(Fallbrook, California) – For the fifth consecutive year, the Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG) will provide a scholarship to send a deserving young numismatist to the annual American Numismatic Association (ANA) Summer Seminar in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The scholarship will cover airfare, tuition for one of the two week-long Summer Seminar sessions in June or July, meals and six nights of dormitory accommodations on the campus of Colorado College, site of the ANA headquarters.
"We again are inviting all young numismatists between the ages of 13 and 22 to apply for the PNG scholarship. To be eligible for consideration, entrants must submit a short essay outlining why they should be chosen as the scholarship recipient. The deadline for receipt of the entries is March 31, 2009," said Robert Brueggeman, PNG Executive Director.
Nominations must also include the applicant’s name and contact information. The nominating essays can be sent by e-mail to info@PNGdelaers.com, or by mail to the PNG Executive Director, 3950 Concordia Lane, Fallbrook, California 92028.
The two separate 2009 ANA Summer Seminar sessions will be held Saturday, June 27, to Friday, July 3, and from Saturday, July 4, to Friday, July 10. Participants, ranging from teens to senior citizens, spend 25 hours taking one course of their choice about specific coins or paper money, the hobby’s technical or business aspects. A complete list of courses available and information about the Summer Seminar can be found on the ANA’s web site, www.money.org. For additional information, call the ANA Education Department at (719) 482-9869 or contact by e-mail at education@money.org.
Young numismatists participating in the seminar program stay in a Colorado College dormitory with experienced chaperons and mentors. In addition to attending classes, they also have a variety of special activities and events in conjunction with the ANA’s Summer Seminar.
PNG President Gary Adkins emphasized the importance of young people to the hobby: "I started collecting at the age of nine, and I remember being spellbound by the many wonderful coins I discovered in my parent’s neighborhood store.
When returning home from school, I would pore through the cash register in hopes of finding a new treasure for my collection. Many famous numismatists of our time started as young, enthusiastic ‘change searchers.’
It would have been a phenomenal experience to have the opportunity to attend a seminar like the one PNG is providing to a lucky recipient."
The money to pay for the annual PNG YN Scholarship is administered from PNG’s Gerald Bauman Memorial Fund. Bauman, who died in 2001, served for many years as a prominent coin dealer with Manfra, Tordella & Brookes in New York City.
Founded in 1953, PNG is a nonprofit organization composed of many of the top rare coin and paper money dealers in the United States and seven other countries. PNG member-dealers must adhere to a strict Code of Ethics in the buying and selling of numismatic merchandise. For additional information, visit online at www.PNGdealers.com.
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[Editor’s update: For information on the 2010 scholarship, read Sixth Annual PNG YN Scholarship Competition.]
