A very productive annual meeting of the Foundation was held during the 2015 RCNA Convention in Halifax in July.

     The meeting began with a moment of silence for Rev. Dr. Bernard O'Connor who passed away on May 10, 2015. Because of Rev. O'Connor's generous donation we are able to endow graduate scholarships in his name to four Canadian universities. Laval University has had the greatest success in finding a well qualified recipient for each year of the first three years the scholarship has been offered. Carleton, UBC, and Memorial have had varying success, with the scholarship not awarded in every year. They will endeavour to give out the award from accumulated monies before they are advanced new funds.

     The following business items are of note:

• An Executive Committee of the Board was struck comprising the Chair, Deputy Chair, immediate ex-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, and the Chair of the Investment Committee. The Executive Committee met for the first time during Toronto Coin Expo in October, 2015.
• Graham Esler, Chair of our Publications Committee, provided an update on various book projects in the works. One of the projects is the Chair's book on the Upper Canada Coppers, 1815-1841, which has been completed and sent to Spink in August for publication in the New Year. There was also agreement in principle that we look into the possibility of publishing Volume II of Adam Shortt's Nova Scotia papers, which was originally planned as the Foundation's first publication. These papers were deposited with the Bank of Canada. The Chair will consult with the Bank and bring a proposal to the full Board at the next annual general meeting. It is hoped that manuscripts of additional projects will be completed in the near future and that the Foundation can support their publication.
• An initiative to digitally scan Eugene Courteau's monographs on Canadian tokens has also been approved. The digitized monographs will be made freely available on the Internet via a link at the Foundation's web site. Paul Petch has agreed to attend to the technical aspects of this initiative, which should result in a public relations benefit to the Foundation.
• Several changes to Board positions are in process. Robert Forbes was named Deputy Chair of the Board in place of Paul Johnson, who wished to retire from the position. Effective August 15, 2015, Neil Probert officially took over as Treasurer of the Foundation from Len Buth. It was confirmed that effective April 1, 2016, Scott Douglas will replace Rick Craig as Chair of our Investment Committee. We extend our thanks to Len and Rick for so ably performing their duties for so many years.
• A request for funding from the co-chairs of the 2016 RCNA Convention in support of a "Numicamp" for young collectors immediately prior to the Convention was discussed. This request was circulated to the Board in Halifax. Subsequently, the Executive Committee supported the goals of the Numicamp initiative and agreed to help fund the educational portion using a staged approach to a maximum of $2500 if the enrollment limit of 20 participants is achieved. The J. Douglas Ferguson Historical Research Foundation's sponsorship of the event will be publicized
• Ronald Greene offered to make remaining copies of the Canadian Numismatic Bibliography (about 50 copies) and the associated CD available for sale on his web site at no cost beyond PayPal fees.

     The prospect of the new initiatives will mean a diminishment of our available funds. The Foundation's ability to fund these and future projects can only be achieved through your tax deductible donations.

     The members of the Ferguson Foundation were saddened to hear of the recent passing of Rev. O'Connor. He donated the proceeds of his extensive collection to the Foundation August 26, 2009 following its sale by auction in the amount of $546,712.

     The Sydney Mines native, born March 13, 1951, passed away in hospital Sunday May 10, 2015 in Mishawaka, Ind., at the age of 64 after experiencing declining health in recent months. He began his schooling at St. Francis Xavier University and later attended several universities where he studied theology and spirituality. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1977. In 2004, Father Bernie, as he was known, was called to the Vatican to serve the Congregation for the Oriental Churches. He was also a fellow and professor of theology and ecclesial mediation at the Graduate Theological Foundation in Indiana, where he served from 1996 to this year. A renowned expert on papal diplomacy, he authored two books on the subject. He had previously taught summer courses at the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. O'Connor was also a personal acquaintance to Pope Benedict XVI, having co-authored an article with him when the former pontiff was known as Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger.

     More complete information is available from The Chronicle Herald.

     The Annual Meeting of the J.D. Ferguson Historical Research Foundation's Board of Directors was held on Friday August 15, 2014 during the R.C.N.A. Convention. The Foundation's prime objective is to give financial support to a broad range of activities aimed at preserving our heritage as it relates to early historical currency, banks and other issuers of money, coins, tokens, medals and paper money issued throughout Canada.

