Congratulations to new Ambassadors

My earliest start to the day at an American Numismatic Association convention comes on Thursday at 8 a.m. Numismatic News hosts its annual Numismatic Ambassador Award breakfast where we add new Ambassadors to the very distinguished roster than began in 1974 with Charlie Colver.

It is my privilege to serve as emcee.

This year I was able to announce five new Ambassadors. They are Micheal S. Fey, Steven Bieda, Jeffrey Swindling, Scott A. Travers and Dennis Schafluetzel.

Michael Fey is a former member of the ANA board of governors. He is well known in the field of silver dollar minting varieties called VAMs.

Steven Bieda, who just won a primary for a state senate seat in Michigan has a distinguished numismatic resume that includes coin design and seeing that nickel designer Felix Schlag has been properly memorialized.

Jeffrey Swindling is young. At the age of 25, he is the youngest Numismatic Ambassador. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t put in many years volunteering that began when he was a Young Numismatist.

Scott Travers is a well known writer of numismatic books and is an a consumer advocate in the numismatic field. He is also a former ANA vice president.

Dennis Schafluetzel is active in Tennessee and Georgia numismatics and is particularly well known in the paper money field, where as a writer and exhibitor he has made his mark.

Naturally, in this space it is impossible to give anything but the barest of background information, but these five inductees will add luster to the group. If you see them at ANA or future shows, I hope you will join me and offer them congratulations.