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August 1998 Bulletin
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:
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Numismatic Scholarship is Rewarded: MCCC YN Michael Berkman has
won a scholarship award to attend the American Numismatic Association Summer
Conference --- he flew out on 21 July.
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Guest: Ed Alexander, a self-described "jack of all trades" collector,
was welcomed to the meeting.
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Colonial Currency at the Claude Moore Colonial Farm: Over the weekend of
18-19 July, the Claude Moore Colonial Farm in McLean, Virginia, exchanged
modern money for reproduction Virginia currency of 1770. In keeping with
the technology of the era, each note was individually signed and numbered
by a re-enactor. The farm put about 280 notes into circulation at its weekend
Market Fair.
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Door Prizes: Vice President William C. Massey announced the prizes
distributed just for showing up this month: a bag of Spanish pesetas, a
1955 South Africa 2 shilling, a 1956 Netherlands 1 Guilder, a 1962 Vatican
City 100 Lire, a 1966 Vatican City 10 Lire, and a 1992 Romania 50 Lei.
Lucky winners of these prizes were, respectively,YN Merle Zimmermann,
John Pylypec, YN Robin Zimmermann, Bruce Weiner, William M. Massey,
and Ben Kalman.
Other Awards: The 50-50 Raffle was won by William M. Massey.
He then finished a "hat trick" by also garnering the Bison Chip, as his
name was the first picked.
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:
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Irv Blank discussed the history and background of the South
African silver three pence piece --- the "tickee" --- and showed an
example from 1938 in the display case.
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Richard Josefiak talked about his experiences in lecturing on numismatics
to grade school children, and shared copies of an article on the subject
which he recently authored.
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Ed Russell displayed a Prohibition-era "prescription" for alcohol(for
medicinal use only, obviously!).
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Jerry Grzenda exhibited a "small assortment" of pieces:
Independence Day medals issued for the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial
celebration of the 4th of July;
a silver medal made from Nevada-mined ore;
some items from the New Carrolton coin show held in early July, including
bronze medallions;
$1 bills from 1862; and a variety of coins from Guatemala.
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Don Wilson showed some scarce coins from Peru (1840) and Egypt,
the latter issued when that nation was under Turkish hegemony.
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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Jonetta Russell brought wonderful refreshments for the Club's members
to enjoy during the Intermission.
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Don McKee and Jack Schadegg wielded the hammer as MCCC auctioneers.
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Willy Massey ran the door prize and 50-50 raffle drawings.
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Simcha Kuritzky managed the auction accounting and the Bison Chip
drawing.
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Merle
Zimmermann and EdRussell took notes and reported on the
July meeting, since Mark Zimmermann was away.
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.