MONTHLY MEETINGS ARE NOW HELD AT SKIRBALL CULTURAL CENTER.
JANUARY 2014
The next meeting will be held on January 12, 2014 and will be the Club's Annual General Meeting, Installation of Officers and Annual Potluck. The meeting will start at 1:00 P.M. in the Community Room at the Sherman Oaks Galleria, 15301 Ventura Boulevard, (at Sepulveda Boulevard), Sherman Oaks. Dues ($25) for the forthcoming year are due at this meeting.
LAST MEETING:
Elections for the Club Officers and Board Members for 2014 were held at the December meeting. The Board will consist of the following members:
ACCLA Board of Directors 2014
President: Merrill Gibson
Vice President: Roger Burry
Treasurer: Barry Rightman
Secretary: David Stepsay
Randy Butler
Bob Lattanzi
Michael Connor
Ken Friedman
Paul Ranc
Joe Tooma (past president)
PRESENTATION
The December meeting featured a fascinating presentation by Randy Butler entitled The Coins of Claudius Part I - Claudius' Birth to the Accession of Tiberius.
Respectfully submitted
David Stepsay, Secretary
FEBRUARY 2014
The next meeting of the club will take place on Sunday February 9, 2014 starting at 1:00 P.M. in the Community Room of the Sherman Oaks Galleria. The presentation will be by Frank Martin, on the topic The Development of Western Alphabets as Seen on Coins.
LAST MEETING
The installation of the 2014 Officers and Board was done with dispatch. Members voted on the recipient of the Rightman Award for the most well-received presentation of the last year, with the results to be announced at the next meeting.
The rest of the meeting was taken up by the Annual Potluck and much socializing among the membership.
Respectfully submitted
David Stepsay, Secretary
MARCH 2014
The next meeting of the club will take place on Sunday March 9, 2014 starting at 1:00 P.M. in the Community Room of the Sherman Oaks Galleria. Professor Robert Cleve will give a presentation entitled The Three Phases of Greek Art.
LAST MEETING
The meeting was called to order at 1:30 P.M. by President Merrill Gibson. He announced that the recipient of the Annual Barbara Rightman Award was Randy Butler for his presentation on Israel. A certificate was presented to Randy.
Milt West brought in a handbook on coins. Bob Effler gave a coin clean-up before-and-after show-and-tell display.
PRESENTATION
Frank Martin gave an erudite presentation on The Orthographic Development of the Greek and Latin Alphabets as Seen in Ancient Coins.
Respectfully submitted
David Stepsay, Secretary
APRIL 2014
The next meeting of the club will take place on Sunday May 11, 2014 starting at 1:00 P.M. in the Community Room of the Sherman Oaks Galleria. The meeting will feature a seminar: Mothers on Ancient Coins.
LAST MEETING
Called to order at 1:39 P.M. by President Merrill Gibson. He gave a report on the Board Meeting which took place an hour before the last meeting including ideas for ACCLA's 50th Anniversary in 2016 and the possible inclusion of a coin/book auction at some meetings.
GOOD AND WELFARE
Mike Connor gave the website report. The site gets 200 users per day. We have 36 likes (including a horse) on Facebook. Members talked about acquisitions, catalogs, and new exhibits during a round-robin.
PRESENTATION
Roger Burry gave a well illustrated introduction to Traveling the Silk Road. He started with a history of the recognition of the silk road including the 1877 naming as such by F. von Richtoffen, a railroad surveyor.
Roger brought us through 9 countries along the route with many more travels to come. It's clear that a lot of midnight oil was burned by Roger to put this set of presentations together.
Respectfully submitted
David Stepsay, Secretary
MAY 2014
The next meeting of the club will take place on June 8, 2014 starting at 1:00 P.M. in the Community Room in the Rotunda at Sherman Oaks Galleria. Roger Burry will give a presentation China: First Stop on the Silk Road that will initiate our introduction to Silk Road numismatics.
LAST MEETING
Called to order at 1:30 P.M. by President Merrill Gibson. Mike Connor, webmaster, reported that we now have 42 followers on Facebook. He posted a link to an excellent video lecture by Francois De Callatay on Beauty and Sublimity in Greek Coins. Merrill mentioned the upcoming exhibition in Exposition Park on Pompeii, starting May 20.
