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Montgomery County Coin Club

November 1997 Bulletin

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Next Meeting: Tuesday, November 18, 1997
Annual Charity Auction Extravaganza!

The Club will meet at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 18, 1997, at the Senior Citizens Center on Forest Glen Road in Silver Spring, Maryland. The featured event will be the MCCC traditional Charity Auction of donated material. All proceeds from this auction will go to benefit the local Boys and Girls Clubs; donors of material are entitled to any resulting tax deduction. The numismatic items for sale are extraordinarily diverse and interesting this year. Come and bid from the heart! (If you cannot attend in person, cash donations are accepted; send your check to MCCC at P.O. Box 7087, Silver Spring, Maryland 20907).

Nominations for 1998 Officers

Anyone interested in being an officer or member of the MCCC Board of Directors for 1998 should contact Ed Russell, the chairman of the nominating committee.

Gifts for YNs!

Every month, the Club has special 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 possible by the generosity of MCCC members. (Think about donating items from your collection to encourage a new collector!)

October MCCC Meeting Roundup

MCCC President Ken Swab, somewhat despondent over the Baltimore Orioles' loss in the ALCS but nevertheless wearing a bright, newly-acquired, baseball-decorated tie, called the meeting to order. A crowd of about 35 members and guests were present, including 4YNs. First-time visitors included:

Ezra Berch, a collector interested in stamps and US coins (especially cents), who also brought his father Mark Berch; and
Al & Ruth Taman, who have a collection of cents which they are seeking to evaluate.

President Swab offered the YNs present an assortment of coin albums and ANA literature. Treasurer Simcha Kuritzky reported that the Club's finances were sound, and that membership dues were flowing in faster than expected. Vice President William C. Massey announced the evening's door prizes --- a Bicentennial of the American Revolution medallion in a first day of issue cover, an 1885 Japanese 1 sen coin, a 1961 Liberian quarter, and two highly circulated US silver three-cent pieces. Willy also presented Krause Publications encased cents from the 1997 ANA Convention to YNs. Members who have not yet received their MCCC membership cards should see Secretary Jack Schadegg. Jim Evans reporte d no luck in getting further information from the U.S. Mint concerning the status of bullion coins in IRAs. He distributed 1997 tax law summary brochures to anyone who wanted one. Jim noted that under the new law capital gains from coins and other colle ctibles are still taxed at up to the 28 percent level, and he encouraged everyone to report all proceeds from their numismatic transactions to the IRS.

Exhibits: Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

Display case activity at the October MCCC meeting included:

Ken Swab exhibited two Baltimore baseball-related tokens, one showing former Oriole pitcher Dave McNally and the other the Babe Ruth Shrine.
Willy Massey presented a $5 error Federal Reserve Note which a friend found in circulation and gave to him.
Herb Hall showed a program and brochure, with associated stamp, honoring the 50th Anniversary of the U.S. Air Force which occurred in September 1997.
Don McKee described the World Series mania in Detroit during his youth, exhibited a pair of tickets from the 1939 World Series (the price was $1.10 each for excellent seats), and quizzed the audience on 1930-era baseball lore.
Ed Russell showed two baseball mementos, a 1920 Ty Cobb statuette and a 1940 Mobil Oil baseball-shaped bank.
Ben Kalman displayed stamps with baseball themes from Panama, Nicaragua, and the U.S., including an error stamp.
Jerry Grzenda showed a medal honoring the 1921 Giants world championship team, awarded by the Commissioner of Baseball. In light of the recent visit to Latin America by the President and First Lady, Jerry also displayed and discussed a group o f Brazilian coins and commemoratives, including medals honoring the 1906 trip of the U.S. Secretary of State to Brazil, the 1949 state visit of the President of Brazil to the US, and the visit by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to that nation.
Simcha Kuritzky showed a 1934 Lucky Tiger medal from the Michigan Mutual Liability Company, issued in association with the Detroit Tigers baseball team. Simcha also exhibited two medals from Japan, one showing a lion in front of a rising sun h onoring the 1926 Imperial University Baseball Competition, and the other of similar appearance but given by a newspaper to a high school student.
Rachel Schadegg displayed a U.S. Mint Young Numismatist item issued for the Atlanta Olympic Games, a Baseball theme 1995 half dollar.

October Feature: David Schenkman on Baseball Tokens

As Game Three of the World Series began, medal expert David Schenkman spoke to the MCCC on the long history of baseball tokens in a slide-illustrated discussion. Mr. Schenkman is working on a catalog of baseball tokens, and already has over 1,000 examples. (He confessed, however, that he last attended a baseball game himself in 1978, when the ANA convention in Houston held a barbecue in association with a game in the Astrodome; he reported that he only lasted until the seventh inning. He warned the audience th at he would be analyzing numismatic aspects of the National Pastime and did not plan to answer baseball trivial questions!)

Mr. Schenkman talked about the frequent occurrence of baseball-related themes in American life and language, and began by showing a token dated 1858 for Hampden Park of Springfield, Massaschusetts, created by diesinker J. A. Bolen. By 1860, Hampden Pa rk had beaten all the other teams in the area and were the undisputed regional champions. The reverse of the token mentions the Pioneer BB Club. There were 125 pieces issued in white metal, and 75 in copper, perhaps struck in 1861 and distributed to the team as good luck pieces.

Mr. Schenkman went on to display and discuss a diverse range of other tokens --- some issued by merchants in honor of local teams, some produced for advertising, and others for use as season passes, press passes, watch fobs, and so forth. Materials used included various metals, hard rubber, enameled brass, cardboard with metal rims, and plastics. Among the pieces illustrating his talk was a 1934 Lucky Tiger piece with the legend, Our Insurance Brings You Luck, a specimen of which Simcha Kuritzky had coincidentally exhibited earlier at the meeting.

Other noteworthy baseball tokens which Mr. Schenkman discussed included a 1935 elongated cent for the Cubs-Tigers World Series, 1960 and 1962 passes for the All Star Game and World Series given to wives of Yankee executives, and advertising-related tokens honoring Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Dizzy Dean, and other players, produced by cereal, tobacco, and alcohol companies. Mr. Schenkman explained that the key to many token series is not by any means the rarest token, but rather tends to be the one featuring the most famous player.

Particularly interesting were tokens which included baseball team schedules on the reverse; early examples shown dated from 1910 and 1912. A 1940 schedule token also featured a raised dot in the center of the reverse and an arrow on the obverse; the piece could be spun to determine who had to pay for the current round of drinks. Mr. Schenkman concluded his talk by showing a huge 1994 Baltimore Orioles token issued by the Baltimore Sun newspaper. New issues of such tokens are available for sale annually at a nominal price.

Other Announcements and Prizes

Irv Blank's name won his second leg for the Bison Chip, and now he needs just one more to capture that prize. (For those unfamiliar with the Bison Chip rules: only members present at a meeting are eligible for each month's Bison Chip drawing. As often happens, several names of absent members were drawn and discarded before a winner was found. Come to the next meeting if you want to win!)
Ben Kalman won the 50-50 raffle pot.
Ken Huff, Mae Clarke, Aaron Roemer, and David Goldberg garnered door prizes.
Club auction bidding was strong. Don McKee and Jack Schadegg were the auctioneers.