2020 Huntington Award to Sydney Martin, "Commemoratives of the 200th Birthday of George Washington"

The 2020 Archer M. Huntington Award Ceremony and Silvia Mani Hurter Memorial Lecture: Numismatic Commemoratives of the 200th Birthday of George Washington in 1932 November 19, 2020 1:00 pm EST The Trustees of the American Numismatic Society (ANS) have voted to bestow upon Mr. Sydney Martin the 2020 Archer M. Huntington Award in recognition of his scholarly work specializing in Colonial American coinage.

The award ceremony will be available to attend virtually via zoom and feature the Silvia Mani Hurter Memorial Lecture, Numismatic Commemoratives of the 200th Birthday of George Washington in 1932. In his talk, Mr. Martin will focus on the most comprehensive public celebration that ever occurred in the United States—the Bicentennial of the Birth of George Washington. From a formal beginning in 1924 to its end in 1933, this celebration captured the attention not only of the nation but of the world.

After providing contextual background for this little-remembered event, Mr. Martin will show a selection of numismatic items that are representative of the nearly 1,000 items he has amassed in honor of Washington’s 200th birthday—from very beautiful medals to quite ugly and even bizarre ones, with some mention of brooches and plaques as well.