The Seattle Numismatic Society (SNS) is a vibrant local coin club serving the Seattle and greater Puget Sound region. The SNS was founded in 2003 by the merger of the former Seattle Coin Club and the former University Coin Club. The SNS welcomes all numismatists — persons who study, collect, or deal with coins, paper money, tokens and medals.

The SNS is proud to present seattlenumismaticsociety.org, our home on the World Wide Web! This site is updated at least monthly to bring you accurate and up-to-date information about numismatics in the Seattle area. SNS members are also available to help answer your questions about numismatics. Please don't hesitate to ask us a question or to contribute information for possible use on this site!

Seattle and University Coin Clubs Merge

The Seattle Coin Club and the University Coin Club elected to merge in January 2003 to form the Seattle Numismatic Society (SNS). Both clubs had a final meeting and holiday party in December 2002 before the merger.

Members and guests present at the inaugural meeting of the Seattle Numismatic Society on Thursday, January 16, 2003. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
The Seattle Coin Club was founded in 1936, and the University Coin Club was founded in 1960. Although the UCC met near the University of Washington, it was not affiliated with the university. The merged club is a member of the American Numismatic Association, with the Seattle club's old membership number, C-5592.

Meeting Location

SNS meetings are now held in the social room of Queen Anne Manor (basement), 100 Crockett Street, (Queen Anne Hill), Seattle, WA at 7:15 PM on the 3rd Thursday of most months. There are currently no July-August meetings scheduled, and there is an off-site banquet each February. Banquet information can be found on the banquet page.

Club Officers / Contacts

Initial officers of the new club were selected at the January 16, 2003 regular meeting. The current club officers and contacts are listed on the officers page.

Membership / Bylaws

Although many of our members are experienced collectors, beginners are encouraged to join the SNS and participate in all of our club activities. Click on the "Memberships" button for more information.

See the Seattle Numismatic Society bylaws. | See previous SNS news headlines.

What is our charter? — Per the SNS bylaws, Article II, "This organization is formed for the mutual benefit of its members. Each member will exert every effort towards the advancement of numismatics, and towards making the organization a success by obtaining new members." In doing so, the SNS contributes to the mission of the Pacific Northwest Numismatic Association (PNNA) to "promote, extend, and protect the interests of numismatists and numismatic activities throughout the Pacific Northwest and to foster and encourage the study of numismatics in all its forms."

What do we do? — In addition to maintaining this web site, the SNS publishes a monthly newsletter, has monthly meetings (except in July and August), an annual banquet and promotes numismatics through special programs, activities and awards. SNS members participate in the numismatic display at the Puyallup Fair Hobby Hall each September.

• See our calendar for upcoming club events.

• Our SNS information index includes links to everything you need to know about the SNS!

• See the PNNA reference section for information about buying and selling coins, a list of speakers for your coin club meetings, and a variety of other numismatic topics. Also see the PNNA's page of links to other numismatic sites.

Current and Upcoming Club Events:

• Speakers Wanted! If you would like to be a speaker at a future SNS meeting (or know someone who would), please contact Lisa and Scott Loos at scottloos@msn.com.

• Next Club Meeting! Thursday, June 15, 2017.

• See SNS calendar or the newsletter for more information.

• See SNS monthly newsletters (password required).

• Also see the SNS calendar, the SNS banquet page, and the SNS picnic page.

• See the PNNA Homepage and PNNA Calendar for information about such exciting events as the PNNA annual conventions in Tukwila and Portland, National Coin Week, ANA Summer Seminar, and the two annual ANA conventions (National Money Show and World's Fair of Money).

Completed Club Events:

• May 18, 2017 club meeting. A representative from the Renton Police Dept. spoke regarding coin safety, both as a collector and a dealer. The display topic was "Flora and Fauna."

• April 20, 2017 club meeting. The guest speaker was Ray Fiorini from the South Hill Coin Club, speaking about "Chuck E. Cheese Game Tokens." The display topic was the National Coin Week theme of "Conflict and Courage: Money and the Military."

• Important note: The March meeting was moved to the Tukwila Community Center due to the PNNA convention, March 17-19, 2017.
  March 16, 2017 club meeting. The guest speaker was Dan Duncan, owner of Pinnacle Rarities, and the display topic was "Lions and/or Lambs."

• February 16, 2017 SNS Annual Club Banquet and White Elephant Auction, at the Mandarin Buffet & Grill. Thanks to all those who attended. See banquet page for report.

• January 18, 2017 club meeting. Congratulations to Dick Billings, the winner of the annual display runoff. He will be receiving his prize at the banquet. The speaker was Mike Zagorin, who gave a very informative lesson on propaganda notes from the First Gulf War. These notes were made in the United States to drop on Iraqi civilians and armies to intimidate or encourage them to surrender.

• December 15, 2016 club meeting - cancelled.

• November 17, 2016 club meeting. The speaker was Mike Zagorin, and the display topic was "Non-Circular Coinage."

• October 20, 2016 club meeting. The speaker was Tim Culbert, talking about "Army WWI Victory Medals." The most interesting was a medal awarded to General Babbitt, who had affiliation with the 91st Division at Ft. Lewis. He was the only brigade commander not to see combat throughout the war. The display topic was "Emergency Money."

• Washington State (Puyallup) Fair, September 2-25, 2016, except closed on Tuesdays. See the PNNA website for more information about the Hobby Hall coin display. The PNNA sponsors the annual coin exhibit in the Hobby Hall, with assistance from several local coin clubs including the SNS. No volunteer is knowledgeable about all aspects of numismatics — if your question wasn't answered or if you were unable to attend the Fair, please e-mail your question to info@pnna.org, and it will be directed to a local expert. The PNNA's Hobby Hall coordinator is Rick Schulz.

• September 15, 2016 club meeting. Rick Schulz was the scheduled speaker. According to the meeting notes, "We all received a brief education about identifying foreign coins. We all passed!!" The display topic was "Your favorite summer find."

• June 16, 2016 club meeting. The speaker was Tim Smith (Elemetal Direct, formerly NTR Metals, a commercial refiner in Tukwila), "Things to Look for Before Buying Precious Metals." His facility melts gold, silver, platinum and palladium. He is seeing an abundance of stolen and fake items, including fake gold nuggets. The display topic was "Favorite numismatic book(s)."

• See previous SNS news headlines.