (educational show-and-tell with instruction), or the creation of educational pamphlets or guides to some aspect of our hobby. The PNNA officers and directors are ready to help Scott and I work with you. Don’t be shy – we need you to help. Expertise is not a requirement, a passion for helping our hobby thrive and grow through education is all you need. Contacts: Scott Loos (ScottLoos@msn.com) and James Bard (ancient.penny@gmail.com).
Education Committee Report (2017-2018)
In 2018, in addition to our two conventions – we are going to invest in our Pacific Northwest membership in two additional ways: (1) two days of classes ahead of the Fall convention in Portland – we are calling it the PNNA 2018 two-day Numismatic Seminar, and (2) scholarship funds for members to get training – including the ANA Summer Seminar and the PNNA 2018 two day Numismatic Seminar in October.
Coin Grading, Problem Coins & Conservation (ANA /PNNA Seminar)
October 18-19, 2018 in Portland, OR
This event is over, and it was a big success, with 30 students participating.
Learning is a lifelong process, and this applies to us numismatists as well! Therefore, your PNNA board has discussed many options and settled on these two investments for 2018. I know the board will pour its heart into these efforts, but we also welcome (and need) help from all our membership.
The PNNA received a generous gift of $5,000 from the Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society. The PNNA was one of a number of organizations selected to receive an award. Eric Newman passed away on November 15, at the age of 106. The board is using the money to further PNNA activities including scholarships to help members further their numismatic educations.
See the PNNA’s letter to the EPNNES acknowledging and thanking them for their gift.