This is the MCCC ARCHIVE – for the CURRENT Montgomery County Coin Club see https://montgomerycoinclub.org
June 2001 Bulletin - Early Web Edition
MCCC: A Collector's Club for the New Millennium
Next Meeting: Tuesday, June 12, 2001
The Montgomery County Coin Club will meet at 7pm on the
second Tuesday of the month,
12 June 2001, at the Silver Spring Senior Citizens Center
(1000 Forest Glen Road, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA).
The featured event was not yet scheduled as of press
time for this edition of the Bulletin.
The May 2001 MCCC meeting had no guest speaker; the key
attraction was Numismatic Bingo.
MCCC President Jack Schadegg called the Club
to order at 7:24pm on the evening of 8 May 2001.
About 31 MCCC members were present,
including two Young Numismatists (YNs).
One first-time visitor was welcomed:
Arlene Marks. Good to see you!
(Next month, please invite friends and family, especially
YNs, to join you at the MCCC meeting.)
News & Announcements
- President Jack Schadegg noted that the
Washington Numismatic Society's May meeting will feature guest
speaker Harry Manville; the Washington Numismatists meet on
the third Tuesday of every month. Jack also announced
that long-time MCCC member Michael Dolnick had quintuple
bypass heart surgery on 27 March and is healing nicely. (All of
the MCCC members send you their best wishes for a speedy and
complete recovery, Mike!)
Jack concluded by describing the recent ANA Salt Lake City show,
which featured a $20,000,000 "Ship of Gold" display; that same
exhibit may be seen at the Atlanta ANA convention in the near future.
- Treasurer Simcha Kuritzky reported that the
Club is already $1.73 in the black this year --- and since income typically
lags outlays, the MCCC is likely to finish 2001 in a strong financial
posture.
- Past President Willy Massey, wearing a cap
which read "MCCC", joined Simcha Kuritzky in announcing that raffle tickets
are now for sale at $1 each (or six for $5) for the 15-17 June
Maryland State Numismatic Association show to be held in
Baltimore. Prizes include various gold and silver coins, and
some of the proceeds may flow back to the MCCC. The raffle
drawing is to be held on 17 June; you need not be present to win.
- C(l)ub Reporter Mark Zimmermann mentioned
two items which recently came to the MCCC via Internet email:
- Rhonda Herman of the McFarland
Company writes: "McFarland is a
respected reference book publisher that would like to
expand their line of books on coin collecting. You may check out their
website at
http://www.mcfarlandpub.com.
If you have a manuscript,
proposal or book idea, please write to Rhonda Herman, McFarland,
Box 611, Jefferson NC 28640
(rherman (at) mcfarlandpub.com)."
(In discussions of this offer,
one MCCC officer noted, "... we have members who probably have a coin
book or two in them. I, for one, would love to write a book....")
- Alexander Bykov, Ph.D., editor in chief of the
Russian numismatic journal The
Coin, writes: "... we suggest the members of the [MCCC]
contribut[e] articles to The Coin. The theme of the
article can deal with any sphere of numismatics in any part of
the world. The articles can be sent either in English or in Russian."
Write to Dr. Bykov at musdip (at) vologda.ru.
The Coin, also titled The International
Numismatic Almanac,
has been published annually since 1995. Back issues are available;
please contact Dr. Bykov for details.
As always, MCCC members are encouraged to submit brief announcements for
inclusion in the Bulletin --- for-sale notices, numismatic
wish-lists, summaries of recent coin events, or anything else
appropriate to this publication. Please pass your submissions
to a Club Officer or send them directly to C(l)ub Reporter
Mark Zimmermann via
z (at) his.com.
Drawings & Prizes
Willy Massey announced the free door prizes, including
three silver coins:
- a 1954 (Philadelphia mint) US dime (10 cent piece)
- a 1965 Swedish 1 Kroner
- a 1965 Swedish 2 Kroner
- a 1992 Middle Atlantic Numismatic Association souvenir card
The Gold Raffle Prize was a Chinese 1/20th oz. "Unicorn" --- a
lovely proof coin dated 1998 and denominated 5 Yuan.
