New York, NY, June 5, 2000 - The American Numismatic Society (ANS) announced today that its first official Coin Day, held on May 31, 2000, was a large success. The event was held at the future headquarters of the ANS at 140 William Street from 9:00a.m. - 5:00p.m. The Society handed out free quarter coin storage boards to the public and hosted 5 coin dealers who were available throughout the day to appraise items free of charge (see attached list of participating dealers). The public brought by coins, paper money, medals or financial memorabilia for review by dealer representatives. Members of the ANS staff were available to answer questions about the museum and its move to the area. Over 700 visitors toured the new ANS building and the museum distributed over 5,500 coin boards.

Dr. Ute Wartenberg, Executive Director of the American Numismatic Society said, "This was our first large public event in our new building and we were thrilled with the turnout. We were also pleasantly surprised by the amount of interest we received for the quarter boards. We started distributing them at 9:00a.m. and by 1:30p.m. our downtown supply was out. I think this event demonstrated the strength of our new location and the large interest the public has in numismatics. There is such a powerful community feeling in the financial district and we are excited to become a part of it. We are looking forward to hosting a similar event and to fully establishing ourselves at 140 William Street. Once our museum and library are set-up downtown, we know it will be a new and exciting beginning for our organization."

The Society hosted 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. In collaboration with the U.S. Mint, the American Numismatic Association and the Professional Numismatist Guild, the American Numismatic Society sponsored the production of quarter boards. On the initiative of ANS fellow, Mr. Harlan Berk, the four organizations decided to develop a quarter board in order to promote public interest in coins. The boards provide storage spaces on one side for the first ten quarters recently issued by the U.S. Mint and an illustrated short history of American coinage on the reverse. The boards are still available to the public free of charge through the Society. People interested in acquiring the boards should contact the ANS at (212) 234-3130.

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 our expanding organization, in 1998 The American Numismatic Society purchased a new building in the heart of New York's Financial District. The new building has approximately 10,000 more square feet than the current ANS building and is conveniently located. The Society, located at 155th Street and Broadway, is scheduled to move from its current space to 140 William Street by 2001. 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.

For further information, contact Vanessa Samet at (212) 234-3130 ext. 231.