Howland Wood (May 30, 1877 – January 4, 1938) was an American numismatist and former chairman of the American Numismatic Association (ANA).
Early life Wood was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1877. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University in 1900. He lived in Boston, where he had a photo engraving business.Smith
Career
Wood had a long association with the American numismatic community. He served as general secretary of the American Numismatic Association from 1905 to 1909, and then as governor and chairman from 1909 to 1912. While serving as ANA secretary, Wood corresponded with President Theodore Roosevelt concerning the new United States gold coinage designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. In a letter dated November 21, 1907, Roosevelt expressed his pleasure with Wood's favorable comments on the new double eagle design and wrote that securing "a great artist like Saint-Gaudens to design our coinage" had been "a chance not to be mist [sic]," adding, "What a loss his death has been!"
Wood was secretary of the Boston Numismatic Society from 1908 to 1913. He became an associate editor of The Numismatist from 1909 to 1910, and was an associate editor and later editor of the American Journal of Numismatics from 1910 to 1920.Smith
American Numismatic Society Wood's work for the American Numismatic Society took him to New York City in 1913. He served as curator of the American Numismatic Society Museum from 1913 to 1938.Smith
Publications
Wood was the author of several numismatic publications, including: The Coinage of Siam and Its Dependencies (1904) The Canadian Blacksmith Coppers (1910) Catalogue of United States and Colonial Coins (1914) Coinage of West Indies and Sou Marqué (1915) The Mexican Revolutionary Coinage, 1913-1916 (1921) The Gold Dollars of 1858 with Notes of the Other Issues (1922) The Commemorative Coinage of the United States (1922) The Tegucigalpa Coinage of 1823 (1923) The Coinage of Ethiopia (1937)
Lifetime honors Wood received the Archer M. Huntington Award from the American Numismatic Society (ANS) in 1920.ANS He served as president of the New York Numismatic Club (NYNC) from 1930 to 1933, and the club honored him with a presidential medal designed by Jonathan M. Swanson. He was a Fellow of the American Numismatic Society and the Royal Numismatic Society (RNS).Who's Who in America, Vol. 14 (1926), biography of Howland Wood.
Personal life Wood married Elizabeth Marvin in 1913, and they had two daughters, Elizabeth and Sylvia Howland.Who's Who in America, Vol. 14 (1926), biography of Howland Wood. He died of pneumonia in Flushing, Queens in early 1938.
Legacy
Blacksmith tokens
Within Canadian numismatics, Wood is best remembered for his work on blacksmith tokens, which he first systematically described in a 1910 publication. While other Canadian numismatists had commented on them before, Wood was the first to categorize them. His numbering system is still used today.
Howland Wood Memorial Award Beginning in 1952, the ANA presented the Howland Wood Memorial Award for Best-of-Show Exhibit, its most prestigious award for numismatic exhibitors. The ANA presents the award at its annual summer convention, now known as the World's Fair of Money, held in cities throughout the United States. The recipient is selected from among the first-place winners of the ANA's judged class-level exhibit competition. Through 2026, the award has been presented 74 times to 55 exhibitors, including 54 individuals and one organization.
The recipients and titles or subjects of their winning exhibits are listed below. ANA exhibit rules were changed around 1970 to require exhibitors to display exhibit titles inside their cases. Earlier reports often did not record exhibit titles, so for most early winners only the subject is known, indicated with quotation marks; for others, neither the title (if present) nor the subject has been recovered.
