At this year’s World’s Fair of Money, August 16-20, several hobby supporters were honored for encouraging coin enthusiasts to join the American Numismatic Association (ANA). The recruitment period was November 1, 2020, to October 31, 2021. The John and Nancy Wilson Booster Award (named after the duo who have recruited more than 2,000 new members) went to Sandra L. Hill, who sponsored 46 members.
Numismatic professionals and companies who have sponsored members through their business activities are recognized with the Dealer Booster Award. This year’s recipient is Mid-American Rare Coin Galleries for recruiting 161 members. The 2022 Century Club Award, presented to those who have signed up a cumulative total of 100 or more ANA members, was awarded to Michael Nottelmann.
Beauty in Medal
The ANA’s Numismatic Art Award for Excellence in Medallic Sculpture is an annual honor given to an artist whose lifetime work in the field rises above all others. The 2022 recipient is Amanullah Haiderzad.
Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, Haiderzad studied art education at New York University and taught as an art professor. Many of his works are on display at the Haiderzad Museum of Modern Art, which was named in his honor.
A prolific medalist, Haiderzad’s pieces have been exhibited internationally at the Fédération Internationale de la Médaille d’Art (FIDEM) congresses since 1990. He has designed medals for the former Afghan King Zahir Shah and past president Mohammed Daoud Khan; the Society of Medallists; and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Haiderzad is actively involved in the numismatic and medallic community; he is a member of the National Sculpture Society and served as president of the American Medallic Sculpture Association (AMSA) in 1996-97. Recently, Haiderzad participated in the International Symposium of Medals in Kremnica, which was sponsored by the National Bank of Slovakia. He has also attended nearly every FIDEM conference since joining the organization, participated in many AMSA exhibitions, and was a guest lecturer at the AMSA Hartford Conference.
Due to his involvement and accomplishments in the art world, Haiderzad was appointed advisor of arts under Afghanistan’s past president Hamid Karzai and is a recipient of the George Cuhaj Award of Distinction, which recognizes prominent individuals in the field of medallic art. He served as the president of the Kabul Mint from 1975 until 1979, and during his tenure designed countless banknotes, medals, coins, and stamps, as well as the first Afghan national emblem.
During the many years that Haiderzad has spent studying and creating, he has mastered many styles, including traditional, modern, abstract, and Western. In 1978, the sculptor and medalist feared for his life when the violent Communist regime assumed control of Afghanistan, and he escaped to the United States. He often attempted to mail his artwork back to his home country, but only after the Haiderzad Museum opened was he able to securely send and display his pieces in Kabul. Haiderzad draws on his Afghan heritage and culture in creating his exceptional artistry. He embraces traditional Arabic calligraphy to produce modern masterpieces that evoke a sense of the past.
Prolific Author
The Burnett Anderson Memorial Award for Excellence in Numismatic Writing is presented annually to a researcher, author, or journalist in recognition of their body of work and career contributions to numismatics. First conferred posthumously on its namesake in 1999 at the ANA’s 108th Anniversary Convention, the award is intended to recognize quality and integrity in numismatic wordsmithing of every kind. The recipient is selected in a cooperative process by the ANA, the American Numismatic Society (ANS), and the Numismatic Literary Guild (NLG).
This year’s recipient is David Hendin, an expert on ancient weights and coinage of the Levant, with an emphasis on Judaean, Biblical, Roman provincial, and Nabataean numismatics. He will accept this honor at the 2023 ANS Gala in New York City.
Hendin holds a bachelor’s degree in education and biology, as well as a master’s degree in journalism. He has written 18 books, including the winner of the 2022 Shekel Prize, Guide to Biblical Coins, 6th Edition. Other titles include Cultural Change: Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Coins of the Holy Land and Ancient Scale Weights and Pre-Coinage Currency of the Near East. Hendin has also contributed over 75 book chapters and articles to scholarly journals.
In addition to his extensive authorial resume, Hendin helped curate the award-winning ANS exhibit entitled Cultural Change: Coins of the Holy Land. In 1985-86, he served as the chief numismatist for Duke University and Hebrew University’s Joint Sepphoris Project – an archaeological undertaking to excavate the western summit of Sepphoris (a significant cosmopolitan city in the Galilee region of ancient Israel). Hendin received the 2013 Gunnar Holst Numismatic Foundation Medal from the University of Göthenberg’s Swedish Numismatic Society and four NLG awards. He was the recipient of an ANA Presidential Award in 2002 and was most recently honored at the ANS Gala in January.
Hendin is an ANS life fellow and member of the Augustus B. Sage Society and was elected to the ANS’s board of trustees in 2016. He currently serves as the group’s first vice president. Hendin frequently gives presentations on Biblical numismatics at universities around the world, including University College in London, Nottingham University, and the University of Göthenberg, Sweden. Outside of numismatics, he has worked as a medical journalist and publishing executive and currently represents several authors as a literary agent.
Spectacular Publications
Each year since 1971, the ANA has recognized the best journals and newsletters produced by ANA-member organizations. Entries in this year’s Barbara J. Gregory Outstanding Club Publications competitions were judged in four categories: local, regional, specialty, and electronic. Winners were announced Thursday, Aug. 18 at the ANA Member Awards & Donor Celebration at the World’s Fair of Money in Chicago.
Local Clubs:
- Third – Hemet Numismatists, Hemet Coin Club (James Phillips, editor)
- Second – Pocket Change, Albuquerque Coin Club (Phil Vitale, editor)
- First – The Cincinnati Numismatist, Cincinnati Numismatic Association (David G. Heinrich, editor)
Regional Clubs:
- Third – TNA News, Texas Numismatic Association (Ann Marie Avants, editor)
- Second – The California Numismatist, California State Numismatic Association & Numismatic Association of Southern California (Greg Burns, editor)
- First – FUNTopics, Florida United Numismatists (Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez, editor)
Specialty Clubs:
- Third – The Asylum, Numismatic Bibliomania Society (Maria Fanning, editor)
- Second – International Bank Note Society Journal, International Bank Note Society (Alexander Kort, editor)
- First – TAMS Journal, Token and Medal Society (Greg Burns, editor)
Electronic Newsletters:
- Third – Nashua Numismatist, Nashua Coin Club (Judy Blackman, editor)
- Second – The SCanner, South Carolina
- First – The E-Sylum, Numismatic Bibliomania Society (Wayne Homren, editor)
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The American Numismatic Association (ANA) is a congressionally chartered, nonprofit educational organization dedicated to encouraging the study and collection of coins and related items. The ANA helps its members and the public discover and explore the world of money through its vast array of educational and outreach programs, as well as its museum, library, publications, and conventions. For more information, call (719) 632-2646 or visit money.org.