Ken Huff won the Gold Raffle.
For the Door Prizes, fortune favored William M. Massey
(who gave his winning
ticket to YN Nicky Luck!), Bert Marks,
Ken Huff, and Sherry Hilderbrand.
The Bison Chip winner's name was not available as of
the publication deadline for this edition of the
Bulletin.
Display Case Studies
Two MCCC members made presentations in May:
- John Huffman showed a fine leather-bound
presentation copy of Walter Breen's Encyclopædia of Early
US Cents (1793-1814), with his name ("John P. Huffman") embossed
on the cover. It has been fifty years since Sheldon's book on
early cents, and in John's judgment Breen's work will likely replace
Sheldon as the key reference book. John also noted that large cent
scholars such as Breen and Sheldon were not always of the most
conventional moral character (to put it diplomatically), and
expressed his regret that MCCC Librarian Kermit Smyth, a notorious
copper collector, was not present to test this hypothesis.
- Simcha Kuritzky exhibited a variety of coins
and medals on the theme of Lag B'Omer, which he described
as "one of the most obscure days of the Jewish calendar" and
which occurs this year on Friday 11 May. Lag B'Omer
is the 33rd day of Omer, "a period of semi-mourning in remembrance
of a plague in the second century C.E." as Simcha explained. During
Omer one doesn't normally perform weddings or get a haircut. But on
Lag B'Omer, those restrictions are lifted; it is the day on which
the students of the famous Rabbi Akiva ceased to die of plague.
The holiday also has connections with Kabbalah, a system of mysticism
associated with Jewish philosophy that has enjoyed a general resurgence of
popularity during the past few decades (possibly in the context of
"New Age" or "NeoPagan" movements). Among the Lag B'Omer and Kabbalistic
pieces which Simcha exhibited were:
- a medal, SM-87, "And There Was Light" by Agam, with
obverse depicting the world above and below, branches and roots, and
reverse showing a spiral symbolizing the concentration of light; this 1986
piece features a central diffraction grating
- a color medal, SM-90, "Everlasting Love" by Moshe Castel
- a medal, SM-142, "Spanish Jewry" by Galia and Ilan Elsen, commemorating
the 500th anniversary of Jews in Spain and
depicting among other items Abulafia's Toledo synagogue
- a medal, SM-143 "Lag B"Omer" by Shafrir/Nutels
- a medal from 19th century Germany showing symbols of Kabbalah with
Christian mystical modifications
- an old medal, probably from the 1500s, showing five mystical names
of Jesus
- a locket from ~1900 displaying pentagram symbols
Thanks to all exhibitors! Next month, everyone, please bring
something topical from your collection and share it with
your fellow MCCC members.
Feature:
Numismatic Bingo
The three games of Numismatic Bingo played at
the May MCCC meeting were fun,
enjoyed by all present. Simcha Kuritzky
took the first (regular) and third (reverse) games.
Norman Brand triumphed in the second game.
Bingo prizes were circulated Morgan dollars. Congratulations
to the lucky winners, and condolences to those who came close.
Auction & Aftermath
The MCCC Live Auction was an active one, with 45
lots for sale including some classic US and UK copper,
attractive silver, assorted international coins, and large
medals.
Don McKee and Ken Swab were
the auctioneers.
The meeting adjourned shortly after 9pm.
Comments and Feedback
Please send bug reports and suggestions for improvement to
z (at) his.com (see http://www.his.com/~z/).
The MCCC Bulletin is copyright © 2001 by the Directors of the
Montgomery
County Coin Club --- who thank the American Numismatic Association (and especially Ms. Susie Nulty)
for help in sharing the MCCC Bulletin with numismatists everywhere.