This presentation will show how the artists of the period (1870 to 1900) used money as their subject, and what the public (and the government) had to say. As might be expected, fights over money would make an impression on popular culture.

Dr. Karell is a lifelong collector of paper money, coins, and stamps. He is a veteran of the submarine force, and now a retired nuclear chemical engineer for the U.S. Naval Nuclear Program. In his free time he is an amateur artist and has devoted time to practicing the art of engraving, letterpress printing, and painting. He loves to be able to say he studied under Christopher Madden, chief engraver of the Bureau of Printing and Engraving – even if it was for only a week at the ANA Summer Seminar! Dr. Karell has been a prior Sundman lecturer, presenting a talk entitled “The Masterpiece in Your Wallet – Paper Money as Art.”

The humble penny has long been associated with affordable entertainment, from Victorian England’s penny dreadfuls to the rise of the American comic book industry. This presentation explores the remarkable influence of this small coin on popular culture, tracing its legacy from 19th-century serialized fiction to the birth of Superman.

Penny dreadfuls—sensational, inexpensive novels filled with adventure, crime, and the macabre—captivated working-class readers in Victorian England. Their affordability, at just one penny, made them a staple of popular entertainment, despite criticism from the upper classes. The penny itself played a crucial role, serving as the accessible price of escapism for the masses.

As we follow the evolution of this coin through time, we’ll uncover its role in shaping American publishing trends. The American equivalent of penny dreadfuls, often found in dime novels and pulp magazines, carried the tradition of affordable storytelling forward. By the 1920s and 1930s, the emergence of comic books—similarly available for a single cent—would transform popular culture once again. And with that transformation came the most iconic superhero of them all: Superman.

Through this journey, we will explore how a seemingly insignificant coin became a key driver in the development of mass-market storytelling, ultimately paving the way for the Man of Steel himself. Superman, like his literary predecessors, owes his existence to the power of the penny.

A lively presentation about some of the biggest trends in coin collecting and the rare coin market right now. This talk will also cover how the stories making news today might impact the way we collect coins tomorrow. From record-setting gold, new U.S. Mint issues, changes and consolidations within the coin industry, and how collectors gather and share—there’s a lot to chat about!

Steve Roach joined the ANA in 1991 and was editor-in-chief of Coin World. He’s a numismatist and appraiser with a focus on fine art, rare coins, and medals. Steve is a certified member of the International Society of Appraisers where he teaches appraisal ethics and methodology. He received the ANA’s YN of the Year in 1997, its Medal of Merit in 2024, and writes the ANA’s Collecting Friends blog with Dennis Tucker.

During World War II, more than a million American service members fought in the Pacific Theater to help free the Philippines from Japanese control. When they came home after the war, many of them carried local souvenirs of their service. These included strange silver and bronze coins that were minted for the Philippines but bear the words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. What’s the story behind these coins? Are they rare? How much are they worth today? You might have some sitting in a relative’s collection of wartime mementos. In this richly illustrated presentation, Dennis Tucker tells about these special World War II–related coins and their history starting in the early 1900s. Along the way, you’ll learn about the unique historical and numismatic connection between the United States and the Philippine Islands.

Dennis Tucker is an award-winning author, an active member of the Philippine Collectors Forum, and a Life Member of the Philippine American National Historical Society. He served eight years as a numismatic specialist on the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee of the U.S. Treasury Department, and he has written and lectured on many subjects of U.S. and Philippine coinage, medals, tokens, and paper money.

This presentation is a high-level overview of German hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic with a focus on the local notes and coins that emerged surrounding the collapse of the national monetary system. The objective of this presentation is to understand the lasting impact of German hyperinflation which marked a unique chapter for numismatics.

The following topics will be discussed: 1910-1914 Value of the Reichsmark, 1918-1922 Inflation Rising, 1922-1924 Peak of Hyperinflation, and conclude with a high-level overview of the 1924 Rentenmark conversion. It wraps up with the discontinuation of the different monies that embodied a unique chapter in numismatic history. Examples of the local community notes and coins made from clay, leather, silk, aluminum, linen, etc. will be presented and the connection each material had to its community will be discussed.

Alexander Blough started collecting in 1998, has been an adult member of the ANA since 2013, and pursued his Master's in European History with a focus on Numismatics where he wrote his Master's Thesis on "The Socioeconomic Impacts and Importance of Inflation and Hyperinflation in Europe During The Early 20th Century."