Montgomery County Coin Club

January 2001 Bulletin - Early Web Edition

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MCCC: A Collector's Club for the New Millennium

Next Meeting: Tuesday, January 9, 2001

December Meeting Report

President Willy Massey called the MCCC to order at 7:24 p.m. on the blustery evening of December 12, 2000. Appropriately for the December theme of error coins, an off-center gibbous moon was on the rise, pitted with multi-struck craters. A big crowd of ~45 MCCC members were present, including at least three Young Numismatists (YNs). Five visitors were welcomed with applause: Joe & Marge Buford of Baltimore, Mirga Massey (mother of MCCC President Massey), YN Andy Luck (son of MCCC Director Andrew Luck), and Sharon Murphy. Welcome! (Be sure to invite friends and relatives, especially potential YNs, to attend the next MCCC meeting with you.)

News & Announcements

• President Willy Massey announced the acquisition of two numismatic videotapes for the MCCC Library.
• Treasurer Simcha Kuritzky reported that the Club ended the year 2000 a few hundred dollars in the black, based largely on donations from estates and from the Mid-Atlantic Numismatic Association. President Massey suggested the possibility of increasing Club charity donations; the topic will be discussed at an MCCC Board of Directors meeting in the near future. Treasurer Kuritzky reminded members to pay their 2001 MCCC dues. (Membership remains only $6 for adults and $1 for Young Numismatists.) Simcha also announced the arrival of official ANA information on the 2001 Convention to be held in Atlanta; contact him for further details.
• Librarian Kermit Smyth noted that the Library is alive and well and still seeking suggestions for books to purchase. Ask Kermit for a copy of the Library book list. He also has mylar flips for sale --- a worthwhile investment in the preservation of your coins.
• Rob Dorsey announced the availability of three bank rolls of commemorative quarters at face value. (All of the rolls sold within 30 seconds, before he had time to return to his seat!)
• President Massey announced the 2001 MCCC Officer nominations, and called for other nominations from the floor; none were offered. The slate as published was approved by an overwhelming voice vote. The new officers who will be sworn in at the January 2001 meeting are:
  • President: Jack Schadegg
  • 1st Vice-President: Ed Russell
  • 2nd Vice-President: Don McKee
  • Treasurer & Secretary: Simcha Kuritzky
  • Sergeant at Arms: John Herman
  • Board of Directors: Rob Dorsey, Andrew Luck, John Pylypec, Kermit Smyth, Kenneth E. Swab
  Bravo! (And many thanks to the MCCC members --- who restrained themselves and only told half a dozen or so election jokes during the meeting.)

Drawings & Prizes

• 1914 Great Britain 1 shilling
• 1922 US Peace dollar
• 1929 Great Britain 1 florin
• 1944 Australia 1 shilling
• 1952 British East Africa 1 shilling
• 1974 Barbados $5
• 2000 US 1 cent 25% off center

The September Gold Raffle coin was a 200 schilling Austrian 1999 "Philharmonic" containing 0.1 ounce of gold. The raffle was won by John Pylypec.

The Bison Chip drawing this month named Jerry Grzenda. This was his third "leg" and so he wins the prize --- a one-ounce silver Eagle. (To win the Bison Chip, your name must be called three times, and you must be present each time.)

Congratulations to all the winners --- and to everyone else, better luck next month!

December Exhibits

• Simcha Kuritzky showed several items he acquired on Ebay and at a recent coin show: an 1863-dated token with a lion design, a copy of a Mormon $5 gold token (proof, made of brass), a Mount Carmel Center (Waco, Texas) 1938 token, and a 1730-dated token. All have feline motifs.
• Jerry Grzenda exhibited two coins bearing designs representative of Christmas: a 1981 gold piece showing the dove of peace on one side and the Panamanian coat of arms on the other, and a 1979 coin with the golden star of Christmas on the obverse and the Belize coat of arms on the reverse.
• John Huffman showed a stater of Alexander the Great, a noble of Henry VI of England, and a pair of gold coins from ca. the 15th Century.
• Willy Massey displayed a 1961 Philadelphia Mint bag from his collection. He noted that, beginning in a year or so, Mint bags will only exist in far larger sizes --- making it infeasible for individuals to collect such bags (or even lift them when full).

Featured Attraction: Glen Burger on Error Coins

Mr. Burger spoke informally and then answered questions from the audience. He brought along examples of numerous forms of errors, and distributed Type 2 unstruck dime planchets to all MCCC members in attendance. Among the items which Glen displayed were "offset" or "transfer" currency specimens, the results of over-inking and stacking of uncut sheets of notes on top of one another, thereby transferring images onto the wrong side of the bills. Glen noted that folds or dings can cut the value of an error bill by 50%, and counseled caution in handling currency.

Mr. Burger also exhibited several bills with mismatched serial numbers, including as an example a $1 (retail price ~$185) with mismatched leading digits. He observed that almost any error on a $5 note is scarcer than on other denominations, since fewer $5's are typically made.

