MNS donates book collection to library

This article was originally printed in the latest issue of Numismatic News.
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The Milwaukee Numismatic Society has donated 20 numismatic reference books worth about $800 to the Greenfield, Wis., Public Library. The donation included new Red Books and Krause Publications’ Standard Catalogs covering world coins, world gold coins and world paper currency. Topics as diverse as ancient coins and modern U.S. coinage were included in the collection. Racine, Wis., dealer Bill Spencer procured the books for the club.

The donation, completed in late October, was made possible by the MNS with support from the Central States Numismatic Society, which has member clubs in Wisconsin and other Midwestern states.

Greenfield, a suburb of Milwaukee with a population of 36,000, erected a new library building in 2009.

“I like books about coins about as much as I like coins themselves,” said MNS President Dr. Leon Saryan. “So as soon as the expanded library went up, it occurred to me to get the numismatic donation ball rolling. I was already familiar with the library and its needs since I had served on the Greenfield Library Board of Directors for several years in the late 1990s.”

One of the objectives of the Milwaukee Numismatic Society is to offer education and teaching about numismatics. “Our mission is to provide the public with reliable information, and to encourage the study and appreciation of coins, paper money and similar items,” said Saryan. “We serve the general public as well as collectors.

Greenfield Library Director Sheila O’Brien was equally enthusiastic. “Sheila was just great to work with,” said Saryan. “She was excited about the variety of books that we obtained for her library, including the fact that some came with their own CD versions as well. She also extended an invitation to MNS to consider the library as a venue for possible future public education programs.”