What makes someone an accomplished numismatist? Experience and knowledge are essential. To help hobbyists grasp these complexities and become smarter collectors, the American Numismatic Association (ANA) recently launched an array of online educational programs. The featured lineup includes: Video Vignettes, The Numismatist Reading Room and Ask the Curator.
The Video Vignettes series combine the convenience of online video with the instructional guidance of an individual tutorial. These 3-5 minute videos shed light on specific topics, and give a particular insight into exploring the hobby. In the first segment, ANA Education Director Rod Gillis dives into the fundamentals of coin collecting and where to begin. Other current video installments include “Understanding Grading” and “What Gives Coins Value?” More videos are in the pipeline, and a new vignette on a different topic will be posted every month to the ANA’s YouTube channel and Money.org.
The ANA is also delighted to announce the launch of The Numismatist Reading Room, which highlights numismatic history, news and notes, and industry trends. The Reading Room is an online collection of select articles that first appeared in the ANA’s monthly magazine, The Numismatist. Written by hobbyists from around the world, The Reading Room offers extended versions of the articles.
Ask the Curator is a new monthly feature dedicated to answering questions about all things numismatic. The column addresses questions about the particulars, complexities and obscurities of U.S. and world coins and paper money, tokens, medals and exonumia. (The column does not provide appraisals or authentication information.) Questions can be submitted to [email protected]; a selection of letters will be published each month.
The ANA serves the academic community, collectors and the public by providing a variety of numismatic educational and outreach programs.
