On today’s date in 2014, the 61st annual Royal Canadian Numismatic Association (RCNA) Convention kicked off in Mississauga, Ont., with the theme of “Hands Across the Border.”
The joint theme was adopted that year by both the RCNA and its U.S. counterpart, the America Numismatic Association (ANA), which held its annual convention, the World’s Fair of Money, a week earlier in Chicago, Ill.
“The idea of trying to bring the RCNA and ANA together makes a lot of sense,” then-president of the RCNA and editor of CCN Bret Evans, of Welland, Ont., said in 2014. “The ANA’s summer event is the biggest event in North America, and we usually have our convention the week after. With Toronto and Chicago being close together and linked by air carriers at affordable costs, it seemed like the ideal chance to encourage collectors attending one event to take in the other as well.”
Then-president of the ANA Walter Ostromecki, of Encino, Calif., added in 2014 that officials with both associations wanted “to show there is a joint partnership.”
“The hobby has no borders. It extends beyond that and we need to recognize the clubs and groups around the world. We want to promote the future of the hobby as well.”
EDUCATIONAL SYMPOSIUM
The RCNA’s educational symposium opened that association’s convention on Aug. 13 with both Canadian and U.S. speakers, including:
- nearly 50-year paper money collector and educator Wendell Wolka, of Greenwood, Ind., on “Parallels in Canadian and United States Banking”;
- then-president of the ANA Walter Ostromecki, of Encino, Calif., on “Connecting Hobbyists Today Through Coins & Currency – The Educational ‘Wow’ Value”;
- original CCN consultant Clifford Mishler, of Iola, Wisc., on “Hands Across the Border”;
- then-chief curator of the Bank of Canada Museum Paul Berry, of Ottawa, on “Phantom Banknotes and the Financial Crisis of 1837”;
- past president of the Canadian Paper Money Society (CPMS) Clifford Beattie, of Saskatoon, Sask., on “Canada’s $1 Face Proofs/Specimen Bank Notes”; and
- Bank of Canada senior analyst Vanessa Stergulc, of Ottawa, on “Security Features on Canadian Banknotes.”
Several of the topics focused on paper money and banking in celebration of the CPMS’s 50th anniversary.
The RCNA convention continued through that weekend with the show and bourse sponsored by CCN.