>From the Q&A portion of Mr. Burger's talk:

What's "hot" in errors?

Statehood quarters! "Everybody" is now collecting Statehood quarters, in Glen's judgment "the best program the Mint has ever done." But he noted that Statehood quarter errors are rather pricey right now. A Statehood quarter on a cent planchet, for example, is ~$2,000; an older quarter erroneously struck on the same style planchet goes for only $500 or so.

What's not so hot?

Many things. Multistruck Sacagaweas and Susans, for instance, are unpopular. Glen recommended acquiring older error coins now, while prices are relatively low. Also, Glen noted, foreign (non-US) error coins tend to be less expensive than comparable errors on US issues.

What's hard to find these days?

Type error coins are scarce. Off-center Buffalo nickels and similar Indian Cents are also tough. Even Lincoln memorial error cents are hard to gather a complete date and mint series of.

What's desirable in off-center struck coins? And what percentage have date showing?

Most error collectors prefer coins that are about halfway off-center --- 40%-60% is generally considered the "prize", the ideal range. In Glen's experience, there are two no-dates (or partial-dates) for every one full-date off-center strike. But Glen commented, "It's not for me to tell you what to collect!" So if you prefer coins which are more, or less, off-center, that's your judgment.

Are there more errors struck now than there were in years past?

Yes, at least until very recently. Quality control at the Mint suffered during the 1990's, when production rates had to be increased to meet demand for coins. In general, Glen said, "The further back one goes in US coinage, the higher the quality control. Trying to complete an Indian Cent [error] collection is a lifetime project." The currency situation is similar; large sized dollar errors, for example, are far scarcer than are errors on small dollars. Recently, however, the Mint has been "getting bashed" about exotic misstrikes, and so efforts are being made to do a better job of catching errors. The arrest and conviction of a Mint employee for smuggling out errors, for example, is a sign of change.

Why are some types of errors "hot"?

There has been an influx of new collectors with major dollars, perhaps driven partly by the stock market boom. Some of them may have taken profits out of the market and moved that money in part to coins. "It's all supply and demand. People want that new thing," Glen noted. He advised everyone to "trade carefully when buying the latest new thing" and commented, with a grin, "Some of my business makes no sense to me!"

What about the Maryland quarter on a Sacagawea blank? Was that struck illegally by the guy who was arrested?

The Mint employee who got caught stealing the errors didn't strike them. A Sacagawea blank is 2mm larger than a quarter blank --- and up to this year, everyone would have said that such an error just couldn't happen. Glen commented that in his judgment, "I think it was an after-hours piece. I think the guy was fooling around and put it in deliberately. The way it's supposed to work, it couldn't fit, it's too big." But the coin was nevertheless encapsulated by NGC. "We're all still scratching our heads!" Glen laughed.

Sacagawea off-centers seem particularly difficult to obtain. Why?

In the beginning with the Sacagawea dollars there were many serious errors. Glen reported that he has one from early on that was struck 30-40 times. Now oversize pieces (multistrikes etc.) are being caught and confiscated. So multistrikes are becoming scarce. Previously the company that has the contact to wrap or roll coins for the Mint was letting such errors slip through.

What about Silver dollar errors?

Morgan and Peace dollar off-centers are extremely scarce. "I've handled several Morgans, but never a Peace dollar," Glen reported. A CC [Carson City mint] off-center is even more valuable. "I've handled one, once," he said.

How about the Pennsylvania rotational error?

These are called "rotated reverse" errors. They existed in several 1999 statehood quarters. "I would urge you to check your rolls when you look at them!" Glen counseled. The value of this sort of error is related to the amount of rotation. (President Massey observed that he had a whole bag of 360-degree rotated reverse coins! (^_^) )

How about repunched mintmarks?

Mr. Burger doesn't carry them. But "If you like them and enjoy searching for them, you can find them at face value."

What's the most difficult kind of error to spot?

One of the most difficult to detect is a quarter struck on a nickel blank. It's called an "off-metal" --- and quarters on nickels are easily missed. They're highly desirable coins. They're just a hair smaller when they come out; the reeding is usually missing on at least one side.

What about counterfeited error coins?

They exist, ever since we've been striking coins. There's a lot of 1964 material for instance, multistrikes (esp. cents and nickels) which are counterfeit. Look for raised spots and for mismatch of obverse and reverse dies. If you buy '64s you should show them to someone to be sure, Glen advised, and continued, "I saw a wonderful counterfeit Sacagawea struck on one side with a quarter die. We all knew it was bad, but we didn't know how it was done." He suspects that it was a cast quarter die.

How about filled dates, cracked dies, etc. ?

Those are just not hot nowadays. People still collect them, but they're out of favor. An exception: big cuds (die failures) are still of much interest.

Mr. Burger's talk concluded to a round of applause from his audience. He encouraged anyone with further questions to contact him at "gcburger (at) email.msn.com" via the Internet; he trades as "GCBURGER" on Ebay.

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