American Numismatic Society general photographs, 1868-2007

Scope and Content Note

Contains the prints, negatives, and, for some later years, compact discs of the American Numismatic Society’s general photograph collection. The earliest items are member portraits on cartes de visite (1860s and 1870s) and cabinet cards (1870s-circa 1910). With few exceptions, these are the only original ninteenth-century images in this collection. The decades of the twentieth century up through the 1960s are represented by about 0.5 cubic feet of pictures on scattered topics, including portraits, numismatic events, exhibits, Medal of Honor recipients (1918-1919), and views of the Society’s Audubon Terrace headquarters, which include the construction of an addition to the building (1929-1930) and ANS exhibition rooms before and after remodeling (1945, 1950s). Beginning in the 1970s, the photographs are more numerous and more comprehensive, many produced for the Society’s newsletter, which began in 1979 and was succeeded by the ANS Magazine in 2002. These show staff, officers, members, students, and awardees at events such as the annual meeting, annual gala, lectures, exhibits, award ceremonies, Summer Seminar, and Coinage of the Americas (COAC) and other conferences. In addition, there are posed staff portraits and images relating to the Society’s move from its Audubon Terrace headquarters at 155th Street to Fulton Street in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Also included in the collection are copy negatives and page proofs for Howard L. Adelson’s book, The American Numismatic Society, 1858-1958 (1958), and undated photographs of coins, medals, and decorations.