PRESENTATION
In honor of Mother's Day, Roger Burry organized a quiz focused on mythological and larger than life mothers displayed on various ancient coins. Betty Eiseman carried out the job of quiz moderator with great dispatch. Much fun was had by all.
Respectfully submitted
David Stepsay, Secretary
JUNE 2014
The next meeting of the club will take place at the Getty Villa Museum on Sunday July 13, 2014 and will include visiting Heaven and Earth: Art of Byzantium. We will meet at 1:00 P.M. in front of the Museum Store.
LAST MEETING
Called to order at 1:35 P.M. by President Merrill Gibson. Barry Rightman gave the Treasurer's report. Mike Connor, Webmaster, reported 49 subscribers on Facebook. He is looking for new material for the website. Roger Burry talked about the Pompeii exhibit at Exposition Park--cost of entry, $19. July Club meeting will be at the Getty Villa. Merrill proposed awarding an honorary membership to Dr. Cleve. This was approved by consensus. Mike Connor reported that Warren Esty was sending 10 lbs of catalogs for the Club.
PRESENTATION
Roger Burry gave a presentation CHINA: FIRST STOP ON THE SILK ROAD with a guest appearance by Marco Polo!
It was a great presentation clearly showing that Roger had done a lot of hard work hitting the books and was very much appreciated.
Respectfully submitted
David Stepsay, Secretary
JULY 2014
The next meeting of the club will take place Sunday, August 10, 2014 starting at 1:00 P.M. in the Community Room in the Rotunda at Sherman Oaks Galleria. The program will be The Formation of the Chinese Empire. The history of the Qin (Chin) Empire that began the 2,000 year, Eternal Empire of China will be presented via DVD and discussion. Also please bring inputs to the survey of attitudes about coin provenance that were passed out and that Ken Friedman is taking. This will be the basis of a future program.
LAST MEETING
The July meeting took place at the Getty Museum to enable the club to take advantage of the very interesting Byzantium exhibition taking place there. The members were lead on a tour by one of the docents. The exhibition is called Heaven and Earth: Art of Byzantium from Greek Collections and is housed on the second floor. There were many artifacts among the most interesting being the triptyches made of wood and still looking contemporary with the times of their design. Also pottery and statues and items of adornment, among the most interesting being the finger rings and other jewelry worn by the upper classes of Byzantium. Also some samples of the contemporary literature, being of a clerical nature, of course. And a collection of coins which would be of most interest to us numismatists. At the end, some of us gourmands enjoyed a repast at the refectory. No comestibles of a Byzantine nature though. There is still time for some to take advantage of the allied offerings at the museum, such as the Aeschylus play The Persians, Byzantine chanting, A Taste of Byzantium (cooking from that period), Arms and Armor by master blacksmith Tony Swatton, and ancient garments modeled by the members of the Legion Six Historical Society. As usual, the expedition by the club to the Getty was fascinating.
Respectfully submitted
David Stepsay, Secretary
OCTOBER 2014
The next meeting of the Club will take place on Sunday October 12, 2014 at the usual time of 1:00 P.M. in the Community Room in the Rotunda at Sherman Oaks Galleria. The program will be The Silk Road: the Western Regions. Joe Tooma and Roger Burry will continue our travels along the Silk Road into the Kushan Empire. Bring you Traveler’s Pass for the cities of Kasgar, Samarkhan, and other destinations.
LAST MEETING
Meeting called to order by President Merrill Gibson at 1:20 P.M. Officer elections were discussed briefly. Treasurer Barry Rightman gave the Treasury report. Mike Connor reports that there are about 200 visitors per to the website.
GOOD AND WELFARE
We need a membership chairman. The problem with next month’s meeting time has been resolved. Mike Connor mentioned the latest issue of the Journal of Oriental Numismatics Society and suggested folks consider subscribing.
Roger Burry gave a presentation on Monuments and Buildings on Ancient Coins.