Year Exhibitor Exhibit Title or Subject Convention Location 1952 J. Hewitt Judd "United States patterns, trial or experimental pieces, and types of early United States coins" New York City, NY 1953 William A. Philpott, Jr. "United States Currency and Texas Currency" Dallas, TX 1954 New York Orders and Decorations Society "World orders and decorations" Cleveland, OH 1955 Burton H. Saxton [title/subject unpublished] Omaha, NE 1956 Robert F. Schermerhorn "Die proofs of the 1896 $1.00 to $50.00 notes, national bank first and second charter notes, silver certificates, coin notes and legal tender notes"Chicago, IL 1957 Amon G. Carter, Jr. "U. S. and Canadian currency" Philadelphia, PA 1958 August F. Hausske [title/subject unpublished] Los Angeles, CA 1959 Clifford L. Liss "Coins of the Philippines under U. S. and coins commemorating Declaration of Independence" Portland, OR 1960 Patricia M. Nestor "Massachusetts money"Boston, MA 1961 Robert Earl Cox, Jr. "Patterns, complete regular issues and commemorative" Atlanta, GA 1962 Gaston DiBello "United States and foreign gold coins"Detroit, MI 1963 Julius Turoff "Collection of United States coins"Denver, CO 1964 Fred R. Marckhoff "Obsolete paper money of Indian Territory"Cleveland, OH 1965 Robert E. Medlar Republic of Texas, 1836–45Houston, TX 1966 George L. Podlusky Orders, Decorations and Medals of Bavaria Chicago, IL 1967 Julio M. Ruiz Laabes "Coins and bills of Puerto Rico" Miami, FL 1968 Opal H. Morris U. S. Silver Commemorative Coins in Historical Arrangement San Diego, CA 1969 Lelan G. Rogers [title/subject unpublished] Philadelphia, PA 1970 Margaret Frantz A Study of the Cobs of Colonial Spain St. Louis, MO 1971 David R. Cervin Pre-1500 (Anno Domini) Dated Coins Washington, DC 1972 Frank O'Sullivan Great Rarities in Ancient Bronze New Orleans, LA 1973 Raymond A. Byrne [title/subject unpublished] Boston, MA 1974 Emil Voigt, Sr. Sculptors and Their Medals Miami, FL 1975 Peter E. Brander Nueva España Silver and Copper Types Los Angeles, CA 1976 C. Radford Stearns Colonial Georgia Paper Money of 1776 New York City, NY 1977 Maurice M. Burgett Great Rarities of Obsolete U. S. Currency and Scrip Atlanta, GA 1978 Stephen R. Taylor U. S. $1 Notes, 1862–1929 Houston, TX 1979 Sammy L. Whipple, Sr. The Gold Coinage of King George III St. Louis, MO 1980 Jean A. Bullen Victorian Coinage of the Present Canadian Maritime Provinces from 1861 to 1900 Cincinnati, OH 1981 Jack D. Huggins, Sr. St. Louis World's Fair Elongated Cents New Orleans, LA 1982 Denis W. Loring The United States Cents of 1794 Boston, MA 1983 Frank M. Rose The Wonderful World of Chopmarks on Chinese Dollars San Diego, CA 1984 Nancy Opitz Wilson Type Set of Second Issue U. S. Fractional Currency Detroit, MI 1985 Robert F. Kriz British Sovereigns, 1817 to 1982 Baltimore, MD 1986 Jean A. Bullen The 50-Cent Decimal Coinage of Canada and Newfoundland — 1870–1985 Milwaukee, WI 1987 R. Wayne Colbert Agricultural Medals of Great Britain Atlanta, GA 1988 William F. Spengler The Satamana System, South Asia's Oldest Coinage Cincinnati, OH 1989 John E. Page Coins of India: Punchmarked Coins, 6th Century to 2nd Century B.C. Pittsburgh, PA 1990 Thomas H. Law 500 Years of English Sovereigns — A Type Set Chicago, IL 1991 Gene Hessler Max Svabinsky — Czechoslovak Designer, His Complete Works Chicago, IL 1992 Thomas H. Law The Gold Coin Types of George III Orlando, FL 1993 Thomas H. Law The Large Milled English Gold Coin Types Baltimore, MD 1994 Herbert H. Espy Martin Luther — A Medallic Biography Detroit, MI 1995 Joseph E. Boling Building a National Currency — Japan, 1868–1899 Anaheim, CA 1996 Peter C. Smith The Challenging Literature of A. M. Smith Denver, CO 1997 Kenneth R. Hill Double-Struck Capped