Pittsburgh to host Orders & Medals Society convention

The annual convention of the Orders & Medals Society of America will be in Pittsburgh, Pa. on August 11-14. Commonly known as OMSA, members of the numismatic/ faleristic specialty group collect, research and preserve award medals of all kinds, military and civilian, including Orders of Knighthood, decorations for bravery and medals for various types of service, the vast majority being award medals of the portable variety, that is, medals meant to be worn by the recipient. Related books on Orders, Decorations & Medals (ODMs) and the circumstances surrounding their award are also an important part of the hobby and are well represented at the convention. OMSA’s annual meeting moves around the country and is sponsored by local medal collectors. 

Highlights include an exhibit in cooperation with The Soldiers & Sailors Museum, featuring a Medal of Honor to a soldier killed at D-Day, June 6, 1944 (see www.soldiersandsailorshall.org).

The OMSA convention is a collector-financed affairl the costs of the convention are paid by registered attendees, rather than table holder. OMSA attendees pay a registration fee, this year $190. For that amount, they have access to the convention floor for the four-day bourse and exhibits, two days of seminars on faleristic topics, a donation auction, several meals and cocktail parties, including a lavish annual banquet. As members subsidize the event, inexpensive bourse tables are available to any OMSA member registrant at only $65, enabling members of all means to participate as a seller.

The convention will be held at the Wyndham Grand Hotel, 600 Commonwealth Place, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222, (412) 391-4600, from Aug. 11 through 14 for OMSA member registrants. The convention bourse floor and exhibits will also be open to non-registered OMSA members and the general public on Saturday, August 13 from 9 a.m to 5 p.m., for a $6 admission fee. Those presently, or potentially, interested in learning about medal collecting are enthusiastically invited.

For more information about OMSA, see www.omsa.org.