NumismaTalks: ANA eLearning Academy Webinars

Medieval European Coinage; The Fall of the Western Roman Empire to the Rise of the Carolingian Empire
September 25, 2025, 2025, 12pm MT

This talk is about the first half of the Middle Ages from the traditional date of the fall of Rome in 476 AD to the beginning of the Carolingian Empire during the 9th century AD.

Douglas Mudd is the curator / director of the American Numismatic Association’s Edward C. Rochette Money Museum in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He is responsible for developing, planning, and content of the museum’s exhibition program and the organization and care of the ANA collections. He has created dozens of numismatic exhibits for the museum and for the ANA’s semi-annual conventions. His recent work has expanded the museum's exhibits into the virtual world of the internet including Trenches to Treaties: World War I in Remembrance and Money of Empire: Elizabeth to Elizabeth.

Batavia's Bounty: Blood on the Coral, Silver in the Deep
October 9, 2025, 2025, 12pm MT

Collectors often measure a coin's worth in dollars and cents, but some pieces carry a far darker weight—an echo of lives lost and empires built. Shipwreck coins, battered by the sea, may never win a beauty contest, yet they hold a haunting place in history.

On October 9, step aboard the Batavia, pride of the Dutch East India Company, and set sail on its inaugural voyage. Destined for the lucrative spice trade with a belly full of silver, the Batavia promises fortune, glory, and a new chapter of global commerce until it collides with an unseen reef off an unknown continent.

What follows is mutiny, murder, and madness. Survivors not only face the sea, but each other. More than a shipwreck, this is the greatest tale of sunken treasure ever told – a saga of good versus evil – and it's all true!

Caroline Turco has a passion for storytelling. From the operatic stage to her "historypod" mic, she brings a unique blend of expertise and curiosity to the role of assistant curator at the ANA. A Renaissance woman at heart, Caroline loves art, history, and culture, which serendipitously mingle in the study of numismatics. When not at work researching coins or diving down rabbit holes, she can be found adventuring with her family to make new members. (Also, she'll probably still be talking about coins!)

The American Bank Note Company Archives: Monetary History and a Rich Research Opportunity
October 23, 2025, 2025, 12pm MT

The American Bank Note Company international archives holds a wealth of information about bank note production around the world. Held by the ANA Dwight N. Manley Numismatic Library, this collection includes information about paper money design, production, and shipment as well as internal correspondence by ABNCo staff. Some of this correspondence gives insight into the economic and political situations in countries that have achieved independence from former colonial powers. This presentation will include information about the types of documents, research opportunities, and points of access that are available as the ANA library staff and volunteers catalog and digitize these files.

Akio Lis joined the ANA as library manager in 2021. He was awarded the ANA Young Numismatist of the Year in 1998 and received an internship with the ANA library in 2003. After moving to Colorado Springs in 2005, Akio volunteered with the Dwight N. Manley Numismatic Library and worked with young numismatists (YNs) during Summer Seminar in the production of the YN fundraising auctions. Akio brings to the role of library manager a deep interest in history and research, as well as an in-depth knowledge of the ANA library holdings. He has worked to increase accessibility and recognition of the holdings of the Dwight N. Manley Numismatic Library and continues in the long tradition of growing this necessary numismatic asset.