This is the MCCC ARCHIVE – for the CURRENT Montgomery County Coin Club see https://montgomerycoinclub.org
August 2001 Bulletin - Early Web Edition (v.1.01)
MCCC: A Collector's Club
Next Meeting: Tuesday, August 14, 2001
The Montgomery County Coin Club will convene on the second Tuesday of the month, 14 August 2001, at the Silver Spring Senior Citizens Center (1000 Forest Glen Road, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA). Doors open at 7:00pm, and the meeting typically begins with the Pledge of Allegiance shortly after 7:15pm. The featured event for this month's gathering was not yet scheduled as of press time for this edition of the Bulletin.
The featured attraction of the July 2001 MCCC meeting was a NumisQuiz offered by President Jack Schadegg.
MCCC President Jack Schadegg called the Club to order at 7:28pm on the warm and humid evening of 10 July 2001. About 31 MCCC members were present, including three Young Numismatists (YNs). Two visitors were welcomed with applause:
- Mary Weaver, who said that she was newly into coin collecting, having started out with commemorative state quarters; and
- Al Yuni, who declared that he had been collecting for a long time, longer than he cared to admit.
Good to see you, Mary & Al! (MCCC members: please invite your friends and family members to join us at the MCCC meeting next month.)
News & Announcements
Treasurer Simcha Kuritzky reported that Club finances remain strong, already somewhat in the black for 2001 and likely to finish a few hundred dollars ahead by December. Simcha also reminded everyone that the American Numismatic Association (ANA) convention in Atlanta is coming soon --- 8-12 August --- and offered information on how to get there for anyone who needs a ride. Next year's ANA convention will be in New York City, and in 2003 it will come to Baltimore.
As in years past, Ed Russell plans to order a number of 2002 "Redbooks", aka A Guide Book of United States Coins. There is a chance that these books will arrive in time for the August meeting, where they will be available for sale to MCCC members at discount prices.
Ken Swab pointed out that the paper edition of the July MCCC Bulletin had "scooped" the Washington Post in printing the following news item:
Two weeks ago, researchers sifting through the remains of the Civil War submarine Hunley recovered a twenty dollar Liberty gold piece belonging to the submarine's Captain. The gold piece is historically significant, as it was present at the Battle of Shiloh, being struck by a bullet while in a pocket --- saving the life of its owner. The reverse of the bullet-cupped coin was engraved with the place and date of the battle (April 6, 1862) and two words: "My Lifepreserver".
In other discussions, Ed Russell noted that there would be no Metropolitan Washington Coin Show this year. Simcha Kuritzky reported that the Maryland State show went well and made a small profit. The MCCC had several members who worked as volunteers there.
MCCC members are encouraged to submit brief announcements for
inclusion in the Bulletin --- for-sale notices, numismatic
wish-lists, summaries of recent coin events, or anything else
appropriate to this publication. Please pass your submissions
to a Club Officer or send them directly to C(l)ub Reporter
Mark Zimmermann via
z (at) his.com.
Drawings & Prizes
Willy Massey announced the free door prizes, including:
- a 1944 half rupee of India
- an 1867-1967 centennial 25 cent piece of Canada
- an 1844 six pence of Great Britain
The Gold Raffle Prize was a 1996 Chinese 5 Yuan "Unicorn" containing 1/20th ounce of the noble metal; it was won by Ken Swab.
The door prizes were taken by Frank Guerrero, YN
Nicky Luck, and YN Daniel McManus.
The Bison Chip winner was Jack Cross. This is his
first "leg" toward the three needed to win the prize, a one-ounce silver round. (You must be present to win when your name is called.)
This month, a special door prize drawing for Young Numismatists featured a Pokémon™ "Battling Coin Game" set. It was won by YN Robin Zimmermann.
Exhibits
MCCC member Herb Hall displayed and commented on several interesting items from his collection, including:
- a three-cent stamp and a three-cent commemorative coin from Canada, issued in honor of the 1851 Canadian postage stamp, the first animal motif stamp in the world. The three-cent coin is silver with gold plating.
- two special ten-dollar bills from Canada: the last of the long-running 1956 Birds series, and the first of the 2001 Journey series
In the discussion which followed Herb's exhibit, President Jack Schadegg and others noted that Canada's experiment with $1 and $2 coins has gone well --- probably because the competing paper bills of those denominations have been withdrawn from circulation.
Please be sure to bring some of your favorite coins to next month's meeting and share them with the MCCC audience!
Feature:
NumisQuiz
The main attraction at the June meeting was a numismatic Q&A session, moderated by President Jack Schadegg. Quiz questions (from a Coin World "Trivial Pursuit"-like set owned by Simcha Kuritzky) were difficult, and involved such themes as "When was the motto 'In God We Trust' first placed on all US paper money?" or "What three trees appeared on early US colonial coinage in Massachusetts?"
President Schadegg plans to revisit the Numismatic Quiz theme at a future meeting, with a presentation and perhaps special prizes for the best answers.
State Quarter Survey: Best & Worst?
Some of the Commemorative State Quarters have had excellent designs; some have been less spectacular. What are your favorites? Which ones do you like least? To vote, send an email to the MCCC with "State Quarter Survey" in the subject line via z (at) his.com, or give your opinion in writing to Mark Zimmermann or another Club Officer at the next MCCC meeting.
Please only vote on State Quarter designs which you have actually seen in person. You may cast your ballot in favor of as many, or as few, as you wish. ("None of the above" is also allowed.) Include separate lists in your message for "best" and for "worst".
To refresh your memory, here in reverse-alphabetical order by state are the designs thus far in circulation:
- Virginia - sailing ships, "Jamestown 1607-2007 quadricentennial"
- South Carolina - state map, bird, flower, tree, "the palmetto state"
- Rhode Island - sailboat, bridge, "the ocean state"
- Pennsylvania - state map, keystone, statue, "virtue liberty independence"
- North Carolina - Wright Brothers & aircraft, "first flight"
- New York - state map, Statue of Liberty, "gateway to freedom"
- New Jersey - Washington crossing the Delaware, "crossroads of the revolution"
- New Hampshire - stone face, "old man of the mountain", "live free or die"
- Massachusetts - state map, Minuteman & musket, "the bay state"
- Maryland - statehouse dome, wreath, "the old line state"
- Georgia - state map, wreath, peach, "wisdom justice moderation"
- Delaware - horse & rider, "Caesar Rodney", "the first state"
- Connecticut - tree, "the charter oak"
Vote early, but only once. (No pregnant chad jokes or other attempts at electoral humor, please!)
Auction & Aftermath
The MCCC Live Auction bidding was fast, furious, and fun. Fifty lots were listed for sale, including a wide variety of material. Ken Swab was the auctioneer. The meeting adjourned shortly after 9pm. Distant thunder rumbled, as lines of storms moved south and north of the Silver Spring area.
Comments and Feedback
Please send bug reports and suggestions for improvement to
z (at) his.com (see http://www.his.com/~z/).
The MCCC Bulletin is copyright © 2001 by the Directors of the
Montgomery
County Coin Club --- who thank the American Numismatic Association (and especially Ms. Susie Nulty)
for help in sharing the MCCC Bulletin with numismatists everywhere.