Respectfully submitted
David Stepsay, Secretary
DECEMBER 2014
The next meeting will take place Sunday December 14, 2014 in the community room at Sherman Oaks Galleria. The program will be entitled I Claudius, Part II: Randy butler will continue his discussion of the life of Claudius and the coins associated with this period. Read the I, Claudius book and be prepared for an entertaining program! The December meeting is also our Annual General Meeting at which the members present will elect the Officers and Board of Directors for the coming year, 2015.
LAST MEETING
President Merrill Gibson called the meeting to order at 1:25 P.M. Barry Rightman gave the treasurer’s report and read a postcard from Dean Ruby. We have 106 “friends” on facebook. Merrill suggested we have a membership chairman, which he would be glad to take on if no one else can be recruited. A discussion of how to inculcate new members followed, including through shows and similar means. A discussion anent signatures on the bank account took place. In January the Barbara Rightman award will be given. Nominations for Officers and Board members were opened. Nominations will close and the elections be held at the December meeting. Other discussion items included issuing official invitations to former members to re-join the club; a Club purchase of the imminent final volume of Roman Coins and Their Values.
PRESENTATION
Roger Burry gave a presentation and video showing of Arminius and the Battle of Teutoberg Forest.
Respectfully submitted
David Stepsay, Secretary
JANUARY 2015
The next meeting will take place Sunday January 11, 2015 in the community room at Sherman Oaks Galleria. This meeting will feature the Installation of Officers and our Annual Pot-Luck Luncheon.
LAST MEETING
Election of the 2015 Board of Directors and new Officers took place by acclamation. The results are as follows:
ACCLA Board of Directors 2015
President: Ken Friedman
Vice President: Roger Burry
Treasurer: Barry Rightman
Secretary: David Stepsay
Merrill Gibson (Past President)
Randy Butler
Bob Lattanzi
Michael Connor
Paul Ranc
Joe Tooma
Betty Eiseman passed around a sign-up list for the January festivities.
Two new young members signed up with the club - Alvaro and Leonel Ramirez. They are budding coin collectors with an interest in ancient coins. Roy Iwata, a member of the now-defunct Orange County group, attended for the first time. Barry Rightman took deposits of $25 for the group purchase of David Sear's forthcoming new volume in the Roman Coins and Their Values series. Mike Connor, web-master, reported that ACCLA website visitation was about 20% higher than last year. We now have 150 friends on facebook. Merrill Gibson announced that next month we will vote for the recipient of the Annual Barbara Rightman Award.
PRESENTATION
Randy Butler gave the second installment of his I, Claudius presentation. Using Robert Graves, Tacitus, Suetonius, Josephus, and collection of coins of the period as sources, he reviewed Claudius' family life during the rule of Tiberius.
Respectfully submitted
David Stepsay, Secretary
MAY 2015
The next meeting of the Ancient Coin Club of Los Angeles will be held on Sunday May 10, 2015 in the Community Room at the Sherman Oaks Galleria in Sherman Oaks. The presentation will be by Dr. Robert Cleve, who is Professor of History at CSUN. He will speak on The Five Good Emperors. He has spoken to us many times before and always has a very interesting presentation, angled toward ancient numismatics.
LAST MEETING
The last meeting took place at Getty Museum Villa, famed far and wide for its tremendous collections and exhibits. This meeting was particularly interesting as being hosted by one of our experts in silversmithing, Rick White, metal smith, silver restoration specialist, and silver shop owner. The show billed as Artist at Work, was represented by Ancient Luxury and the Roman Silver Treasure from Berthouville, the title of its contents. A whole (2 page) prospectus was handed out, from which it might be profitable to cite some topics, to wit, Forging: which involves heating called annealing, which is done with a hammer while warm; Raising: wherein the sheet of metal is struck with a hammer over air; and Sinking: a variation on raising where the sheet is formed into a bowl shape using this process. I’m not sure if Casting was covered. It involves “lost wax casting”, with which ancient numismatists are familiar. I think Finishing was touched on—and maybe Soldering. A rather replete list of sources was printed in the syllabus by Getty containing references to about six silversmithing experts. And Mr White’s shop address in Glendora is contained therein, as well as his URL. All in all, the event was interesting enough to be well worth the effort Mr. White put into it and the attention paid by our members.
Respectfully submitted
David Stepsay, Secretary