In September of 1998 the American Association of Museums withdrew the accredited status of the ANS, a fact that has come up frequently during the ongoing discussions about the future of our Society. I am including below the cover letter and attached Narrative Report that the AAM sent to the Executive Director at that time. I think it useful that the timing and reasons for this dis-accreditation be made clear. It is also true that this document was very instructive for me and for the Council as we confronted the problems that the Society faced when I became Executive Director in June of 1999. The Visiting Committee correctly identified institutional uncertainty about the Society's mission. Given that context, I am also including an article from the 1907 American Journal of Numismatics that describes the anticipated impact of the then new building at 155th street on the nature of the Society. It is interesting reading as we today consider many of the same issues.

I have included the AAM letter and report in full although there are places where I disagreed with their conclusions. Specifically, the Society does have a statement of ethics and the Council is bound by it. Generally, however, the Visiting Committee was correct in identifying a lack of focus in our mission and in stating that we were not "demonstrating the characteristics of an accreditable museum."

While the decisions that I and the Council have taken in the last year and a half have not been driven solely by the committee's conclusions, we have made great progress in addressing the concerns it raised. Achieving financial stability now lies at the heart of almost every decision I make. The long-term plan that the staff and council are developing is a strong statement of the balance between scholarship and education that we hope to achieve. I came to the ANS from the British Museum, an institution where a workable balance between research excellence, public outreach, and curatorial responsibilities is in place. I believe that the Society, as an independent institution, is an ideal environment in which to support all aspects of numismatics and all members of the numismatic community. I hope that as you read the AAM letter and report as well as the 1907 article, you will think of new ways in which we can to work together to reach this goal.

• Cover Letter to the AAM Re-Accreditation Visiting Committee Narrative Report
• AAM Re-Accreditation Visiting Committee Narrative Report
• Belden, Bauman L. "A Numismatic Museum in New York," in American Journal of Numismatics Vol. 62, No. 2 (1907).