This is the MCCC ARCHIVE – for the CURRENT Montgomery County Coin Club see https://montgomerycoinclub.org
March 1999 Bulletin - Early Web Edition
Next Meeting: Tuesday, March 9, 1999
Guest Speaker: to be announced
The Montgomery County Coin Club will meet at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 9,
1999, at the Senior Citizens Center, 1000 Forest Glen Road, Silver Spring,
MD. The featured speaker will be announced later.
NumisRiddle of the Month
Why is strawberry jam like an ancient coin?
The answer appears later in this bulletin.
February Meeting Report
The Montgomery County Coin Club was called to order at 7:15pm on the evening
of an unseasonably warm February 9, 1999 by President William C. Massey.
Approximately 35 numismatists were present, including 3 YNs. Vernon
Howard was welcomed as a visitor; he is the grandson of long-time MCCC
member Joe Howard, numismatist and arborist.
President's Announcements
The MCCC needs a permanent Door Prize manager --- please volunteer! We
also need a "Club Historian", to interview some of the more senior members,
gather anecdotes, publications, or photographs from the early years of
the Club, and organize that data before it is forgotten and lost forever.
President Massey also invited any potential guest speakers to get in touch
with him for future meetings.
Treasurer's Report
The MCCC balance sheet remains strong. Mail Bidders should contact the
Treasurer to close out their accounts. Renew your membership soon!
Librarian's Notes
Several new books are available; members are invited to check them out.
They include guides to paper money, Confederate currency, and other topics.
A large run of Early American Copper journals is for sale
in the MCCC February Mail Bid auction, to benefit the Library --- please
bid generously.
February Exhibits
The MCCC Display Case was full of riches in February!
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Richard Jozefiak displayed a set of 25 British tobacco cards from
1958 on the theme of numismatics. The cards depict British coins ranging
from Celtic money to George II shillings. On the back of each card is information
about the coin shown. These collectible cigarette cards were issued in
variable numbers, with some quite rare --- so trading in them is a challenging
hobby. British tobacco cards have been produced for about a century; the
earliest ones were made of silk. Cardboard began to be used in the 1920's
or 1930's. Collecting these cards did not become popular until the 1960's,
Richard reported. Because some of these cards are becoming valuable, counterfeits
are beginning to appear --- caveat emptor!
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Irv Blank displayed two beautiful US half dollars --- an 1809 Bust
half and an 1865 Seated Liberty. These halves correspond to the life span
of Abraham Lincoln, one from the late President's birth year, and one from
the year of his assassination.
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Ken Swab, in honor of Black History Month, showed both Proof and
Uncirculated versions of last year's Black Patriots commemorative coins.
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Simcha Kurtizky brought inserts he has made for Harco "Coinmaster"
albums for all the new and to-be-issued commemorative US quarters. Simcha
noted that the Canadian mint began a commemorative series of 25 cent pieces
for each province some years ago, as something of a "beta tester" for the
US Mint. (The Canadian designs, one for each of the 12 provinces and territories,
were various scenes of Canadian life.) A lively discussion ensued concerning
the planchets used for the Delaware commemorative quarters, which some
commented are reputed to be about 1% lighter than the usual US quarter
(but still within the Mint's weight tolerances of 3%,). Some banks have
apparently begun to segregate the new commemorative quarters and give them
out only upon request. One MCCC member found recently that at Giant (a
local supermarket chain) cashiers will happily sell uncirculated rolls
of quarters at face value. So far only Philadelphia coins have been seen
in this part of the country, not Denver issues. The head of George Washington
is smaller on the commemorative design, by about 10%. The new coins don't
stack well, someone said. Caesar Rodney, shown on the coin, was the tiebreaker
in the Delaware delegation to the Constitutional Convention.
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Mark Zimmermann showed the copper and silver coins in his 1852 US
type set, and discussed his "1852 Project". Mark reported that recently
he has essentially completed his 1852 collection --- he is missing only
the half cent and the silver dollar, but they are too expensive for him
to afford (and the half cent was not actually minted in 1852, but was a
later, illicit Mint product). Mark brought in an 1852 cent, three-cent,
half dime, dime, quarter, and half dollar. He discussed some of the history
of the year 1852 --- it was the peak of the California Gold Rush, an era
when silver prices were high and many silver coins were melted for their
bullion value. In 1852, Wells Fargo bank and Smith & Wesson were founded,
Roget's Thesaurus and Uncle Tom's Cabin were
published, and both safety matches and the safety elevator were invented.
Mark referred MCCC members to his web site, http://www.his.com/~z/1852.html,
for further facts about 1852.
