The North Carolina Numismatic Association (NCNA) held its annual convention this past weekend (September 25th - 27th), and Triangle-area hobbyists proved to be the big winners. 

Two members of the Raleigh Coin Club, as well as the Triangle Coin Club (TCC), received recognition at the awards ceremony following the close of the bourse floor on Saturday. David Boitnott captured the Third Place award for his exhibit entitled "The Berlin Airlift." It was a history-filled, two-case exhibit that combined medals, currency, and stamps from both the 1948-era as well as the 1998 anniversary celebrations. Several of the pieces in the exhibit were from David’s father who was an active participant in the Berlin Airlift. The inclusion of this material added a truly personal touch to the exhibit, and made it worthy of special recognition. David also presented a terrific five-case exhibit celebrating the triumph of the Apollo XI moon landing. While presenting a large number of Apollo XI related material, the exhibit displayed only a portion of David’s specialty collection! Though the exhibit failed to garner one of the top three awards, it certainly generated a lot of interest and compliments among those that saw it.  

Dave Provost received recognition for both of the exhibits he presented. The show’s Second Place award went to Dave for his "Commemoratives of the 200th Anniversary of the Albany Congress," the exhibit featured the gold, silver, and bronze national commemorative medals produced by the U.S. Mint in 1954, along with some related ephemera. Dave also won First Place for his exhibit entitled "Silver Dollar Commemoratives of Canada." The exhibit was based on the three presentations Dave gave at the TCC during this past year, and presented the entire series from 1935 through 1998. 

Dave Provost was also presented with the NCNA Literary Award for best NCNA Journal article. His piece, "How Much is a Pedigree Worth?" was selected as the winner from those articles that appeared in the Journal since last year’s NCNA convention. The piece offered a commentary on the high prices often realized by coins in auctions from famous collections; the first session of the John Jay Pittman auction sparked the idea for the piece. 

The Triangle Coin Club’s (TCC) own Brad Ciociola won the NCNA’s "Young Numismatist of the Year" award! Brad was recognized for his hobby contributions both as a collector and a dealer, and was praised for his hobby knowledge and enthusiasm. Though initially reluctant to use them, Brad did have notes for a brief acceptance speech. (He noted that he had prepared them "Just in case.") Those in attendance chuckled when he pulled them from his pocket, but were appreciative of the heartfelt thanks he offered to those that have supported him and his hobby interests. During the NCNA show, Brad could often be found at a special YN table set up at the entrance to the show, handing out numismatic gifts to young collectors and "spreading the word" to the future of the hobby. Good work Brad! Congratulations!  

The volume of "hardware" toted home by Triangle-area collectors certainly bodes well for the future of the hobby in the area.

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