The final Numismatic Ambassador Award recognition for 2005 was presented to Lee Hartz, of Milwaukee, Wis., Dec. 15, during the annual Christmas party meeting of the Milwaukee Numismatic Society. The presentation was made by retired Krause Publications president Clifford Mishler, who made a special 2-1/2 hour drive from Iola each way on a blustery winter day to attend the meeting for the express purpose of presenting the award.
Hartz was recognized for being a ?dedicated and enthusiastic collector,? whose active involvement in the organizational realm of the coin-collecting community in the metropolitan area dates back through the better part of four decades.
Currently, he holds the positions of treasurer in both the venerable MNS and its sister organization, the South Shore Coin Club, which was founded in 1964. These responsibilities he has shouldered for many years in both instances. He has maintained an active 25-year involvement in the Boy Scout Coin Collecting Merit Badge Clinic, an MNS activity of which he was a co-founder in 1981. It has been ongoing annually on an uninterrupted basis since that time.
?Hartz has been actively involved in collecting for more than 50 years,? Mishler noted in presenting the award plaque before an audience that included more than 35 of his fellow club members. ?He has been a long-time member of the American Numismatic Association, the Central States Numismatic Society, the Society of Paper Money Collectors, and the British Numismatic Society, in pursuing his focused collecting interests. He?s also an active member of the Numismatists of Wisconsin, having recently served that group as its president, in addition to the local clubs, both of which he has also served as president.?
Hartz has long been an active exhibitor, judge and speaker locally, and a frequent contributor of articles appearing in NOW News, the state organization?s newsletter. He has also attended classes at five of the annual ANA Summer Seminar sessions over the years dating back to 1978.
Following the award, Hartz and Mishler joined other attendees in enjoying a special pizza buffet.
