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CoinsbyGary

A journal by coinsbygary

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I Am Honored

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coinsbygary

Entry posted by coinsbygary ·

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Sorry folks no image this time! It just doesn't seem quite appropriate for this post. You see, today I have accidently discovered that one of my writings was linked on the website of a national humanitarian organization!
 

I still have to pinch myself to see if this is really happening! This all started with my coin club asking for club members to give a presentation at some of our upcoming meetings. I thought it would be nice for me to do a presentation based on my Laura Gardin Fraser coin and medal collection and I went right to work on my power point presentation to be given at the next club meeting on May 8. I really enjoy my club and the opportunity I had to offer other members free imaging of their coins at a recent buy-sell-trade event. This upcoming presentation will give me the opportunity to share other aspects of my numismatic interests in research, writing, and collecting. If that goes well, I plan to apply for a "Money Talks" presentation of the same material at the Chicago "Worlds Fair of Money" later this summer.

 

One of the medals in my presentation is the "National Institute of Social Sciences medal". The mission of the National Institute of Social Sciences is to "promote the study of the social sciences, to support social science research and discussion, and to honor individuals who have rendered distinguished service to humanity." The bronze medal in my collection was presented to Clara D Noyes to honor her for distinguished service to humanity. Though the bronze medal is no longer awarded, the gold medal is still awarded on an annual basis since 1913. Because the medal design has not changed and it appears prominently on the upper left hand corner of every page on the institute's website I thought to comment on the artistic numismatic legacy left to them by Laura Gardin Fraser. This led me to a page that described the medal. As I went down the page I noticed a few additional reading links, One of which curiously seemed familiar to me entitled, "A Beautiful Medal for a Worthy Recipient." I thought, no it can't be? Yes it can! The link directs you to an article I posted at NGC's collector's society on 4/14/17! How awesome is that! 

 

In fact, I've been a collector for a very long time and no other set that I have ever put together has brought me more accolades than "The Coins and Medals of Laura Gardin Fraser." My contact network of medal collectors is phenomenal, especially considering that I am not a medal collector and that my network has sent me referrals, watched e-bay listings on my behalf, and gladly have shared information without which my LGF set would not have been possible. I've had three LGF articles published in the PAN publication, "The Clarion." In fact the post from the link that I am referring is in the October, 2017 issue of the Clarion! I've had cold contacts from authors wanting to publish my images, other people wanting to sell me their medals, and the family of Clara D Noyes that wants to buy my social sciences medal back! Incidentally, I have every intention of selling it back when I find another example for my collection. In return the family representative has sent me a signed copy of a biography he wrote about Clara! All these things do me great honor along with all of you who follow my blog posts. This has all been a surreal ride for me that brings new and amazing things my way. As I always say, "Who would have thunk it?" It has just been a wonderful ride that I would have never in a thousand years anticipated. I am indeed blessed!

 

Here are two links to the National Institute of Social Sciences website. The first will take you to the main page and the second to the page with mu link.

http://www.socialsciencesinstitute.org/

http://www.socialsciencesinstitute.org/the-gold-medal

Gary

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9 Comments

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Revenant

Congrats, Gary! You're well recognized and regarded as an author on this subject now with the journal award here 5 times and other honors heavily linked to your writing and narrative abilities. It makes sense that we and NGC wouldn't be the only ones that think so.

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MIKE BYRNE

Well my good friend there is nothing more I can say except that more collectors learn more about L.G.F. Like we have from you. We were lucky to see them in your blogs. Like someone said you probably have the best collection and can hold your head high with the great honor you received.. It's to bad you slowed  down but that time comes to all of us. I slowed down in October. It takes getting used to but now I really enjoy my coins and tokens. Thanks for teaching me so much about your great collection Mike

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coinsbygary
11 hours ago, Revenant said:

Congrats, Gary! You're well recognized and regarded as an author on this subject now with the journal award here 5 times and other honors heavily linked to your writing and narrative abilities. It makes sense that we and NGC wouldn't be the only ones that think so.

You're right. But I never really started all this with the sole purpose of being recognized. I write because I like to write and I am always striving to improve my writing skills. The spoken word and the written word are two very different things. Learning to communicate through the written word has been a challenge. That said I have come into my own writing style that when you get right down to it is an expression of my personality. In other words, I like to tell the stories of the coins I collect. I have a love for history and history has a lot to do with collecting and story telling. That some people have found my writings to be worthy of publishing is really icing on the cake and never taken for granted or expected. Simply put, I enjoy writing and collecting and when I discover something of interest about the coins I collect I like to share it with as many people as possible. I really enjoy this and my hope is that other people enjoy it also.

My love of writing started with my admiration for a pastor at the church I attended more than 30 years ago. This pastor was himself an author and accomplished writer. I never told him this, but privately I had a lot of respect and admiration for him. So much so that I wanted to be like him. So began my love of writing. If only you were to read my first feeble attempts at writing you might have told me that it was hopeless and to give it up. The advent of grammar software for my computer helped me tremendously with the technical aspects of writing and over time I came into my own.    

The Laura Gardin Fraser set started with my admiration of her as a person and an artist. In many respects she was a pioneer working in what had been up to her time a mans world. She effectively paved a trail for other women to follow without even trying. With her it was always about her passion and love of sculpting. As I started to research her life, I found myself liking her all the more. Writing about something or in this case someone that I am passion about is no chore, it is a joy. In many respects I also learned this from my former pastor because he was very passionate about the things he wrote of.

Gary

Edited by gherrmann44
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Revenant
1 hour ago, gherrmann44 said:

You're right. But I never really started all this with the sole purpose of being recognized.

Wasn't trying to say that it was. Just saying that at this point it is well recognized. :)

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coin928
4 hours ago, gherrmann44 said:

You're right. But I never really started all this with the sole purpose of being recognized. I write because I like to write and I am always striving to improve my writing skills. The spoken word and the written word are two very different things. Learning to communicate through the written word has been a challenge. That said I have come into my own writing style that when you get right down to it is an expression of my personality. In other words, I like to tell the stories of the coins I collect. I have a love for history and history has a lot to do with collecting and story telling. That some people have found my writings to be worthy of publishing is really icing on the cake and never taken for granted or expected. Simply put, I enjoy writing and collecting and when I discover something of interest about the coins I collect I like to share it with as many people as possible. I really enjoy this and my hope is that other people enjoy it also.

...  

The Laura Gardin Fraser set started with my admiration of her as a person and an artist. In many respects she was a pioneer working in what had been up to her time a mans world. She effectively paved a trail for other women to follow without even trying. With her it was always about her passion and love of sculpting. As I started to research her life, I found myself liking her all the more. Writing about something or in this case someone that I am passion about is no chore, it is a joy. In many respects I also learned this from my former pastor because he was very passionate about the things he wrote of.

Gary

There's so much in the above quote that I like, but I emphasized what I felt  like were the key points.  When you're passionate about a subject and can express that passion through a well written story, it brings the coin (or medal) to life. Your posts are always well researched, well written, tell the story, and convey your motivation and connection.  That's what connects with your audience.

The awards and recognition are all well deserved.  Maybe it's time to start writing some articles for The Numismatist. (thumbsu

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Mokiechan

Gary, your Laura Gardin Fraser custom set is my favorite set (PERIOD)  The amount of time and effort you've put into the set over the years is a remarkable.  If a custom set can have Fanboys, then I am that Fanboy.  Any accolades you've garnered over the years is very well deserved.

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jgenn

The power of the written word magnified by the world wide web!  It's so wonderful to hear about the dissemination of positive journaling in this time of rampant fake news.

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