“Through his relentless research at the National Archives and the Smithsonian Institution, Peter revolutionized how National Bank notes were understood,” said ANA Executive Director Jeff Shevlin. “His enthusiasm for the notes and the banks made Nationals come alive.”

Huntoon has been an instructor for Summer Seminar for the past 12 years, where he has shared some 50-plus years of research on National Bank notes and U.S. small-size type notes. He has authored hundreds of articles on the subject as well as written three books.

“It’s a very nice gesture on the part of the ANA to recognize paper money and National Bank notes specifically, from an organization noted for coins most of the time,” Huntoon said.

The holder of a Ph.D. in hyrdrology, Huntoon applied that same academic rigor to the field of National Bank notes. He is often credited with helping to stymie the cleaning-and-doctoring trend in paper money and carrying the message that a specimen’s history and rarity can make a well-worn note much more valuable than a restored note.

“There were a lot of very worthy people here,” Huntoon said. “I didn’t expect this.”