PNG gives scholarship to teenager
Our website seems to have entered a time warp this morning.
We were transported back to late March.
How long April and May material will remain invisible I cannot say.
I don’t even know if this blog will show up when I try to post it.
But I will attempt it, anyway, because I want to congratulate Grant Shobar on his winning a Professional Numismatists Guild scholarship to the American Numismatic Association Summer Seminar.
“It will cover airfare, tuition for one of the two week-long American Numismatic Association Summer Seminar sessions, meals and five nights of dormitory accommodations on the campus of Colorado College, site of the ANA headquarters,” said PNG Executive Director Robert Brueggeman.
Shobar is 17 years old. He is from Laguna Niguel, Calif.
He has been an avid coin collector for five years, according to PNG.
He is no stranger to the Summer Seminar. He has been there twice before.
This year he wants to learn about Seated Liberty coinage.
Obviously, he is on the ball, or the PNG Young Numismatist Scholarship would have gone to someone else.
Can you imagine what a difference it would have made to your collecting at the age of 17 to have had such an opportunity?
Shobar knows he is very fortunate.
PNG says he will be a senior this fall at Dana Hills High School in Dana Point, Calif.
As any collector recognizes, that is often an age where numismatics falls away as other life activities come to the forefront.
Shobar started the Numismaniacs Coin Club at the school during his freshman year.
He also has written articles for various hobby publications, including the ANA’s magazine, The Numismatist, and enjoys attending the Long Beach Coin, Currency, Stamp & Sports Collectible Show.
His parents are supportive of his numismatic activity.
PNG says Mark and Cathy Shobar, as well as his sister, Hayleigh, have been delighted with it.
“He literally lives and breathes coins; that’s all he talks about. He’s so passionate about the hobby,” his mother said.
I can remember those days when every aspect of numismatics was new and interesting to me.
To a large degree I still feel that same way and am grateful to see this view in others.
Grant Shobar collected many things before his current focus on coins.
These included hotel room keys, football cards, marbles and stamps.
“I think this scholarship is a great opportunity for kids, a win-win for parents and their children,” said Cathy Shobar.
I couldn’t agree more.
Whether he goes on to become a doctor, lawyer or one of the next generation of coin dealers, this scholarship will give him a boost up life’s ladder.
It is made possible by a special fund.
“The money to pay for the annual PNG YN Scholarship is administered from PNG’s Gerald Bauman Memorial Fund. Bauman, who died in 2001, served for many years as a prominent coin dealer with Manfra, Tordella & Brookes in New York City,” said PNG President Dana Samuelson.
PNG is also to be congratulated for its record of providing 13 of these scholarships to deserving recipients.
Buzz blogger Dave Harper has twice won the Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog and is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."
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