This is the MCCC ARCHIVE – for the CURRENT Montgomery County Coin Club see https://montgomerycoinclub.org
June 1997 Bulletin
Next meeting: Tuesday, June 17, 1997 --- Simcha Kuritzky on "Panther Riders"
The Club will meet at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 17, 1997, at the Senior Citizens
Center on Forest Glen Road in Silver Spring, Maryland. The featured speaker
will be MCCC Treasurer Simcha Kuritzky who will give a "beta test" version
of his talk on numismatic "Panther Riders" --- a preview of his presentation
to the upcoming ANA Convention in New York City.
For Young Numismatists
Every month, the Club will have special door prizes and gifts for Young
Numismatists (YNs) who attend, and extra surprises for any who exhibit
coins, medals, currency, or other numismatic objects. These awards are
made possibly by the generosity of MCCC members. (Last month, Mae Clarke
and others supplied items for YNs.)
May Meeting Roundup
MCCC President Ken Swab, wearing a pennant-winning baseball tie, called
the meeting to order. Over 50 members were present, including about 8 YNs.
Visitors were welcomed:
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the Berkman family --- YNs Michael and Danny, and
their parents
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Julius Spiro, interested in learning more about grading and valuing
coins
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Laura Carter, a collector of Love Tokens
Treasurer Simcha Kuritzky reported on the Club's finances, and reminded
everyone to renew their memberships, lest they be dropped from the mailing
list. Simcha also discussed the ANA Cleveland convention (good for collectors,
perhaps less so for dealers) and the ANA Summer Meeting in New York City.
Librarian Kermit Smyth reported that the MCCC Library had several new books
available for members to borrow, including the 1997 Fell's coin guide by
Roderick Hughes, a donation autographed
by the author.
President Swab noted that the MCCC
Library Catalog is now available on the Worldwide Web, linked to the
Club's page (club_mccc.html).
MCCC Vice President William C. Massey announced the door prizes --- a booklet
The Wonderful World of Paper Money, a 1952 Lebanese 50 piastre coin,
a 1964 proof Roosevelt dime, and 1971 & 1972 Eisenhower dollars.
MWNA Show in New Carrollton - July 11-13
The Metropolitan Washington Numismatic Association will hold its
32nd Annual Convention and Coin Show on July 11-13, 1997. The Convention
will be at the Ramada Hotel, Exit 20B from the Capital Beltway (495/I-95),
8500 Annapolis Road in New Carrollton, Maryland. Convention hours are 10am-7pm
on Friday and Saturday, and 10am-5pm on Sunday. For further information,
contact Bourse Chairman Paul Singleton (703-281-7053). MCCC is a member
of MWNA. Proceeds from the show benefit the Metro Area Associations for
Retarded Citizens.
May Exhibits
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Mae Clarke in honor of Space Day (May 22) showed several NASA medallions.
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Bernie Gilbert displayed and discussed currency from Germany, Japan,
India, and Iceland.
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Jerry Grzenda exhibited medals related to space exploration and
items concerning the Principality of Monaco.
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Herb Hall showed a sheet of postage stamps honoring Raoul Wallenberg.
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Mike Dolnick explained the story behind the 1883 "no cents" V nickel,
and illustrated his talk with a set of nickels and a genuine $5 gold piece
from that era. (Mike also wore a shirt with a currency design!)
-
Merle Zimmermann showed several sets of US stamps with coins on
them, plus some space stamps.
-
Mark Zimmermann displayed a replica Confederate cent and half dollar
from the past weekend's Boy Scout trip to the Gettysburg battlefield.
May's Feature: ANA Video on Coin Grading (Part 1)
Don McKee introduced the main attraction of the May MCCC meeting --- a
video featuring J. P. Martin, senior numismatist of the American Numismatic
Association Authentication Bureau, on "Grading Mint State US Coins". (This
videotape was kindly loaned to the MCCC by the ANA Library.)
The tape defined a grade as ". . . a standardized shorthand description
of a coin's relative condition," and explained the history and evolution
of grading standards. The discussion focused then on the importance of
proper lighting, the use of magnification in viewing coins for grading,
and the distinction between technical and market grading.
Key factors in grading include luster, surface, eye-appeal, and strike.
The ANA video explained these in detail, and illustrated them with excellent
close-up photography of many coins.
Due to time limitations, only the first part of the tape was shown.
The remainder of "Grading Mint State US Coins" will be presented at a later
MCCC meeting.
Other Announcements
Joe Howard described the Montgomery County School System's "Colonial
Living" curriculum, and invited MCCC members to donate farthings for the
"farthing pitch" segment of the school course. Mae Clarke relayed
the sad news that Dora Lee Besley, an MCCC member, passed away on
May 7, 1997.
Prizes
Charles Eaton won the Bison Chip drawing and now has one leg of
the three needed to win. Mae Clarke, Fred Dunn, Ben Kalman, Ed Russell,
and Mark Zimmermann won door prizes during the Club Auction. The 50-50
Raffle was won by William M. Massey, who also kindly provided snacks
and refreshments for the intermission.
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.