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Jerry Grzenda showed coins and bank notes in honor of King Hussein
of Jordan, who recently passed away. Coins of Jordan typically have English
inscriptions on one side and Arabic on the other, Jerry noted. Prior to
World War One, Jordan was huge; the British captured it and in 1922 the
League of Nations gave it to England to control. A Hashemite Prince ruled
the territory until its independence in 1946 as the Hashemite Kingdom of
TransJordan, which changed its name (as noted by Simcha Kuritzky) to simply
Jordan three years later. In 1951 a new prince took over, who was assassinated
the next year, following which King Hussein began his reign, which lasted
until early February 1999. Jerry showed a 25 Dinar gold piece and a six-piece
proof set, denominated 1 fils to 100 filsen. (The Jordanian money system
is metric, with 1000 filsen to the dinar.) The proof set coins reside in
a handmade, beautifully inlaid case dated 1965. Jerry also showed a seven-coin
proof set from 1969, with designs showing various parts of Jordan --- interestingly
enough including a Jerusalem scene, in spite of the change of ownership
of that city a few years earlier. Jerry concluded his presentation by commenting
on a Jordanian conservation-theme commemorative.
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Joe Howard showed a map of the world, framed, with coins of veried
shapes mounted around the periphery --- a Cook Islands triangular coin,
a square Aruba 50 cent piece, a five-sided Yemeni half-rial, a hexagonal
Belgian Congo piece with an elephant design, a septagon 5 rupee from the
Seychelles with a coco de mer tree, an octagonal coin from Yemen valued
100 fils, a nine-sided design (inscribed inside a circle) from Portugal,
a 10-sided piece, an 11-sided (undecagon) coin from Czechoslovakia (noting
that the US Susan B. Anthony coin had an 11-sided shape inscribed), a 12-sided
(dodecagon) from Tonga, and finally a 13-sided coin from Czechoslovakia,
which led Joe to remark on "triskadekaphobia" fear of the number 13. Quite
an impressive set with a striking geometric theme!
Be sure to bring something old, something new, something borrowed, or something
blue (but make it something numismatic!) from your collection to show in
the MCCC Display Case next month.
Feature Attraction: Mary Gardner on
The 1994 Brookeville Commemorative Medal
The MCCC's honored speaker for February 1999 was Ms. Mary Gardner
from Brookeville, MD. Mary is active in the town and has chaired many Brookeville
civic activities, and in particular is the program coordinator of the Brookeville
Academy. (MCCC member Joe Howard welcomed Ms. Gardner and noted that Brookeville
is the home of a Montgomery County Champion tree. The tree is on a special
bicentennial cancellation for U. S. postage.) Mary observed that the MCCC
meeting was a first for her --- she made all the arrangements for tonight's
talk via the Internet, and was happy to see the MCCC membership in person.
September 10, 1994 marked the town of Brookeville's Bicentennial. In
honor of the occasion, and to raise funds for the restoration of the Brookeville
Academy, the town had a medallion struck by the William A. Lynch company
of Gaithersburg, MD. Mary displayed the original commemorative design drawings
to the MCCC. They show the four original houses of Brookeville on the obverse,
and a memorial plaque on the reverse. (The historic house in which Mary
lives is one of the four, by the way.) The memorial plaque honors Brookeville's
status as US "Capital for a Day". When James Madison fled the White House
during the War of 1812, he stayed in Brookeville overnight, so the town
was the nation's capital on August 26, 1814.
Ms. Gardner noted that each silver Brookeville commemorative is individually
edge-numbered. The bronze (unnumbered) ones cost only $3. Originally the
silver medals sold for $50, but they are now being discounted to $40. (Contact
Ms. Gardner via agard (at) erols.com for
bulk purchase discount information.) A total of only 300 of the silver
medals were minted; one thousand bronze pieces were struck. (Alas, no gold,
in response to one MCCC numismatist's question!) About 100 of the silver
commemoratives have already been sold. As a special feature, a Brookeville
resident has hand-numbered each silver medal's case.
The Brookeville Academy is depicted on the obverse of the commemorative
medals. In preparing for the Bicentennial of Brookeville, the town created
a reference volume, "The Book of Names" --- a compilation of the names
of every single person who ever owned land in the Brookeville Historic
District --- that is, every person who ever lived in Brookeville for 200
years. The book is thus something of a community genealogy, providing data
on the age, sex, race, occupation, and dates when the landowner resided
in Brookeville. Today, the Brookeville population is about 100; when the
town was at its height it was the third largest town in Montgomery County
with a population of about 250.
Mary also exhibited collectable commemorative Brookeville posters, signed
and numbered, showing the incorporated (1890) limits of the town. The original
56 quarter-acre lots were laid out in 1794 and are plotted on the poster
map, with an artist's depiction of the history of the town. In the style
of 1860's maps, thirteen businesses with a historic connection to the town
are depicted.
