“Reflections Upon U.S. Popular Culture, Heritage, and History, As Influenced by Numismatics: A Look at Some of the Events, Individuals, and Coins Which Have Shaped Our Popular Culture”
10am — Speaker: Bob Bair

The unmistakable bond between the popular culture, history, and “core values” of the United States with its numismatic coinage is an important part of our national heritage. This presentation examines some of the links between the 19^th and early 20^th Centuries’ developing popular culture, and the U.S. coinage which both reflected and promoted that popular culture. 

Such American cultural concepts as “Liberty” and “The Rule of Law” are reflected in America’s steadily emerging popular culture, which had grown out of far-reaching national events (American westward expansion; the American Civil War; etc.) and the Americans who furthered those events.

Inspired by America’s popular culture and by its national events, artistic geniuses (St. Gaudens, the Frasers, Weinman, et al.) gave us coinage designs immortalizing our national heritage, which furthered our shared popular culture through their coins which were used, kept, and admired by all Americans!

Bob Bair grew up in Wisconsin, where he fell in love with coin collecting due to the paper route he operated as a boy. He joined the American Numismatic Association as Life Member #4138 in 1981 and became a rare coin dealer in 1987, in addition to pursuing his educational career as a teacher, coach, and school principal. After retiring as a school principal in 2010, Bob has been a numismatic presenter at American Numismatic Association national conventions, has published articles in The Numismatist, and has received the Denver Coin Club’s Al Muckelbust Award and the ANA’s Heath Literary Award for the advancement of numismatics.

“Viewing Culture Through the Lens of Numismatics”
11:15am — Speaker: Michael T. Shutterly

This talk will look at what the study of numismatic objects can tell us about the cultures that use those objects, and about the cultural environment in which those objects are used. From the moment of creation, a numismatic object serves as an historical artifact reflecting the society and the culture in which it is created. The designers, engravers, and other artists and artisans who create these objects are themselves both the creators and the products of the cultures in which they work, and it is through their artistic vision that cultural values take tangible form. By examining numismatic objects, we can learn a great deal about what cultural values and trends were important – or not – in a given society, and we can trace the development of the underlying cultural trends.

Michael T. Shutterly is a recovering lawyer who worked in the financial services arena, specializing in anti-money laundering and consumer protection law. He is now a coin collector, exhibitor, writer and presenter, specializing in Byzantine, early Medieval and Roman Republican coinage. An ANA Life member, he is also a member of what is probably an excessive number of national, regional, local and specialty numismatic organizations, several of which have allowed him to serve as an officer or director. He received a BA in physiological psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and a JD from Boston University.

12:15pm Sundman Luncheon
(Fee and Pre-registration required)

“The Public Reception of the 1921 Peace Dollar and Popular Culture”
2pm — Speaker: Steve Roach

Anthony de Francisci is known to collectors as the designer of the Peace Dollar (1921 to 1935) and his famed dollar was just a small part of an active sculptor’s studio. Working directly from the artist’s personal scrapbooks, which include media mentions from the popular publications of the day, we’ll explore the public reception of his Peace dollar, contemporary popular culture references to the new silver dollar, the narrative of his wife who served as the model, and how this single project fit into the larger context of his professional life as a working sculptor in the 1920s. Further, we’ll consider the concept of how this one coin – which represented a single relatively small project – has an outsized impact on his reputation.

Steve Roach has been involved in numismatics since he was a young collector in Michigan in the 1990s. He spent nearly two decades in various positions at Coin World, serving as its Editor-and-Chief. He teaches art appraisal methodology and appraisal ethics for the International Society of Appraisers, providing a unique viewpoint to examine an artist’s economic and artistic life. 

“The Art of American Coinage: Reflecting Values from 1792 to Today”
3:15pm – Speaker: Russ Bega

Coins are more than just a medium of exchange—they are miniature works of art that embody the values, beliefs, and ideals of the societies that create them. In this talk, we’ll explore how U.S. coinage, from 1792 to today, tells the evolving story of American identity. We’ll trace the changing depictions of Liberty and how her image reflects shifting ideals of beauty and culture. We’ll examine the symbolic meaning of her trappings, the contradictions of anti-slavery imagery on coins before the Civil War, and the complex representation of American Indians. Through these small objects, we’ll uncover how coins have both shaped and mirrored the nation’s cultural and political history.

Russ Bega has been a coin collector since a fateful trip to his local brick and mortar coin shop in Northern Colorado at age 8. Working for various shops and dealers as a teen led him to Heritage Auction Galleries after high school for a brief stint in the business before following his other life’s passion, being an Infantry Non-Commissioned Officer in the U.S. Army. After 13 years of service, Russ joined the Harlan J. Berk team as a U.S. numismatist in late 2021. In January of 2025 he took over the role of chief operating officer. His specialty lies in early U.S. coinage, Liberty Seated coinage, exonumia and counterfeit detection.