This is the MCCC ARCHIVE – for the CURRENT Montgomery County Coin Club see https://montgomerycoinclub.org

Montgomery County Coin Club

October 2001 Bulletin - Early Web Edition^**

Meeting - Feature - Feedback - Home - Index

MCCC: A Collector's Club For the New Millennium

Next Meeting: Tuesday, October 9, 2001

The Montgomery County Coin Club will convene on the second Tuesday of the month, 9 October 2001, at the Silver Spring Senior Citizens Center (1000 Forest Glen Road, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA). Doors open at 7:00pm, and the meeting begins with the Pledge of Allegiance at 7:20pm. The featured event for this month's gathering will be NumisTrivia: interesting facts and tidbits from our hobby and from numismatic history. A series of multiple choice questions will be asked of the audience; the first correct answer will earn a prize. Many of you will be surprised at the questions, and even more surprised by the answers. Come out and learn! President Jack Schadegg will moderate.

The Gold Raffle prize this month will be a Mexican 5 peso coin. Tom Palmer, President of MSNA, had planned on attending the MCCC September meeting to present American silver eagles to those club members who worked at the MSNA show. He will be unable to be at the October meeting, so the silver eagles will be awarded by Willy Massey.

September Meeting Report

In light of the tragic events of 11 September 2001, the MCCC meeting was cancelled. The Montgomery County Coin Club expresses its deepest sympathies to the families, friends, and colleagues of all the victims of terrorism. On the evening of the 11th half a dozen numismatists gathered briefly outside the Senior Citizens Center, spoke quietly with one another, and went home. The Center was being held in reserve for possible emergency medical use.

News & Announcements

Charity Auction --- Call for Contributions

MCCC members are reminded that the Club's traditional Charity Auction is coming soon. Bring your donations of numismatic materials to the next meeting, or contact a Club officer to arrange a rendezvous or pick-up between meetings. Please give generously!

MCCC BoD Meeting

The Board of Directors of the MCCC met from 7:30-8:35pm on the evening of 25 September 2001. In attendance were Simcha Kuritzky, Don McKee, Willy Massey, Wayne Mitchell, Ed Russell, Jack Schadegg, Kermit Smyth, Ken Swab, and Mark Zimmermann. Major discussion items included:

how to help make MCCC meetings run somewhat more efficiently, without losing the fun and friendly spirit of the gatherings; among the possible strategies to consider:
- brisker pace of auctions;
- start meetings promptly at 7:20pm, start the auction at 8:30pm, and finish the meeting by 9:30pm;
- limit commentary associated with exhibits to ~5 minutes per person if there are many exhibitors, a guest speaker, or other activities scheduled;
- limit the refreshment break to ~15 minutes; and
- move faster in making announcements and monthly reports.
General agreement was reached to attempt to shave ~15 minutes off the average meeting time.
the BoD voted to donate $100 to the ANA fund in memory of Steve Taylor; the money will be used to pay for a memorial garden plaza at ANA Hqs.
debate concerning the setting up of a phone tree were inconclusive; the general opinion was that this is not strictly necessary, but that the names and phone numbers of Club officers should be published in the Bulletin at least annually, so that members could contact them to confirm whether or not a given meeting is cancelled; this might be done in November, before the Winter blizzard season; Don McKee volunteered to be a central point of contact for people to check with on club matters; the Senior Citizens Center closure policy will be ascertained and publicized; the Center is probably closed any day when county schools are closed early or other activities are cancelled
the BoD agreed that, while the plaques which we get from the Boys and Girls Club acknowledging our charity auction donations are nice, they are an unnecessary expense; the B&G Club could save that money and use it to fund children's activities; we will suggest to them that they do so; if they wish, they could let the MCCC "name" a baseball team (e.g., "The Walking Liberties")
the Petition to Senator Sarbanes re extending the commemorative quarter program will be brought to a vote at next month's meeting
the Charity Auction will be moved to January, to allow more time for donations to come in
Don McKee and Ed Russell will form the committee to recruit a slate of officers for 2002

The paper version of the Bulletin will report further details of the meeting.

Paper Pleasures

Ken Swab notes (pun intended!) that the Bureau of Engraving and Printing offers several interesting paper money products for sale to numismatists:

$1 "Millennium Notes" --- uncirculated Federal Reserve Notes from the first series of the new millennium, with serial numbers beginning "2001"
$10 "Premium Federal Reserve Sets" --- 12 new 1999 series $10 notes, one from each of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks, with matched serial numbers
$1, $2, and $5 uncut currency sheets
$10 Star Note uncut currency sheets
$5 series 1995 Atlanta and Chicago Star Notes

See http://www.moneyfactory.com for further information.

Little Red Books

Ed Russell has a few copies of the new hardback 2002 edition of A Guide Book of United States Coins, aka "The Red Book". The Red Book is for sale to MCCC members at the bargain price of $8.50; the list price is $15. These are selling fast; contact Ed at the next meeting to get yours.

Mini Numismatists

The Mini Page insert section of the Washington Post on 23 and 30 September 2001 featured excellent information on the State Commemorative Quarter program, the Sacagawea "Golden" Dollar coin, and a variety of other aspects of "the oldest hobby in the world". This Sunday supplement by Betty Debnam and colleagues is oriented toward young people. Bravo on a pair of fine issues!

Draft Petition to Senator Sarbanes

The following will be offered to the members of the MCCC at the next meeting for discussion and a vote:

Whereas the U.S. 50 State Quarters(TM) program has already earned the U.S. Mint
approximately one billion dollars of revenue,

Whereas this program has generated considerable interest by the public in their
pocket change, encouraging many to enjoy the wholesome hobby of coin collecting,

Whereas this program has enhanced local pride by soliciting design ideas from
the state residents and allows for the governors of each state to participate in
the design process,

Whereas nearly five million U.S. citizens are currently excluded from the
program, in particular, the over half million District residents who border of
our State of Maryland, many of whom work and shop in Maryland,

The Montgomery County (Maryland) Coin Club asks our Senator Sarbanes to assist
in the passage of a bill amending the State Quarters(TM) program to include a
year for the District and Territories of the United States.

We recommend that:

The coins be issued under the same terms and conditions as the 50 State
Quarters(TM) program,

The coins all be issued during the year 2009 (the first year after the end of
the current program), with a new design released every two months,

The U.S. Mint consult with the residents of these areas on coin designs,

The areas covered be the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin
Islands, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands, unless any of these
should attain independence before January 1, 2009,

The quarters be available in circulation and also in mint sets, proof sets, and
silver proof sets (as are the 50 State Quarters(TM)),

No quarters be issued in 2009 with the eagle reverse.

Signed this __________ day of ___________, 2001


President, MCCC

December Attraction

Bob Lande has agreed to be the MCCC meeting's featured speaker in December. He will be talking about California fractional gold tokens.

Bulletin Board

For next month's Bulletin, MCCC members are encouraged to submit brief announcements --- for-sale notices, numismatic wish-lists, summaries of recent 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".

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.