ANA Library officially dedicated in honor of Dwight D. Manley
The American Numismatic Association Library in Colorado Springs, Colorado–the world’s largest circulating numismatic library–will be dedicated October 17 in honor of Dwight N. Manley, recognizing his generous contribution to the ANA’s Headquarters Renovation Fund.
Manley, a noted rare coin collector and sports agent from Newport Beach, California, contributed $250,000 to the renovation fund. He will join the ANA Board of Governors in ceremonies set for Friday, October 17. Also scheduled to attend are ANA Past Presidents Florence Schook and Q. David Bowers, who both played a role in Manley’s early numismatic education.
The ANA completed a multimillion-dollar renovation of its Museum and Library in 2001, which more than doubled the Library’s shelf space and provided better access to its growing collection of books, auction catalogs, periodicals and videos. The expanded, climate-controlled rare book room preserves and displays many of the Library’s most important references, and a new security system protects the valuable inventory.
“We have more than 9,000 titles available, circulate more than 2,500 items a year to ANA members around the world and annually respond to nearly 2,000 research queries,” says ANA Librarian Nancy Green. “As members of the Colorado Library Consortium, we also circulate material to anyone with a valid Colorado public library card, and we are seeing an increase in local circulation as more and more people discover this great resource.”
When he made his donation for the Library renovation, Manley said it was his experience as a teenager at an ANA Summer Seminar–a week-long event that now draws 450 people every year–that launched his numismatic career.
“The American Numismatic Association encouraged me and then ANA Governor Florence Schook assisted me in receiving a scholarship to attend my first Summer Seminar in 1981,” Manley says. “I am privileged to show my grateful appreciation to the ANA, and am honored by this recognition.”
Manley, 37, began collecting coins at age 6 after finding 1909 and 1910 Lincoln cents in a coffee can. He still has the coins. A year later, he visited his first coin store and was told he needed to study numismatics before he bought more coins. Manley continued collecting and reading over the years and, at that first Summer Seminar, he met Bowers–his idol–other young numismatists and adults willing to teach and learn. A year later, Manley attended his second Summer Seminar and then attended his first ANA convention.
Although Manley is known to many as a sports agent representing Los Angeles Lakers star basketball player Karl Malone and others, he also is widely recognized as a leader in promoting numismatics. In recent years he served as managing partner of the California Gold Marketing Group (CGMG), which has been involved in a number of noteworthy numismatic events that have brought great public attention to the hobby.
Under Manley’s guidance, CGMG purchased, promoted and sold the California Gold Rush treasure retrieved from the 1857 shipwreck of the S.S. Central America. The group created a $20 million traveling exhibit of recovered gold coins, bars and nuggets for display at coin shows and museums throughout the country. The group also sponsored a television documentary about the S.S. Central America and published Bowers’ 1,056-page reference book, A California Gold Rush History, featuring the sunken treasure.
In a 1998 interview Manley said, “I have been very lucky to have enjoyed all I have done. I have enjoyed rare coins and and the people I met. . . At the same time, I enjoy the world of sports and its ever-changing scenes.
“I think the key is to collect what you enjoy. This is true with anything in life. If you buy something because you enjoy it, you will always be a winner.”
For more information about the Dwight N. Manley Numismatic Library, contact Librarian Nancy Green at 818 N. Cascade Ave., Colorado Springs, CO 80903-3279; phone 719-632-2646; fax 719-634-4085; e-mail library@money.org; or visit the ANA at www.money.org.
Originally Release Date: October 14, 2003
ANA Contacts: Phone: 719-482-9872
Email: pr@money.org