     The following business items were discussed during the proceedings:

• The Foundation continues with a solid financial status thanks to the work of the Investment Committee.
• The Foundation is once again assisting the R.C.N.A. with a $3,000 grant in support of colour and improved quality of their CN Journal.
• Six proposals for publications have been received with the expectation that two could be ready for production by next year.
• Four scholarships of $3,000 were awarded from the Rev. O'Connor Scholarship Fund in what has proven to be a very successful initiative.
• Reincorporation of the Foundation in compliance with the Federal Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act was discussed and articles of continuance and revised by-laws were passed by the directors.
• A $100 payment was made to the 2014 R.C.N.A. convention to defray the cost of our meeting room.

     Effective 16 August 2014, Christopher Faulkner will be the Chairman of the Foundation.

Board members pictured are (left to right): Robert Forbes, David Bergeron, Dick Dunn, Graham Esler, Len Buth, Ted Leitch, Paul Petch, Robert Graham, Geoff Bell, Chairman, Dorte Brace, Christopher Faulkner, Scott Douglas, Rick Craig, Bret Evans (ex-officio RCNA), Ronald Greene, Paul Johnson

     Geoffrey Bell, Chairman of the J. Douglas Ferguson Historical Research Foundation, recently announced several changes to the Foundation's Board. Mr. Bell, who was appointed Board Chairman in 1999 by the late William MacDonald, is stepping down in August, 2014 and Prof. Christopher Faulkner will be assuming the chairmanship. Faulkner is well known in Canadian numismatics as a prolific researcher and writer. His most recent award-winning work was on the Holey Dollars of Prince Edward Island. Mr. Bell will continue as a Board member.

     Calgary chartered accountant, Neil Probert will assume the Treasurer's job at the end of this fiscal year in March, 2015. Len Buth, the current Treasurer, is leaving the position after many years of faithful service. Mr. Buth will continue to serve the Board.

       As Mr. Geoffrey Bell, Chairman of the J.D. Ferguson Historical Research Foundation, continues to recover from a medial condition, Deputy Chairman Mr. Christopher Faulkner chaired the annual meeting of the Foundation on July 26, 2013 during the R.C.N.A. convention in Winnipeg.

       Mr. Geoffrey Bell, Chairman of the J.D. Ferguson Historical Research Foundation issued a press release on August 20, 2012 reporting on the operation of the Foundation:

     The J.D. Ferguson Historical Research Foundation recently held its Annual Meeting. The Foundation's prime objective is to give financial support to a broad range of activities aimed at preserving our heritage as it relates to early historical currency, banks and other issuers of money, coins, tokens, medals and paper money issued throughout Canada.

     It was announced that the book authored by Christopher Faulkner entitled "The Holey Dollars and Dumps of Prince Edward Island" is currently at Spinks and slated to be released early fall 2012. The Foundation is underwriting the total cost of publication. The Board also agreed to donate its extensive inventory of books to the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association for presentation to juniors and new members. The RCNA is also going to receive a donation from the Foundation of $3000 to upgrade its journal with additional color.

     Awards of four scholarships of $3000 to Canadian universities were approved for numismatic study at the post-graduate level. Funds are provided from the Rev. Dr. Bernard J. O'Connor Scholarship Fund. The universities selected were Memorial of St. John's, Laval of Quebec City, Carleton of Ottawa and the University of British Columbia, Vancouver.

     In order to increase the amount of its financial support to various numismatic activities, the Foundation needs to increase its investment portfolio. Donations of cash and numismatic and archival material are urgently sought and will be gratefully received at any time. All donations are tax-exempt under the income tax act and an official receipt will be issued. Our thanks are extended to the Vancouver Numismatic Society for their recent generous donation.

Board members pictured are: foreground - Chairman Geoffrey Bell around the table from left - Dorte Brace, Paul Petch, Ted Leitch, Neil Probert, Michael Zigler (ex-officio CPMS), Dick Dunn, Ronald Greene, Robert Forbes, Len Buth, Rick Craig, Peter Moogk, William Waychison (ex-officio RCNA)

       The Board of Directors of the J. Douglas Ferguson Historical Research Foundation met on July 15, 2011 during the R.C.N.A. Convention in Windsor, Ontario. During this meeting Christopher Faulkner reported on progress with the Prince Edward Island Holey Dollar book. Having met with the Spink's book editor in London, he commented that copies are currently expected in the fall of 2011. Christopher Faulkner also reported on options and recommendations for awarding scholarships from the Rev. Dr. Bernard O’Connor fund. He will chair a committee that will make available four scholarships of $3,000 to be awarded by designated universities for a trial period of three years. In 2009, the Rev. Dr. Bernard O’Connor donated $546,000 to the Foundation following the sale of his wonderful collection. Foundation Treasurer Len Buth presented the financial statements as at 31 March, 2011.

