Howland Wood

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.

Career Wood had a long association with the American numismatic community. He was secretary to the Boston Numismatic Society from 1908 to 1913. He also served as general secretary to the ANA from 1905 to 1909, and then governor and chairman from 1909 to 1912. Wood 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.

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.

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 in 1920. He served as president of the New York Numismatic Club from 1930 to 1933, and the club honored him with a presidential medal designed by Jonathan M. Swanson.

Personal life Wood married Elizabeth Marvin in 1913, and they had two daughters, Elizabeth and Sylvia Howland. He died of pneumonia in Flushing, Queens in early 1938.

Legacy

Blacksmith tokens

Within Canadian numismatics, Wood is best remembered for his work on the 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 American Numismatic Association (ANA) presented the Howland Wood Memorial Award, its most prestigious award for numismatic exhibitors. The award is presented at the ANA's annual summer convention to the exhibitor whose entry is judged best in show. It is selected from the winners of the ANA's judged exhibit competition and recognizes excellence in numismatic research, presentation, and educational value. The recipients and titles or subjects of their winning exhibits are listed below.

Year Exhibitor Exhibit Title or Subject 1952 J. Hewitt Judd "United States patterns, trial or experimental pieces, and types of early United States coins" 1953 William A. Philpott, Jr. "United States Currency and Texas Currency" 1954 New York Orders and Decorations Society "World orders and decorations" 1955 Burton H. Saxton [title/subject unpublished] 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" 1957 Amon G. Carter, Jr. "U. S. and Canadian currency" 1958 August F. Hausske [title/subject unpublished] 1959 Clifford L. Liss "Coins of the Philippines under U. S. and coins commemorating Declaration of Independence" 1960 Patricia M. Nestor "Massachusetts money" 1961 Robert Earl Cox, Jr. "Patterns, complete regular issues and commemorative" 1962 Gaston DiBello "United States and foreign gold coins" 1963 Julius Turoff [title/subject unpublished] 1964 Fred R. Marckhoff "Obsolete paper money of Indian Territory" 1965 Robert E. Medlar Republic of Texas, 1836–45 1966 George L. Podlusky Orders, Decorations and Medals of Bavaria 1967 Julio M. Ruiz Laabes "Coins and bills of Puerto Rico" 1968 Opal H. Morris U. S. Silver Commemorative Coins in Historical Arrangement 1969 Lelan G. Rogers [title/subject unpublished] 1970 Margaret Frantz [title/subject unpublished] 1971 David R. Cervin Pre-1500 (Anno Domini) Dated Coins 1972 Francis "Frank" O’Sullivan Great Rarities in Ancient Bronze 1973 Raymond A. Byrne [title/subject unpublished] 1974 Emil Voigt Sculptors and Their Medals 1975 Peter E. Brander Nueva España Silver and Copper Types 1976 C. Radford Stearns Colonial Georgia Paper Money of 1776 1977 Maurice M. Burgett Great Rarities of Obsolete U. S. Currency and Scrip 1978 Stephen R. Taylor U. S. $1 Notes, 1862–1929 1979 Sammy L. Whipple, Sr. The Gold Coinage of King George III 1980 Jean A. Bullen Victorian Coinage of the Present Canadian Maritime Provinces from 1861 to 1900 1981 Jack D. Huggins, Sr. St. Louis World's Fair Elongated Cents 1982 Denis W. Loring The United States Cents of 1794 1983 Frank M. Rose The Wonderful World of Chopmarks on Chinese Dollars 1984 Nancy Opitz Wilson Type Set of Second Issue U. S. Fractional Currency 1985 Robert F. Kriz British Sovereigns, 1817 to 1982 1986 Jean A. Bullen The 50-Cent Decimal Coinage of Canada and Newfoundland — 1870–1985 1987 R. Wayne Colbert Agricultural Medals of Great Britain 1988 William F. Spengler The Satamana System, South Asia's Oldest Coinage 1989 John E. Page Coins of India: Punchmarked Coins, 6th Century to 2nd Century B.C. 1990 Thomas H. Law 500 Years of English Sovereigns — A Type Set 1991 Gene Hessler Max Svabinsky — Czechoslovak Designer, His Complete Works 1992 Thomas H. Law The Gold Coin Types of George III 1993 Thomas H. Law The Large Milled English Gold Coin Types 1994 Herbert H. Espy Martin Luther — A Medallic Biography 1995 Joseph E. Boling Building a National Currency — Japan, 1868–1899 1996 Peter C. Smith The Challenging Literature of A. M. Smith 1997 Kenneth R. Hill Double-Struck Capped Bust Half Dollars 1998 Georg H. Förster Latin American Silver in Worldwide Circulation from the 16th to the 20th Century 1999 Thomas H. Law The Guineas and Milled Sovereigns of England 2000 Lawrence Sekulich Arethusa: A Numismatic Muse 2001 Thomas H. Law 104 Rare English Gold Coins, 1344–1839 2002 Samuel D. Deep The Exonumia of Higher Education 2003 Leonard Vaccaro A Selection of U. S. Mint Medals from the War of 1812, Engraved by Moritz Fuerst 2004 David Menchell Medals of Conflict, Medals of Conquest: The Numismatic Legacy of the French and Indian War 2005 Steven J. D’Ippolito The ‘Little Gray Coins’: Russia’s Experiment with Circulating Platinum Coinage, 1828–1845 2006 Steven J. D’Ippolito A Selection of Romanov Portrait Rubles 2007 Steven J. D’Ippolito Russian Coins of Conquest 2008 Mack Martin State of Georgia Currency Certificates, 1861–1865 2009 Christopher Marchase The Personal Coinage of Joseph Lesher 2010 Brett D. Irick Canadian Coins of 1947–1948 2011 Robert Rhue A Complete Collection of Regular-Issue North American Horsecar Tokens 2012 David Menchell Taking Care of Business: A Selection of Early Philadelphia Merchant Tokens Issued prior to the Civil War 2013 Lawrence Sekulich Hwenne Gold Was Smite in Coign 2014 Mack Martin Baby Bonds 2015 Lawrence Sekulich They Flap, Flutter and Float: Various Winged Immortals Appearing on Coins from Ancient to Modern Times 2016 Michael T. Shutterly In the Beginning... When Man Created Coins 2017 Robert Rhue The Colored Seal Notes of Colonial Georgia 2018 Michael T. Shutterly Golden Portraits of Byzantium: Every Picture Tells a Story 2019 Michael A. Kodysz Virtus & Victoria: Coins Relating to the Severan War Against the Tribes of Caledonia 2020 Exhibit competition not held; convention canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic 2021 Michael A. Kodysz Prince of Youth: Coinage Traces the Rise and Fall of Publius Septimius Geta 2022 Michael T. Shutterly Shining Lights in an Age of Darkness 2023 Michael A. Kodysz I Was a Teenage Emperor: Decoding Denarii from the Eastern Mints of Elagabalus 2024 Michael A. Kodysz Lands Across the Sea: Connections to the African Continent on Coinage of the Later Roman World 2025 Michael T. Shutterly Tragic Dynasty: The Heraclians of Byzantium

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.