Presidents Comments

By William Harkins

Our 67^th Convention and Annual Meeting, that was held in conjunction with the New Hampshire Coin and Currency Expo on July 30^th, 2011 was a great success. The John Kittredge Young Numismatist program led by Jack Haroian and John Kiley was well attended. The program provided an informative and fun learning experience for the youngsters and their parents, with the children receiving coins and other numismatic prizes for answering questions relating to numismatics. This was followed by a free lunch consisting of pizza, fruit, juice or water for all of those in attendance.

Also highlighting the convention were the Exhibits that included seven competitive exhibits and three non-competitive exhibits. Congratulations to Sherry Briggs for her Best in Show Award and the People’s Choice Award. I would like to congratulate Michael Valente who received the John Kittredge First Place YN Award and Christopher Ziegler who received the John Kittredge Second Place YN Award.

The Annual Meeting was well attended and started with pizza and soda for our members and guests with a short presentation by Bob Fritsch on The Mystery of the 1964 NENA MEDAL. This was followed by our business meeting which included the Treasurer’s Report, the Exhibit Awards and the election of Officers. George Bilodeau presented the Exhibit Awards and thanked all of our exhibitors and Judges for their efforts.

The elections were held resulting in a change of leadership in several areas. Richard Ziegler stepped down from his position as Director, and accepted the position of Vice President. Steve Pearsall stepped down from his position as Director, and accepted the position of State Director of New Hampshire filling the seat that was held by Robert Fritsch. I would like to thank Robert Fritsch for his service to the Board.

I would like to congratulate our New England members who have recently received national recognition, including Robert Fritsch who was awarded the ANA’s Medal of Merit during an awards ceremony at the ANA World’s Fair of Money in Chicago on August 18^th. Also Sherry Briggs who received the “Gloria Peters Literary Award” for her article titled The Penny, Coin of the Ages, Who is This Caesar. The article was published in Winning Ways the publication of Women in Numismatics.

We currently have several positions open including Director and State Director for Maine. We now meet via conference call to save on travel expenses and time and only meet about six times a year for an hour or so on Saturday mornings. If you wish to serve this Association, in any capacity please write to: NENA, P.O. Box 2061, Woburn, MA 01888 or visit us on our website.

If you have any ideas or suggestions on how we may better serve you, please let us know.

Sincerely,

William Harkins

Our annual meeting was held at the New Hampshire Coin and Currency Expo today, Saturday and Sunday (July 29th thru the 31st).   Here are some pictures of the event.

The show floor..

One of the strengths of NENA in the past has not only been the numismatic bourse at the conventions but the education of fellow numismatists and the public through speakers, club meetings and exhibiting.

Exhibiting is a wonderful way of sharing, educating and imparting your knowledge to fellow numismatists and especially the public. The beauty of an exhibit can encourage others to collect similar material or may be attractive to people because of the numismatic knowledge people may learn. Exhibits can be competitive or Non-Competitive and set up not to compete but to show or impart numismatic information to the public.

Have you ever considered exhibiting? If you have questions I am sure the NENA board could help in answering them. There is always a need for exhibits and they truly complement a good numismatic show.

John Kittredge was well known as a generous and supportive member of the numismatic community, both in Worcester, MA and in New England. What is not as well known is the extent of his collection, and what I am doing, hopefully with your help, to carry on John’s Intent after his death.

John’s family was makers of many of the grave monuments in Hope Cemetery in Worcester MA and elsewhere. My family had worked with his family for many years, having met through the Worcester Rotary Club. After his stroke, some 15 years before his death in 2005, John retired from the business and lived with his sister, Margaret, who has survived him.

DEC 2011

1 December  First Spouse Series One-Half Ounce Gold Coin - Lucretia Garfield

* 1 December  Lucretia Garfield Bronze Medal 1-5/16"

* 1 December  First Spouse Bronze Four-Medal Set

11 December  Greater Worcester Coin Show - Auburn/Elks Lodge http://www.ebwpromotions.com/auburn/index.html

18 December  Nashua NH Third Sunday Coin Show - Holiday Inn http://nashuacoinshow.com/

* 20 December  America the Beautiful Quarters Three-Coin Set™ - Chickasaw

* 22 December  2011 United States Mint Presidential $1 Coin & First Spouse Medal Set™ - James Garfield

NO DECEMBER WESTFORD SHOW

* 29 December  James Garfield $1 Coin Cover

January 2012

8 January - Greater Worcester Coin Show - Auburn/Elks Lodge http://www.ebwpromotions.com/auburn/index.html

10 January - 2012 United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters Proof Set™

15 January - Nashua NH Third Sunday Coin Show - Holiday Inn http://nashuacoinshow.com/

16 January - Centennial Auctions, King Holiday Auction (Nashua, NH)  - http://www.centennialauctions.com/auction_list.php

17 January - 2012 United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set™

22 January - Westford (MA) Coin Show  - http://www.westfordcoinshow.com

23 January - America the Beautiful Quarters Bags and Two-Roll Set – El Yunque (PR)