In response to a question from the audience, Ms. Gardner discussed the
"Brookeville Bypass", which is a major local issue. The thoroughfare Georgia
Avenue, two miles north of Olney, makes a tortuous turn as it goes through
Brookeville. There has been a lot of press coverage (e.g., in the Baltimore
Sun, the Montgomery Journal, and other newspapers)
of the bypass issue. A bypass has in fact been on the Master Plan, but
not approved, for the past 30 years. Maryland Governor Parris Glendenning
announced two weeks ago that "The Brookeville bypass is dead." But traffic
through the town will double by 2020 to 17,000 vehicles per day. (Today's
estimate is 9,000 vehicles/day.) The current situation is "dreadful", Mary
said, and children are at risk; there is no room for sidewalks, etc. Thus,
in her judgment a bypass is needed. During the Bicentennial, for the first
time in 200 years, Brookeville succeeded in getting Georgia Avenue closed
for a day, and there were 4,000 visitors. So there is a lot of potential
interest in visiting the town's historic district.
The first patent land ownership in the area was by James Brooke; upon
his death his land was divided. One of the heirs, Roger Brooke, died in
1790 leaving no will and eight children. His land was further partitioned
and one of the heirs, Deborah Brooke, married Richard Thomas who laid out
Brookeville's original 56 lots on that inheritance. Other Brooke siblings
owned pieces of land nearby.
The original town design named the part of Georgia Avenue in Brookeville
"High Street". Other historic avenues include North Street, South Street,
Spring Alley, Race Street, and Back Street. In 1800, 13 lots were sold
in one day; many people bought three or four lots and put them together.
Brookeville was an ideal place to build a little town, because it was situated
close to running water, and water was very important. The Reddy Branch
Stream is fast-flowing from which mill races (hence, "Race St.") could
be created. That fact, and the presence of two springs, one at each end
of town, made it possible to build two mills in town, one owned by David
Newlin and the other by Richard Thomas. Brookeville was thus originally
a milling town, and served a large area as a commercial hub. The town has
long hosted a little post office --- until this very year when it was moved
three miles up the road. President Thomas Jefferson appointed the first
Postmaster in Brookeville in 1802, so the post office there survived 196
years, and formed a central piece of Brookeville's history.
Brookeville's Academy, a large stone building (shown on the obverse
of the commemorative medal) sits in the heart of town and was built in
1810. It was one of the first private academies in the country, and offered
a full classical set of courses for boys. The Brookeville Academy was owned
by the Elks from the late 1800's to 1909, when St. John's Episcopal Church
took it over. The town gained possession of it in 1989, and the Academy's
restoration was finished in 1997. The building is open to the public, and
visitors are welcome.
It was no accident that President James Madison retreated to Brookeville,
Ms. Gardner suggested, as the town had several prior claims to fame. Brookeville
resident Thomas Moore invented the portable icebox, Isaac Briggs was a
local engineer who laid out the Mississippi territory, and Caleb Bentley
was the first Brookeville postmaster. More importantly, perhaps, Mr. Bentley's
wife was a personal friend of First Lady Dolly Madison. When President
Madison stayed overnight in the town, legend holds that he brought the
Treasury with him as he fled from Washington, and "ever after that we have
honored that day in our history", Mary reported.
Brookeville is an incorporated town governed by a three-person commission.
Elections are held in the traditional way, with a shoebox into which voters
drop their ballots. Three elected commissioners choose a president for
a two-year term. There are 50 families in town, but no police; at one time
there was a constable, but now Montgomery County handles law enforcement.
Commissioners are not paid, but the town levies taxes for trash collection,
snow removal, street maintenance, lights, and so forth.
Ms. Gardner provided information about renting the Brookeville Academy,
in a booklet which comes along with a short history of Brookeville. The
town is inaugurating a series of courses in the Academy --- "Friday Night
Specials", free and open to all, on the third Friday of every month.
Ms. Gardner's speech was applauded enthusiastically by all the MCCC
membership present, and after she concluded a crowd formed around her to
purchase Brookeville commemorative medals on the spot. Please contact Mary
Gardner directly (agard (at) erols.com)
to arrange to buy these attractive collectible items. Each silver commemorative
comes with a fine Walking Tour Guide to Brookeville.
Other February MCCC announcements:
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New Delaware Commemorative Quarters were available to members at face value,
thanks to Norman Brand.
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Mona Berch got her first leg towards winning her Bison Chip prize;
three legs are needed to win, and you must be present when your name is
drawn in order to be eligible.
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The 50-50 Raffle winner was William M. Massey.
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February's Door Prizes included two nice 1976-D "Ike" (Eisenhower) Dollars,
an impressive poster of the Ed Trompeter Estate gold coin collection from
Heritage Numismatics, and a large "nickel silver" Franklin Mint 1969 Cornerstone
Laying Ceremony commemorative medallion. Door Prize Winners were William
C. Massey, Mona Berch, Tom Hall, and Andrew Luck.
NumisRiddle Answer
Why is strawberry jam like an ancient coin?
Answer: Because it isn't currant! [or current --- get it?!]
To suggest a NumisRiddle for future publication, please write to MCCC YN
Robin Zimmermann, P.O. Box 598, Kensington, MD 20895-0598.
MCCC Web Comments and Feedback
Please send bug reports and suggestions for improvement to Mark Zimmermann
via z (at) his.com. The
MCCC Bulletin is copyright (c) 1999 by the Directors of the Montgomery
County Coin Club.