Now you can watch ANA

The American Numismatic Association has a great idea.

On July 3 President Tom Hallenbeck will announce the results of the board election. He will do it on YouTube.

I am old enough to remember when they used to write the results down on a chalkboard at a public meeting

The YouTube presentation opens the process up to every member who wants to be a witness.

The live online broadcast from ANA headquarters is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time. That is 5:30 p.m. Central Time and 6:30 p.m. Eastern.

I urge all members who can watch the broadcast to do so. It is history being made.

Then perhaps I can slip out the back door unnoticed.

By 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the office here in Iola will be long closed for the July 4 holiday.

Do I really want to watch the election results, or would I rather receive the press release, which will be sent out immediately after the YouTube presentation?

I know that doesn’t exactly sound like a roaring endorsement of the process, but I’m only human.

ANA members are human, too. They have been slipping out the back door in other ways. Participation in elections has not been robust in recent elections. It will be interesting to see if the number of contested board seats pushes up the numbers who voted.

Another possibility is the online voting that was conducted this year for the first time might have persuaded some additional members to vote simply to try out the new procedure.

I will be as interested to see how many votes are cast as to which seven of the 14 board candidates garnered enough support to win seats.

Two things are sure. The next president will be Walter Ostromecki. The next vice president will be Jeff Garrett. They ran unopposed.

I wish them both good luck and success in their leadership roles.

ANA says the election broadcast will be available at Money.org/Elections and on the ANA’s YouTube channel at YouTube.com/AmericanNumismatic.

To watch, or not to watch. That is my question.

Buzz blogger Dave Harper is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."

• Subscribe to the NumisMaster Coin Price Guide for access to the web’s most comprehensive list of coin values
• Join the NumisMaster VIP Program for free subscriptions, store discounts, and more!
• Buy and sell coins, currency, and more in our online classifieds