ANS Announces Coin Day -- May 31

New York, NY -- The American Numismatic Society (ANS) announced its first official Coin Day will be on May 31 and held at the future headquarters of the ANS at 140 William Street from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. The Society will be handing out free quarter coin boards to the public and dealers will be available throughout the day to evaluate items free of charge. The public is welcome to bring coins, paper money, medals or financial memorabilia for review by dealer representatives, and to stop by to learn more about the ANS and its move.

The Society is hosting Coin Day to coincide with the May release of the South Carolina commemorative quarter, part of the U.S. Mint's 50 State Quarters Program initiative. On the initiative of ANS fellow, Mr. Harlan Berk, and in collaboration with the U.S. Mint, the American Numismatic Association and the Professional Numismatist Guild, the American Numismatic Society sponsored the production of the quarter boards in order to promote public interest in coins. The boards provide storage spaces on one side for the new 1999 and 2000 quarters issued by the U.S. Mint and an illustrated short history of American coinage on the reverse. These boards are being distributed to the public free of charge through the Society and will be given out at the William Street location during Coin Day. The Society intends to produce similar boards every two years for the successively issued quarters until the cycle is complete in 2008.

The list of participating dealers is still in formation and will be sent in a forthcoming press packet. During the event, the ANS will also have an information table and ANS curators and staff will be on hand to answer any questions.

The American Numismatic Society (ANS), founded in 1858, is a non-profit international center for the preservation and study of coins, medals and paper money, representing more than 2,500 years of material culture. The ANS collection contains close to one million objects and spans all periods and geographic areas, including Greek and Roman, medieval and modern European, American, Islamic, Asian and African coins, as well as other materials. The collection is augmented by the world's finest numismatic library, which is also strong in non-numismatic monographs and references on history, art history, economic history, language and culture. Both the collection and the library are open to the public.

In order to house the expanding organization, in 1998 The American Numismatic Society purchased a new building in the heart of New York's Financial District that has approximately 10,000 more square feet than the current ANS building. The Society, located at 155th Street and Broadway, is scheduled to move in 2001 from its current space to its new building at 140 William Street. Subway service for the new location is available at Fulton Street for the A, C, J, M, Z, 2, 3, 4 and 5 trains. Downtown bus service is on Broadway (M-1 and M-6) and uptown bus service is on Water Street (M-15). Path service to New Jersey is available at the World Trade Center and ferry service to Staten Island is available at the Battery.