     The Ferguson Foundation has distributed over $286,000 since 1980 to authors putting together book projects, essay projects and grants to national organizations. The 21 member Board of Directors representing experienced, reputable individuals from many walks of life administers the Foundation. The Presidents of both the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association and the Canadian Paper Money Society are ex-officio members allowing close contact with both national bodies.

Board members pictured are: head table - Chairman Geoffrey Bell left table back to front - Robert Forbes, Ronald Greene, Len Buth, Christopher Faulkner, Dan Gosling, right table back to front - Robert Graham, Cliffe Beattie, Graham Esler, Michael Zigler, Dorte Brace, front table left to right - Paul Johnson, Paul Petch, Ted Leitch, not pictured - Paul Berry, Dick Dunn

      It was with a strong feeling of the passing of an era that the death of William H. (Bill) McDonald was announced on Saturday, May 14, 2011. Bill was a huge force in Canadian numismatics, founder of the CPMS (Canadian Paper Money Society), the CMNS (Classical and Medieval Numismatic Society) and the J. Douglas Ferguson Historical Research Foundation.

     Bill, born in Winnipeg in 1924 into a large family, left home to join the Navy in 1943. (He spoke of picking apples in the Annapolis Valley, a task used by the military to keep their young recruits busy, and of a train trip to the west coast where he was to take up ship. Passing through his hometown, his father met the train and slipped him a flask of whiskey: "You're a man now, Bill.") He joined the RCNVR and for the duration of the World War II sailed on patrol and trade missions in the south Pacific. After the war, Bill left the west for Ottawa and Gwen joined him a year later where they were married in 1950. Bill now began his long career as a banker, eventually joining the Bank of Nova Scotia in Toronto, the city which remained his much-loved home for the rest of his life.

     Bill's career climbed with the explosive growth of the post-war city; he was involved in mortgage writing for the developers of the old Henry Farm for example, which became a fine planned community and the site of the McDonalds' family home.

     It was his banking career that first sparked his primary collecting interest: paper money, and specifically banknotes. His collection of these grew to enormous proportions. At one time a display of his collection at the Toronto-Dominion Centre encompassed seventy showcases. In a demonstration of the numismatic adage to buy the book before the coin, Bill put together a collection of books on banking history that filled three walls of his home library. Bill was always interested in the learning aspect of numismatics and to further spread his own commitment to paper money he founded the CPMS and with it, its publication which is still operating today.

     The J. Douglas Ferguson Historical Research Foundation was set up in 1971 by Bill and numismatic friends to support educational activity in the field of numismatics. All funds were tax deductible and kept in perpetuity. The Foundation is a legacy to Bill's progressive and forward thinking as the Foundation has given over $200,000 to numismatic research since its inception. Bill was the founding Chair and continued in that capacity until 1999. He believed so strongly in the Foundation that he gave large donations in his family name to the Foundation over many years

     After his retirement from banking, Bill felt the need of another challenge. He turned to a small collection of ancient coins he had bought and put away years before and for information about them developed a friendship with Bruce Brace, the foremost ancient numismatist of his day in Canada. Bruce introduced Bill to the rest of the ancient coin spectrum and suggested he limit himself to one facet of this very wide field. Bill wisely chose the period from 100 BC to AD 100 and for the rest of his collecting career stuck pretty closely to that.

     As in the case of paper money, Bill wanted to spread information on his new interest. To this end he founded the Classical and Medieval Numismatic Society, in partnership with Bruce Brace in 1991. This was accompanied by a pair of publications: the annual Picus and the quarterly newsletter Anvil. In 2000 these two publications were replaced by a card-covered quarterly, the CMNS Journal, which contained both scholarly and general interest articles. Four issues a year were mailed from an 'assembly line' around the McDonald dining room table and the 'world-wide distribution centre' staff then made their way to the post office with 300 copies to be mailed from Toronto to Tehran, Athens to Australia. After that, the mailing team (same as the editorial team and the office staff) made their way to the Fish House for a well deserved post-publication dinner.

     At one time Bill and Gwen even ran a mail order book business from their home. Called Marlcourt Books, it carried most publications in print for ancient numismatics and sent out many rare and out-of-print resources too.

     Bill would be happy to know he is so much remembered for his dissemination of numismatic information. Whether it was the founding of societies, publications, books or seminars Bill was a giant in Canadian numismatics and he will be long remembered for that.

