The Virginia Numismatic Association

Welcome to the website of the Virginia Numismatic Association. We are a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to educating, encouraging and promoting interest in numismatics. VNA was founded in 1959 and has a membership of about 350 with 16 member clubs. We publish the quarterly journal, The Virginia Numismatist, and host an annual convention and coin show which includes exhibits, educational presentations, and youth activities.

The purpose of this web site is to provide information about VNA and its activities and other information of interest to the numismatic community.

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VNA Press Release 

The Virginia Numismatic Association held its 56^th Convention, Coin & Currency Show in Fredericksburg, VA on September 26-28.  Comments from the more than 75 dealers and the general public indicated a very successful show in the comfortable and spacious Expo Center. Present also were representatives from Stacks & Bowers, ANACS, SEGS, and ICTA.  Additionally, a coin exhibit sponsored by the organization drew a lot of attention.

The VNA emphasizes youth education in the coin collecting hobby.  The show reached out and attracted 111 homeschoolers, 32 Boy Scouts (all awarded BSA merit badges) plus the many adults who accompanied them.  The VNA is proud of its role in creating future collectors for our great hobby.

Capping off the convention was a banquet which featured Steve Roach, Editor-in-Chief of Coin World, as its guest speaker.  Mr. Roach’s presentation on ten factors changing the way we collect coins resounded well with the audience and promoted a lively chat after the banquet.    

We thank the host of volunteers who made this event possible.  The VNA’s next convention will take place September 25-27, 2015. 

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VNA Youth Program

The motto of our youth program is “Promoting passion for coin collecting with our Virginia youth and their families”.  John Philips, our Education Director, works very hard to achieve this goal.  The results were very apparent during the show with 111 homeschoolers and 32 Boy Scouts in attendance along with other youth and families.  Participating in the Saturday program was Steve Roach, Editor-in-Chief of Coin World, and the guest speaker at our banquet.  Steve was very complimentary of our endeavors with youth and especially of John’s dedication.  Perhaps most rewarding to all was the sentiment expressed by a family in the following letter to John.

I’m contacting you as education director to thank you and your organization for a wonderful job the Fredericksburg Expo center today.  I took my 13 year old son with me to see the dealers and being 13 he didn’t want to hang out with me – but as I checked up on him, every vendor was taking time to stop what they were doing and educate him as to their items and the history of various collectables.  It was refreshing to see him enjoying himself and learning at the same time.  My wife and I appreciate everyone’s time and interest in sharing their knowledge.  We plan on being at more events after the nice experience we had today.

 

We hope you will join with us in promoting youth appreciation for coin collecting by encouraging youngsters to attend and participate in the programs of local coin clubs as well as our annual show. 

 

 

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Vehicle Burglary

One of the more unfortunate byproducts of our hobby is the threat of burglary.  Both dealers and collectors can be victims. Regrettably, such an incident occurred to one of our dealers when he left the recent VNA show.  The victim stopped at a way station on I-95 while traveling between Fredericksburg and Ft Washington, MD.  In less than 5 minutes the suspects smashed the rear window and removed coins, medals, and antiquities valued at over $200,000.  This incident reinforces the need for us as dealer or collectors to be aware of our environment whether it is  in the show parking lot or on the road.  Take practical measures to reduce the threat such as gassing up the night before departure, use the restroom before you hit the road, never stop at a restaurant – at most a drive thru where you can remain with your vehicle while eating.  Another deterrence is to run steel cable or chain through boxes and bags.  Remember, the modus operandi of these thieves is “smash and grab”, i.e. they are in a hurry and have no time to problem solve.  Cables and chain complicate their lives. And that’s what we want to do as well as to be always vigilant.

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“As promised, the updated constitution and bylaws for the VNA have been completed and are posted on our website.  It is more robust and inclusive than the document it replaced.  We hope you will take the opportunity to read it.”

Be sure to click on the message "Enable Editing" to view the document properly.

 

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Virginia Tokens

 

Dave Schenkman and Eric Schena are making great progress with publication of the second edition of Virginia Tokens.  Many leading collectors have graciously made their holdings and research available to them for inclusion in the book.  At the 56th VNA Convention this past September, many exonumists stopped by their table bringing with them unlisted tokens to be examined and recorded. They were able to record many new listings exceeding their expectations, to include some from a few towns not previously noted. 

 

The cataloging is entering its final stages.  As it stands now, there are over 2000 different merchants and businesses listed from over 700 towns in the Commonwealth.  The basic layout has been determined as well as the numbering scheme.  Also begun is the process of collecting photographs, scans, and other illustrations that will hopefully add some historical context to the book.  Dave and Eric are doing a great job putting the book together.  It is an exciting project for token collectors and one for which all of us as members of the VNA will be proud.  Our goal is to have it ready for sale at the 57th VNA Convention.     

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