The final four speakers of the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association’s (RCNA) two-day education symposium will take the stage today at the association’s annual convention in Mississauga.
At 1 p.m., long-time collector Geoffrey Bell – a Fellow of both the RCNA and the Canadian Numismatic Research Society (CNRS) – will explore his passion of medals and exonumia with a presentation featuring rarities from his collection. A familiar face in Canadian numismatics, Bell served two terms as president of the RCNA and past president of the CNRS as well as the Canadian Paper Money Society.
At 2 p.m., Canadian large cent patterns and specimens will be highlighted by CNRS Fellow Rob Turner, author of the award-winning book Dies and Diadems. Turner began collecting Canadian decimal coinage as a teenager in Maine during the 1960s. By 1980, he focused his passion on collecting and studying Victorian cents and has assembled multiple sets of these coins, including a Mint State set containing all of the date and obverse variety combinations. Since 2007, Turner has authored four acclaimed books and several articles on Victorian cent die varieties.
At 3 p.m., auctioneer Michael Rogozinski will discuss the history of Canadian specimen and Proof coins. The president of Empire Auctions, which has galleries in Montréal and Toronto, Rogozinski specializes in rare coins as well as fine jewellery, diamonds and watches. A former contributor to the Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Coins, he has been cataloguing rare coins for auction since the 1970s. Over the years, he has auctioned examples of nearly all of Canada’s 19th- and 20th-century specimens and Proof coins, including the famed 1911 silver dollar; 1921 specimen 50 cents; and an original matched 1875H specimen set.
Closing out the two-day symposium will be a 4 p.m. presentation by CNRS Fellow Ian Speers, who will explore numismatic estate and succession planning. The owner of a Toronto legal practice that specializes in real estate conveyancing and estate planning, Speers is the current chair of the Ontario Bar Associations Real Property Executive. His numismatic interests include Canadian pre-Confederation tokens with an ongoing study of the bouquet sous tokens and 1832 Nova Scotia thistle counterfeit series.