The American Numismatic Association's 2018 literary awards — recognizing articles published in the 2017 volume of its official magazine, The Numismatist — will bepresented on August 16 at the ANA World's Fair of Money in Philadelphia. The Numismatist was launched by ANA founder and first editor Dr. George F. Heath in 1888, and this yearmarks its 131st volume.

The Heath Literary Award acknowledges outstanding articles published in the preceding 12 months.

First place goes to Pete Smith, Joel J. Orosz and Leonard Augsburger for "A More Accurate History of the 1792 Half Disme" (August 2017), in which they describedThomas Jefferson's connection with the coin's production. The authors will receive $250 and engraved nickel-silver medals designed in 2013 by artist and ANA member JamieFranki.

Roger Burdette earned second place ($100 and an engraved bronze medal) for his feature article, "Rescued Rarities" (June 2017), in which he explained how valuableitems were recovered and preserved for posterity following the U.S. government recall of gold coinage in the early 1930s.

Allan Schein received third place (an engraved bronze medal) for "The Identity of Pratt's Indian" (November 2017), which postulated that a prominent Brulé Siouxchief was the model for the obverse of Bela Lyon Pratt's early-20th-century gold coins.

The Wayte and Olga Raymond Memorial Literary Award, endowed in 1978 by the late John J. Ford Jr., is presented for articles that display original and comprehensiveresearch in U.S. numismatics.

The August 2017 study by Smith, Orosz and Augsburger received first place ($400), and Burdette's June 2017 work earned second place ($200). David McCarthy garneredthird place for "Nova Constellatio: Identifying the First American Coin" (August 2017), in which he demonstrated how die states and historical documents helped identify aprototypical U.S. issue.

Funded by an anonymous donor, the Catherine Sheehan Literary Award for U.S. Paper Money Studies includes $50 for first place.

David Schenkman took the top prize for "Numismatic Mementos of the Glass Industry" (March 2017), in which he spotlighted firms that manufactured and distributedpaper scrip or tokens in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Second place (certificate) goes to Ray Williams for "An Evening with Uncle Ray" (September 2017), in which he shared the history and stories behind Early Americannotes in his collection.

Introduced this year, the Prue and Arthur Fitts Literary Award for Ancient and Medieval Coinage Studies recognizes literary excellence in those fields.

First place ($250) was presented to John Nebel for "Head-to-Head" (August 2017), which illustrated how politics played a big part in ancient numismatics.

Michael Shutterly received second place (certificate) for "In the Beginning" (December 2017), in which he traced the spread of metallic coins throughout theMediterranean around 650 B.C.

All feature articles published in The Numismatist automatically are considered for the Heath Literary Award; likewise, all qualifying articles are evaluated for the Raymond,Sheehan and Fitts awards. For information about submitting manuscripts for review and possible publication, email Editor-in-Chief Barbara Gregory at gregory@money.org.

The ANA also presents annual awards to encourage young writers and ensure a corps of future numismatic authors and researchers. The Young Numismatist Literary Award categoriesare named in honor of Whitman authors dedicated to educating the next generation of numismatists. YN Literary Awards were announced at the ANA's Summer Seminar in June.

First place in each category received a $500 cash prize, plus a $500 voucher to help build a personal library of numismatic books produced by Whitman Publishing. Second placereceived a $200 book voucher and third place received a $100 book voucher. The prizes were provided by Whitman Publishing.

The Bill Fivaz Young Numismatist Literary Award recognizes numismatist writers for ages 8 to 12. First place this year was Caleb Audette for "ConfederateObsolete Banknotes." Second place was Matthew Daum with "The Buffalo Nickel" and the third place recipient was Nikhil Rath with "American Dollar Coins: 1969,1976 and 2026."

The Q. David Bowers Young Numismatist Literary Award honors numismatist writers that are aged 13 to 17. This year's first place recipient was Paige Price for"Disney Dollars." Benjamin Mous placed second with "Five Reforms, Eight Years: The Coinage of China's Emperor Wang," and Alexander Mous took third with hispaper on "The Revival of Local Currency in Japan."

The Kenneth E. Bressett Young Numismatist Literary Award is given to writers between the ages of 18 and 22. This year, first place was won by Cole Hendrickson for"Frontier Forts: Sutlers and Their Tokens." In second place was Jared Lake for his work "Artificial vs. Natural Toning in Silver Coins." Third place was received byMatt Draiss for "Resorts and Melting Pots: The Men & Women Behind the Formation of the Mountains National Bank of Tannersville."

For more information, see:
https://www.money.org/american-numismatic-association-awards