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Montgomery County Coin Club

August 1998 Bulletin

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Next MCCC Meeting: Tuesday, August 11, 1998 
Featured Speaker: Joe Howard on "Coins from a New Arboritum"

The Montgomery County Coin Club will meet at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, August 11, 1998, at the Senior Citizens Center on Forest Glen Road in Silver Spring, Maryland. Joe Howard will speak and show slides of coins featuring trees. This talk could be entitled "Trees II" since it will be different than the one Joe presented several years ago on trees on coins. 

Exhibits Welcome

Don't forget about the "golden" opportunity that the MCCC Display Case offers you this (and every) month --- bring in some of your favorite coins, medallions, currency, exonumia, or other items and show them off to your comrades in the Club! You don't have to give a long speech, but if you can say a few words about the historical context of your pieces that will make them even more interesting.

Thanks for sharing!


Goodies and Awards for YNs!

The MCCC is eager to promote numismatic education --- and YNs (Young Numismatists) represent the future of our hobby. We have special gifts ready for YNs who exhibit in the display case. If you're not a YN yourself, think about bringing one with you to the meeting . . . children or grandchildren, nieces or nephews, or just young friends are all most welcome.

And as a bonus, any YN exhibiting at the August meeting will receive a numismatic award. This month's awards are particularly nice, so if you are a YN, find something to share with the club.


Donations for the Charity Auction

Every November the MCCC holds a special auction to benefit the Silver Spring and Wheaton Boys and Girls Clubs. This year, for example, our donation was used to sponsor the Purple People Eaters Pee Wee baseball club at the Wheaton club. Please look through your collection and bring in some items to donate to a great cause (which will also benefit you directly via a tax deduction). Besides coins or currency for the auction itself, think about making a cash contribution (equally deductable). You can give anonymously, or see your name as a donor in the MCCC Bulletin. 

July Meeting Announcements

MCCC President Ken Swab called the Club to order at about 7:20 p.m. on June 9 bedecked in a subtle yet striking baseball-theme shirt. Approximately 37 members were present, including at least 3 YNs. The pre-meeting period was enlivened by a burglar alarm and the arrival of the local police --- since somebody found a side door of the Senior Citizens Center unlocked and entered that way when the rest of the building was still secured.
Major announcements and events included:

1998 Redbooks for Sale

Thirty Redbooks (the classic guide to US coins) have been ordered for Club members; the books should arrive by the August MCCC meeting, and will be available for sale at the bargain price of $7. That is more than 40 percent off the list price of $11.95 for the 1999 edition hardback! If you want to reserve a copy, please contact Ed Russell.

Exhibits and Displays

The MCCC display case had a number of fascinating items this month:

MCCC Told "The Future of Money" is Not Coins

John Lopez, Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives Coinage Subcommittee, spoke to the MCCC membership on "the Future of Money." Mr. Lopez has served Congressman Michael Castle (R-DE) for about five years. He prefaced his remarks by noting that he was speaking for himself, not for the U.S. Congress or Chairman Michael Castle (R-DE) of the Subcommittee.

Mr. Lopez noted that coinage is not the main activity of his Subcommittee. In spite of having its staff cut by a third since the Republican takeover of Congress, the Subcommittee also has responsibilities for Federal Reserve issues, interest rates, oversight of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, regional development banks, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and various other areas. But coin issues attract much attention and provoke most of the correspondence from the public. Particularly interesting are any activities involving commemorative or circulating coins.

The future of money is likely, Mr. Lopez said, to be one of movement away from coins and towards electronic (digital) money. Two trillion dollars changes hands daily via wire transfers. The totality of physical money in circulation as of July 8, 1998 is only $487.9 billion in notes and $12 billion in coins within the US. Overseas, $340 billion is in circulation.

Mr. Lopez observed that banks are "an endangered species" these days. Although there are more banks in the U.S. than in the rest of the world, new companies are constantly taking over banking functions and new concepts, such as "cyberbanking," are emerging. Many people are finding that they can use credit unions or brokerage accounts to handle their daily monetary affairs, and thus they no longer need banks. Regulations give non-bank entities many advantages (or at least, so banks complain).

Debit and Credit cards are growing more popular. More importantly, John Lopez commented, are stored-value "smart cards" which are going to become "ubiquitous" within the next few years. Smart cards will serve as identification, access control devices, and secure payment mechanisms. They will also, however, raise many new issues such as privacy of data and safety (reliability). Internet-based monetary transactions offer the opportunity for many new kinds of fraud at a much greater rate --- so that the money system's "entire basis could be undermined in one afternoon." Law enforcement agencies must focus on meeting such challenges, including international money laundering.

The Mint and the Fed have "declined to be in front in many areas," such as in replacing the $1 bill with a $1 coin. Many universities in the U.S., in contrast, are beginning to experiment with "closed systems" of local multi-purpose money cards. The cards let students spend, and the college enjoys the "float" on unused balances. The same money card can be an ID, permit access to dorms, log in to computers, manage financial aid, pay tuition, run an ATM, and make purchases from a vending machine. New features to prevent fraud, beyond a photograph of the user, are beginning to appear --- including "biometrics" such as physical properties of the person, finger images, facial recognition and iris scans. For merchants such as grocery stores, where profit margins are slim (3% or less) such techniques are critical.

WebTV, a new television interface to the Internet, comes with a smart card reader. Other applications of smart card technology, such as the drive-by toll payment systems for automobiles and related mechanisms to pay subway fares and parking meters, are emerging. All of these can raise profits, especially in cases where handling coins and bills is an expensive and inefficient way to do business.

Consumers will have a great deal of input into the evolution of money, as they decide how much to permit companies to use their personal" information in exchange for discounts, frequent-flier miles, and the like. A recent test took place in San Francisco, for instance, where telephone were free in exchange for the user listening to advertisements. Most Members of Congress, Mr. Lopez said, are not terribly adept with new technology. They "think they are pretty hip if their assistant can print out their e-mail for them!" Younger Members, however, are more fully versed in technical issues, and are eager to deal with them.

On immediate near-term issues, Mr. Lopez noted that the new $1 coin is emerging as a gold-colored alloy piece struck with a smooth edge and an image of the Statue of Liberty --- if the Senate does not block it, and if the Mint and the US citizenry go along with the plan! The fifty-state commemorative quarter dollar program similarly looks to be moving along well, but the question of its success will be determined early in 1999 when the Delaware coin comes out in January.


Thanks!


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