     He leaves his wife Gwen, their daughter Barb and her family, close friends in the Chedoke Numismatic Society of Hamilton Ontario, Feathers (a numismatic club named for the pub it started in) and thousands in the larger numismatic world for whom the contributions of Bill McDonald are now fond memories.

      Geoffrey Bell, Chairman of the J. Douglas Ferguson Historical Research Foundation, recently announced that Christopher Faulkner of Ottawa has been appointed to its Board. Faulkner is Distinguished Research Professor at Carleton University in Ottawa. He is the author of four books and numerous articles on French cinema. In the field of numismatics, his primary area of research interest is the circulating specie of pre-Confederation Canada. He is presently completing an authoritative book on Prince Edward Island Holey Dollars to be published in 2011. Faulkner is a member of the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association and is a Fellow of the Canadian Numismatic Research Society.

       The Board of Directors of the J. Douglas Ferguson Historical Research Foundation met on July 16, 2010 during the R.C.N.A. Convention in Saint John, New Brunswick. During this meeting the Board approved funding for the Prince Edward Island Holey Dollar book by Christopher Faulkner. Long in development and anticipated by students of this series, this monumental work will be published in 2011. Foundation Treasurer Len Buth and Foundation Investment Chair Rick Craig reviewed the finances indicating $750,000 was invested in low risk instruments. Foundation projects are enabled through donations that are held in perpetuity with only interest earned used for grants. Strict investment criteria with precise by-laws, combined with professional advice, ensure maximum return on all investments. In 2009, the Rev. Dr. Bernard O’Connor donated $546,000 to the Foundation following the sale of his wonderful collection.

     The Ferguson Foundation has distributed over $286,000 since 1980 to authors putting together book projects, essay projects and grants to national organizations. The 20 member Board of Directors representing experienced, reputable individuals from many walks of life administers the Foundation. The Presidents of both the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association and the Canadian Paper Money Society are ex-officio members allowing close contact with both national bodies.

Board members pictured are (from left): Dick Dunn, Ted Leitch, Graham Esler, Rick Craig, Len Buth, Robert Graham, Chairman Geoffrey Bell, Paul Petch, Dorte Brace, Ronald Greene, Cliffe Beattie

      Geoffrey Bell, Chairman of the J. Douglas Ferguson Historical Research Foundation, announced on July 16, 2010 that Robert Forbes has joined the Board of the Foundation. Forbes is a prominent Toronto lawyer and partner in the law firm Miller Thomson. He is an adjunct professor at Osgoode Law School, has co-authored 3 legal textbooks and is the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association Director for Central Ontario. Forbes is a longtime collector of Canadian decimal, Atlantic Provinces coins and French regime Royal portrait coinage. Bell stated, “I am thrilled to have Bob on board as we will be negotiating several new book projects in the upcoming months and Bob’s expertise will be invaluable”.

     Reverend Dr. Bernie O’Connor donated the proceeds of his extensive collection to the JD Ferguson Historical Research Foundation August 26, 2009 in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Geoffrey Bell Auctions recently sold his entire collection in Halifax realizing $546,712 for the Foundation.

     Geoff Bell, Foundation Chairman, was all smiles with the announced donation. “The Foundation is obviously thrilled to get this wonderful gift. It will allow us to help numismatic scholars and writers publish works that may not be commercially viable but valuable nevertheless.”

     Rev. O’Connor was a long-time collector putting together an outstanding eclectic collection that featured a near complete Breton token collection supplemented by wonderful banknotes, medals and decimal coins. There also was a fine representation of classical and medieval coins, foreign notes, document, autographs, etc.

     Provision has been made for a Scholarship Fund to be established using this donation, with guidelines for its access detailed on this web site under Projects.

     On Thursday, 16 April 2009 a cheque for nearly $5000. was presented by Bill McDonald on behalf of the CMNS to Dorte Brace representing the J. Douglas Ferguson Historical Research Foundation. This money will establish the 'Bruce Brace Fund for Classical and Medieval Numismatics' within the Ferguson Foundation itself and may be accessed by anyone interested in funding help for a project involving ancient or medieval coins. 

     Though this closes the bank account for the CMNS, the Society continues to be a presence at the New York International every January, the RCNA summer convention, this year in Edmonton AB, and the three Torexes held each year in Toronto.

     CMNS members and those interested in classical numismatics are encouraged to support the 'Bruce Brace Fund' with their donations.