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The American Numismatic Society was formed by a group of collectors in New York City in 1858, at a time when many learned societies were created.  (Click here to read an except from Howard Adelson's The American Numismatic Society, 1858-1958.)  Although the initial meeting of the collectors occurred in March of 1858, the Society looks back to April 6, 1858 as its date of creation; that was the day on which the fledgling Society's first constitution and bylaws were approved by the membership.  That same month, the Society accessioned its first coin.

The collection and study of coins became widespread during the mid 19th century for several reasons, including the discovery and minting of gold in California and federal coinage reforms in the 1850s which produced coins of new size and design for the first time in half a century. Within a short time, substantial donations of coins, medals and books formed the nucleus of the present extensive cabinet and library. For many years, however, the Society had no adequate housing for these collections.

Under the leadership of several dynamic, resourceful and generous presidents, the ANS grew to become a major international center for numismatic research. One of these presidents, Archer M. Huntington, scion of the family who built the Southern Pacific Railroad and a serious collector, gave the Society land at 155th Street and Broadway and contributed toward construction of the neoclassical building, which opened in 1908 and remains its permanent home. In 1929, Huntington underwrote the expansion of the building which doubled its size. As President of the ANS from 1916 to 1941, Edward T. Newell, a scholar of Greek coins, guided the Society toward making its mark worldwide. He also left his enormous personal coin collection to the Society.

To learn more about the history

of the Society, simply Ask the Archivist.