The PAN Banquet held on Thursday evening October 26th 2017 was a stellar evening at the beautiful five-star LeMont Restaurant overlooking the stunning view of the city of Pittsburgh. Mr. Donald Scarinci presented a talk, “A Brief History of the J. Sanford Saltus Award.” The award was initiated in 1913 by J. Sanford Saltus to reward sculptors “for distinguished achievement in the field of the art of the medal.” A. A. Weinman, one of the finest American sculptors of the Beaux-Arts tradition and the second winner of the award, designed the silver medal presented by the American Numismatic Society.
Don Scarinci http://www.donaldscarinci.com is an attorney and founding partner of Scarinci and Hollenbeck, LLC located in Lyndhurst, NY. He also serves as a member of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, which is required by law to review and recommend designs for all coins and medals issued by the United States Mint. Don is a member of the ANS panel of experts to award the J. Sanford Saltus Award. He is a numismatic writer and researcher and a photography enthusiast.
Don’s passion is clearly medallic art as was evident in his fine presentation. It delved into the history and creation of this beautiful award and the variety of artists of varied creative styles that have been honored over these many years. Examples of the works of the many sculptors were shown to the audience with Don’s explanation of the various styles from the classics of Weinman, Fraser and MacNeil to modern works including Pennsylvania’s own Jeanne Stevens-Sollman. PAN was fortunate to have Don Scarinci come to our convention to open a window into the beauty and symbolism of medallic design.
PAN President and fellow CCAC member Tom Uram presented Mr. Scarinci with a plaque of appreciation that included our PAN Logo medal dominated by the eagle design that was created by late Chief Engraver Frank Gasparro.
The PAN banquet continued as the band played on. The Washington Jazz Orchestra treated all 112 banquet guests to some great music throughout the evening. It was an over the top event! Anyone that attends the PAN banquet leaves with an absolute fine impression. The bourse floor is always upbeat with good memories the next morning.
One of the banquet highlights is the presentation of the PAN Dealer of the Year Award. We have started this back up after a long absence. PAN has recognized that successful coin shows rely on the collectors, volunteers and the dealers that choose to participate in the organization’s success. We have begun to notice a resurgence in dealers that make the extra effort to promote PAN during their travels around the show circuit. This year we were proud and delighted to present this recognition to Ed Hammond of Running Bear Coins from Kanona, NY. Since Ed started setting up at PAN shows he has typically made time to chat with us on ways that we can improve our show from the dealer’s perspective. We have implemented many of his suggestions that have proved to be successful. We often strive to make each coin show a little better for both our dealers and customers. PAN is very fortunate to have a group of board members that are genuinely interested in what our dealers think and are receptive to their input. We view our organization, dealers and attending collectors as a partnership with the end goal of creating an enjoyable and prosperous environment for all. The photo shows 2016 Dealer of the year Alan Stullnbarger, founder of CoinZip.com, Ed holding his award and myself, Pat McBride.
Bishop David Zubik gave the invocation. PAN President Tom Uram called the Diocese of Pittsburgh because he found out that the Bishop was going to be in the restaurant for a Catholic Charities event in another room. The Bishop agreed to stop in and also regaled us with a story of how he learned a new word (numismatist) this evening. PAN has friends in high places!
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