Lawrence J. Lee
Lawrence J. Lee is the former Director of the American Numismatic Association Money Museum in Colorado Springs, Colorado and past curator of the Byron Reed Collection of Coins and Documents at the Durham Western Heritage Museum in Omaha, Nebraska. For the past two years, he has operated Numismatic Museum Services, a consulting business specializing in museum collections with numismatic holdings.Lee has published scores of articles and columns in The Numismatist, Coin World, The Token and Medal Society Journal and other numismatic publications. He has won several numismatic literary awards for these publications, including the Wayte and Olga Raymond Memorial Award for Distinguished Numismatic Achievement and the Heath Literary Award for Outstanding Literary Contributions. Lee has served on various ANA Committees, including the President's Committee, the Education Committee and the Museum Committee. He founded and was lead instructor for the class "Numismatics for the Museum Professional" held at the ANA Summer Seminar. Additionally, he has given "Numismatic Theater" presentations at ANA Conventions, including lectures on the Denver Mint, the British "Una and the Lion" coin, and a Confederatio copper piece lost to the numismatic world for over 100 years.
Lee is very interested in Colorado private territorial gold coins and mints and is currently researching a history of early Colorado numismatics for publication in 2006. He also currently serves as Editor of the Nebraska Numismatic Association Journal.
While he was a museum director, Lee designed and coordinated over 20 different major numismatic exhibitions, from 2,000 square-foot galleries down to single-case exhibits. He has built and designed specialized exhibition story lines around the first silver coin struck in America, the first silver dollar struck by the U.S. Mint, the reunion of the five 1913 Liberty-head nickels, the 1933 $10 gold piece, the Brasher Doubloon, two different exhibits on 1804 Bust dollars and numerous other displays of important U.S. and world coinage. Lee has also curated several major traveling exhibits, including "The SS Central America Ship of Gold," "Hands Across the Sea" (AMSA), "Augustus Saint-Gauden" and "The Story of Money."
Lee has a Bachelor of Science degree in Anthropology and Archeology, a Masters of Education degree in Museum Studies and Adult Education and a Doctorate pending in Adult Education from the University of Nebraska. His dissertation is entitled "Numismatic Education in the United States: A Qualitative Study." He is a member of the American Numismatic Association, the American Numismatic Society, the Tokens and Medal Society, the Numismatic Literary Guild, the Lincoln Coin Club, the Nebraska Numismatic Association, the American Association of Museums, the Great Plains Museum Association and the Bill Henderson Supper Club. He has institutional references from the University of Denver School of Art and Art History, the University of Nebraska State Museum, the Nevada State Museum and the Colorado State Historical Society, among others.
Lee can be reached at lee@numuserv.com or by calling 402-488-2646.