Bust Half Dollars New York City, NY 1998 Georg H. Förster Latin American Silver in Worldwide Circulation from the 16th to the 20th Century Portland, OR 1999 Thomas H. Law The Guineas and Milled Sovereigns of England Chicago, IL 2000 Lawrence Sekulich Arethusa: A Numismatic Muse Philadelphia, PA 2001 Thomas H. Law 104 Rare English Gold Coins, 1344–1839 Atlanta, GA 2002 Samuel D. Deep The Exonumia of Higher Education New York City, NY 2003 Leonard Vaccaro A Selection of U. S. Mint Medals from the War of 1812, Engraved by Moritz Fuerst Baltimore, MD 2004 David Menchell Medals of Conflict, Medals of Conquest: The Numismatic Legacy of the French and Indian War Pittsburgh, PA 2005 Steven J. D’Ippolito The ‘Little Gray Coins’: Russia’s Experiment with Circulating Platinum Coinage, 1828–1845 San Francisco, CA 2006 Steven J. D’Ippolito A Selection of Romanov Portrait Rubles Denver, CO 2007 Steven J. D’Ippolito Russian Coins of Conquest Milwaukee, WI 2008 Mack Martin State of Georgia Currency Certificates, 1861–1865 Baltimore, MD 2009 Christopher Marchase The Personal Coinage of Joseph Lesher Los Angeles, CA 2010 Brett D. Irick Canadian Coins of 1947–1948 Boston, MA 2011 Robert Rhue A Complete Collection of Regular-Issue North American Horsecar Tokens Chicago, IL 2012 David Menchell Taking Care of Business: A Selection of Early Philadelphia Merchant Tokens Issued prior to the Civil War Philadelphia, PA 2013 Lawrence Sekulich Hwenne Gold Was Smite in Coign Chicago, IL 2014 Mack Martin Baby Bonds Chicago, IL 2015 Lawrence Sekulich They Flap, Flutter and Float: Various Winged Immortals Appearing on Coins from Ancient to Modern Times Chicago, IL 2016 Michael T. Shutterly In the Beginning... When Man Created Coins Anaheim, CA 2017 Robert Rhue The Colored Seal Notes of Colonial Georgia Denver, CO 2018 Michael T. Shutterly Golden Portraits of Byzantium: Every Picture Tells a Story Philadelphia, PA 2019 Michael A. Kodysz Virtus & Victoria: Coins Relating to the Severan War Against the Tribes of Caledonia Chicago, IL 2020 Exhibit competition not held; convention canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic Pittsburgh, PA (canceled) 2021 Michael A. Kodysz Prince of Youth: Coinage Traces the Rise and Fall of Publius Septimius Geta Chicago, IL 2022 Michael T. Shutterly Shining Lights in an Age of Darkness Chicago, IL 2023 Michael A. Kodysz I Was a Teenage Emperor: Decoding Denarii from the Eastern Mints of Elagabalus Pittsburgh, PA 2024 Michael A. Kodysz Lands Across the Sea: Connections to the African Continent on Coinage of the Later Roman World Chicago, IL 2025 Michael T. Shutterly Tragic Dynasty: The Heraclians of Byzantium Oklahoma City, OK 2026 Michael A. Kodysz Last Years of Caracalla: Numismatic Propaganda and the Path to the East 214–217 CE Pittsburgh, PA
ANA Numismatic Hall of Fame Wood was inducted into the American Numismatic Association's Numismatic Hall of Fame in 1969, as one of its first nine inductees. The Hall of Fame, established in 1964 to honor important figures in numismatics, is located at the ANA headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where plaques commemorate the honorees.American Numismatic Association, "Numismatic Hall of Fame"
References
External links The Mysterious Blacksmith Tokens of North America by Nova Numismatics The Mexican Revolutionary Coinage 1913–1916 by Howland Wood, via Internet Archive The Commemorative Coinage of the United States... Revised and Extended from 1922 to 1939 with Charts by Howland Wood, via Internet Archive The Tegucigalpa Coinage of 1823 by Howland Wood, via Internet Archive Howland Wood Memorial Award for Best-of-Show Exhibit
Bibliography
Smith, Pete (2025). American Numismatic Biographies. Internet Archive.