American Numismatic Society

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Lincoln Memorial Medal

by Emil Sigel

The American Numismatic Society (ANS) was founded in 1858 as the American Numismatic and Archaeological Society and was known under that name for roughly the next fifty years. In 1907 the Society officially adopted its current name.

Throughout its history the Society has supported collectors, scholars, and artists alike. It has commissioned medals to commemorate events or people and it has awarded prizes. From its inception in 1919 to this day, one of the most prestigious prizes which a medallic artist can win is the Society's J. Sanford Saltus Award for Excellence in Medallic Art.

George Washinton (Evacuation Day) Medal

by Charles Osborne, Lea Ahlborn

The Society also always managed to make good use of its willing benefactors. Generous members like J.P. Morgan, Archer Huntington, and J. Sanford Saltus always supported both the Society and the sculptors who designed rare and beautiful medals for the Society. Many of the Society's medallic issues were only (financially) successful because one of the great philanthropists underwrote the cost of manufacturing the dies or agreed to pay off debts that remained after sales of a particular issue had fallen short of expectations. Today, the ANS has a healthy endowment which will hopefully help it weather future storms.

There were often lengthy periods without medals being issued by the Society, interrupted by very active years in which three or even four different medals were offered to members. In the 150 years since the Society's first medallic issue in 1866, the Society has issued fewer than 70 different medals. Frequently, a medal was issued in two or three different metals and sometimes, for the most popular occasions, in different sizes as well. Commonly, the Society had one gold piece struck which was gifted to a benefactor or the person commemorated by the medal. The members were then able to purchase a bronze or silver variant.

Independence Day Medal

by Allan George Newman

Particularly in the early 20th century the Society often co-issued medals with other organizations that had an interest in the medal's subject matter. This helped the Society defray the cost of producing dies. Only the pieces issued to ANS members would be edge numbered which allows us to distinguish "ANS issued" pieces from "other" pieces. Mintage numbers reported on this site apply exclusively to the numbered ANS pieces. Even so, there are frequently some additional pieces that turn up on the market because the artist or the manufacturer created trial pieces that were not counted in the official ledger.

Except for the most popular issues like the Hudson-Fulton Celebration medal or the Bicentennial issues, mintages are usually in the tens or very low hundreds. This makes ANS medals quite rare and, when combined with the usually superb artistry, highly desirable for the serious American medal collector.

Collecting ANS Medals

For the collector, the ANS medals are both desirable and challenging:

The medals are mostly very rare and therefore expensive.
The medals typically trade upwards of $100 and can easily reach prices above $1,000 for one of the rarer issues, even in bronze.
Most of the medals are not frequently traded. Availability tends to come in bursts when an existing collection is dissolved.

I have been a very active collector and have only managed to acquire maybe half of the ANS issues. I'll keep going because the ANS medals include some of the most stunning medallic art created by some of the biggest names in the field.

Next Steps

Join the American Numismatic Society to support its work and gain access to future medallic issues straight from the source.
Take a look at all the medals in the other tabs of this page. The Medals tab leads to a list of medal images and descriptions.
If you are looking to quickly find an ANS medal by its look, go to the Visual tab. It leads to a page showing the obverse of all ANS medals for which I have images and you can click on an image to take you to the medal's page.
Contact me if you are interested in buying or selling medals or want to help me improve the site. I am always interested in buying to complete or improve my own collection. Sometimes I have duplicates that I would be willing to sell. If you cannot or will not sell medals that I still need, at least share your high-quality pictures so I can complete the display section. If I don't have a picture for a medal, I don't have the medal in my collection and I would be interested in buying it.
Check out the links in the Resources tab.
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