After raising funds for several years (since 1961) to finance the construction of a building in which it could centralize its offices and have the room to house its library and establish a numismatic museum, the American Numismatic Association (
ANA) dedicated its new Colorado Springs, CO "Home and Headquarters" Building in June 1967.
Kenneth Failor, Executive Director of the US Joint Commission on Coinage, was in attendance representing the US Treasury Department, as was Charles Miller, Assistant to the Superintendent of the Denver Mint. Representative Frank Edward Evans (D-CO) attended and spoke at the dedication. (US Mint Director Eva Adams was invited, but was unable to attend.)
The color guard of the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) was present and raised the US flag over the new HQ Building; the Fort Carson Military Band was also present and performed what was described as an inspiring program. The ceremony also drew many local officials and prominent members of the numismatic community.
To help mark the occasion, the
ANA created silver and bronze commemorative medals for the event. The medals are 1.5" in diameter, were designed by Ralph Menconi and struck by the Medallic Art Company (MACO) of New York.
The obverse of the medal presents the new HQ building on the campus of Colorado College with the Rocky Mountains in the background. Below the Building is seen the medal's commemorative/dedication inscription that identifies the Building and lists its dedication date. I have been to the
ANA HQ for the Summer Seminar and can attest to the beauty of the mountains to the west of the Colorado College campus. The first morning I was in town, I looked out the window of my hotel room and the phrase "purple mountains majesty" from the song
America the Beautiful suddenly made perfect sense to me!
The medal's reverse design presents a a textured outline map of North America with the US demarcated with boundary lines. The
ANA's location (Colorado Springs, CO) is identified via a star burst. To the left of the map under the compass rose is seen the
ANA's mission "For Advancement of Numismatics".
The medals were originally sold at the Dedication Ceremony on June 10, 1967. The bronze medals were priced at $2.00, the silver version was $5.00. Silver medals purchased at the Dedication were edge-numbered. The medals proved very popular, with the silver version selling out in just minutes. A second batch of the silver medals was made available later, but only orders placed at the Ceremony were filled with an edge-numbered version.
Shown here is my two-piece set of the medals enclosed in a custom-printed, three-piece acrylic holder that was available at the time.
1967 ANA HQ Building Dedication Medals
For more of my topics on commemorative coins and medals, see:
Commems Collection.
Posted 10/20/2022 10:53 am
