‘Faces of Time’ Celebration planned for ANA National Coin Week 2001
“Faces of Time,” focusing on the people whose portraits have graced coins through the ages, is the theme of the American Numismatic Association’s (ANA) 78th observance of the National Coin Week, April 15-21, 2001.
“With the United States Mint’s 50 State Quartersâ„¢ Program issuing fresh coin designs every 10 weeks and the new Sacagawea golden’ dollar, people everywhere are starting to think about the images on our money,” says ANA Education Director Gail Baker. “A wide assortment of faces has appeared on money over the years, from P.T. Barnum, Daniel Boone and George Washington Carver to Apollo, Jesus Christ and Martin Luther.”
Interest in coin design has grown so much that collectors are making suggestions. A poll of nearly 2,000 coin collectors by Littleton Coin Co. suggested that civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., and Presidents Ronald Reagan and Harry S Truman should join other noteworthy Americans on our nation’s pocket change.
Congress might soon be considering legislation following a symposium in September hosted by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Phil Gramm (R-Texas). A coin collector as a young boy, Gramm was looking at coin designs “worthy of a great nation.”
“During National Coin Week 2001, the ANA wants people to focus their attention on money and the faces looking back at them,” Baker says. “Far beyond an old item’s collector value, holding a coin from 50, 100 or even 1,000 years ago can begin an exciting journey of discovery into the honor, recognition, politics and power behind the face that appears on the small piece of round metal.”
Some activities collectors can do during National Coin Week are:
- – At a library, bank or school, exhibit the faces on coins from yesterday and today.
- – Present a talk on the people behind the portraits on a coin – the person who is portrayed and the artist who created the image.
- – Visit the United States Mint Web site – www.usmint.treas.gov – to see the latest faces that are and will be appearing on circulating, commemorative and bullion coins.
The ANA will present a special exhibit award for the best National Coin Week displays mounted at the Association’s National Money Showâ„¢ in Salt Lake City, Utah, March 8-10, 2001. Exhibits will be judged on their educational content.
The ANA also is offering full scholarships to a future Summer Seminar in Colorado Springs to the coin club and the collector who submit a report of the best and most innovative way in which they promoted National Coin Week.Entries for National Coin Week 2001 awards must be received by the ANA on or before May 31, 2001. Awards will be presented at the ANA’s 2001 World’s Fair of Money® in Atlanta, Georgia, August 8-12.
For more information about National Coin Week 2001, contact the ANA Education Department, 818 N. Cascade Ave., Colorado Springs, CO 80903-3279; telephone 719/632-2646; fax 719/634-4085; E-mail anaedu@money.org; Web Site www.money.org.
Originally Release Date: September 26, 2000
ANA Contacts: Phone: 719-482-9872
Email: pr@money.org