Elvira Eliza Clain-Stefanelli (née Olinescu; 1914-2001) was a numismatist, director of the National Numismatic Collection of the Smithsonian Institution, and advisor to the US Mint.
The Clain-Stefanellis later moved to Berlin and were conducting research on coins in 1943 when they were sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp because Vladimir's passport had been stolen and used by an "enemy of the state.
Elvira worked at Stack's Coin Galleries before joining the Smithsonian Institution in 1957, where Vladimir had been curator of the Division of Numismatics for one year.
[7] In 1994, Clain-Stefanelli was appointed to the newly-formed Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory Committee (the predecessor of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee), which was created by Congress to advise the Secretary of the Treasury on commemorative coin programs.
This award "was established and first given in 2013 to honor women who have made significant contributions to numismatics.