The Door Prizes this month included a proof 1965 Canadian dime, a 1958 Swiss franc, and a 1958 Austrian ten schilling coin. Lucky winners were Anton Hansman, William C. Massey, and Simcha Kuritzky. (Willy promptly rolled the coin he won through the elongated press!) A special bonus door prize, consisting of a four-coin elongated set, was captured by Andrew Luck.
The Bison Chip name chosen this month was Frank Colombo, who now has the first leg of three required to win. You must be at a meeting for your name to be drawn! Scott Helmick won the 50-50 raffle.
Treasurer Simcha Kuritzky announced that the Maryland State Numismatic Association (MSNA) "Rarities" show in Baltimore was to be held on 11-13 June 1999. He discussed the MSNA auction and gave directions to the Baltimore Convention Center. MSNA raffle tickets were offered for sale at $1 each, with a portion of the proceeds going to benefit the MCCC. (Simcha also mentioned that a limited number of special silver elongateds are available showing King Nebuchadnezzar riding a lion, at $5 each.)
Secretary Jack Schadegg reported that there would be no mail bid auction this month. He brought the results from the May/June mail bid and distributed items to the winning bidders.
Mary Gardner is looking for speakers on the theme of Ancient Coins for a series of talks in Brookeville Maryland. Ms. Gardner can be reached at "agard (at) erols.com". She spoke at an MCCC meeting several months ago concerning Brookeville Maryland commemorative tokens.
Joe Howard showed a US Mint 1999 commemorative proof quarter set. It included the latest addition to his Tree Coin Collection: the Connecticut quarter, which is graced by an image of the famous Charter Oak. The Charter Oak, Mr. Howard noted, is a White Oak, which also happens to be the state tree of Maryland & Illinois. (Joe commented that Maryland had the White Oak as its State Tree first!)
Chuck Hansman exhibited restrikes of the famous Confederate 1 cent and 50 cent pieces which he found in Charleston, South Carolina at the Ft. Sumter museum. These restrikes, he commented, were inexpensive and have a fascinating historical context. Mr. Hansman also recommended that members passing near Ocean City Maryland should visit the "Shipwreck Museum" by the Seashell Store. That museum has on display artifacts from the DelMarVa shore, including numerous interesting coins. It also shows numismatic objects from Spanish galleon wrecks off the Florida Keys, including a three pound circular gold chunk. This fascinating museum is free, and is open 10am-9pm during summer months. It is located on the west side of the Coastal Highway.
Simcha Kuritzky had on display the four enlarged designs which were finalists for the Maryland commemorative quarter. (MCCC members may recall that former President Ken Swab was on the committee that influenced, but did not select, the chosen design.) Of the four finalists, an image of the Annapolis statehouse was chosen as the winner by Maryland Governor Parris Glendenning. MCCC members who studied the candidates commented "I think he chose the worst one!" and "He must have picked it with a dart board!" The Maryland quarter will come out in March 2000.
Willy Massey told the story of a trip to southern Virginia, for a family reunion. The local flea market had not much of numismatic interest: just a single dealer with a notebook full of grossly-overpriced common-date circulated Mercury dimes ($5 each ---ugh!). But with nothing better to do, Willy looked at the dealer's wares. On the last page, he found a "hobo nickel" --- a recarved Indian ("Buffalo") five-cent piece. Modern versions of hobo nickels are made with power tools; the classic method used hammer, mallet, and chisel. This nickel, upon examination, looks original --- a real find! - quite possibly a piece done by "Bo", the most famous creator of them. At $5 it was a great deal; most original hobo nickels in such nice condition sell for $40-$100.
Elongated expert William C. Massey brought his beautiful chromed steel and aluminum coin rolling apparatus. He explained that elongated dies take two to three weeks to make, and cost $150-$400, depending on the complexity of the image. Machines to roll coins are adjustable; the model which Willy displayed can roll cents, nickels, dimes, or quarters, plus equivalent-sized non-US coinage.
Mr. Massey recommend the use of copper (bronze) US cents minted before 1982, since more recent cents with their zinc core and thin electrolytic copper coating tend to break down and corrode quickly. For fast, production-style rolling, Willy said that he attaches a 1 horsepower motor and an 8:1 gear reduction box to his machine, instead of hand-cranking.
A typical pressure required to roll an elongated is 22.5 tons/square inch, Mr. Massey noted. In response to a question about die lifetimes, he said that dies used for rolling cents could last almost forever --- but a highly-detailed die applied to nickels could crack quickly, due to the hardness of the nickel alloy.
Coin rolling started in the same year as "Cracker Jacks", Mr. Massey explained: at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Examples of elongateds from there are still reasonably-priced, from ten to a few hundred dollars, depending on variety and condition. Simcha Kuritzky noted that the American Numismatic Association (ANA) for the first time this coming year will have an exhibition prize category for Elongateds --- the "Dotty Dow Award", in honor of the founder of The Elongated Collectors Society (TEC).
Coins that have been elongated tend to have an image on one side, particularly if they're dirty before rolling. That image can wipe off, as it has no relief (that is, it's flat). After trial and error experimentation with over 250 materials, Willy Massey said that he has developed a "secret sauce", which he applies to coins a few hours before rolling them. This treatment leaves the reverse of the coin in relief: beautiful, shiny, yet stretched. Willy showed examples, including a sharp Delaware commemorative quarter. He offered sets of cent/nickel/dime/quarter at $3 each.
After the remarks, Mr. Massey announced, "Let's get started --- women and children first!" and the lines began to form to crank out elongated coins. Many dozens of commemoratives were produced by young and old.