Vancouver numismatist Michael Souza, a long-time member of the North Shore Numismatic Society (NSNS), served as the only Canadian speaker at the fifth virtual Newman Numismatic Portal (NNP) Symposium this November.
Free to attend, the Nov. 17-19 symposium offered more than two dozen speakers, including collectors, researchers and club officials.
In his presentation, Souza highlighted his nearly 20-year project on his late father Henry, a Battle of Hong Kong veteran. The talk, entitled “The Occupation of Hong Kong and the Life of a Veteran,” explored the numismatic and philatelic issues before, during and after Japan’s Second World War occupation of Hong Kong. In addition to Souza’s experience as one of the 14,000 defenders of Hong Kong, the presentation also discussed his incarceration as a prisoner of war plus his post-war life as an Olympic marksman.
In 2019, CCN published a two-part series highlighting Souza’s father and the Battle of Hong Kong (“Battle of Hong Kong veteran’s story explored through numismatics,” Vol. 57 #17, Nov. 26, 2019, and “POW survives to become ‘one of Hong Kong’s premier sportsmen,’” Vol. 57 #18, Dec. 10, 2019).
To watch the symposium videos, visit nnpsymposium.org.