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Montgomery County Coin Club

September 2001 Bulletin - Early Web Edition

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MCCC: A Collector's Club

Next Meeting: Tuesday, September 11, 2001

The Montgomery County Coin Club will convene on the second Tuesday of the month, 11 September 2001, at the Silver Spring Senior Citizens Center (1000 Forest Glen Road, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA). Doors open at 7:00pm, and the meeting typically begins with the Pledge of Allegiance shortly after 7:15pm. The featured event for this month's gathering was not yet scheduled as of press time for this edition of the Bulletin.

July Meeting Report

The featured attractions of the August 2001 MCCC meeting were Reports on the ANA Convention & Summer Seminar. See below for details.

MCCC President Jack Schadegg called the Club to order at 7:25pm on the sultry evening of 14 August 2001. About 32 people were present, including two Young Numismatists (YNs). Three visitors were welcomed with applause:

Good to see you, Harold & Joyce & Michael! (MCCC members: please invite friends and family, especially potential YNs, to join us at the MCCC meeting next month.)

News & Announcements

President Jack Schadegg displayed a photo and plaque presented to the MCCC by the local Boys & Girls Club, thanking the MCCC for its charitable donations. The gifts have been used to support a youth baseball team.

Treasurer Simcha Kuritzky reported that Club finances are solid, about $36 ahead of break-even already and likely to finish the year ~$300 in the black.

First Vice President Ed Russell announced that a shipment of new hardback 2002 edition A Guide Book of United States Coins, aka "The Redbook", arrived a few minutes before he and Jonetta set out for the August MCCC gathering. The Redbook is for sale to MCCC members at the bargain price of $8.50; the list price is $15. A dozen copies flew out of the box before the end of the meeting. See Ed on 11 September to get yours before they're all gone!

Librarian Kermit Smyth showed two new books which MCCC members are invited to borrow: Roman Provincial Coins by Kevin Butler, and Carl Wilhelm Becker, a biography of the famous counterfeiter. (See the Exhibit discussion below for further information on Becker.) The MCCC Library now has 384 books available for loan. Contact Kermit before the next meeting to reserve one.

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: Willy also announced a bountiful set of special YN-only prizes:

The Gold Raffle Prize in August was a 1998 US "eagle" 0.1 ounce coin; it was won by Simcha Kuritzky. The door prizes were captured by Jack Schadegg, YN Daniel McManus, and Bob Eisemann.

The Bison Chip winner was Jack Cross, for the second month in a row! Jack now has two of the three "legs" required to win the Bison Chip prize, a one-ounce silver round. (Names are drawn until the name of someone who is present is called.)

This month, the special door prize drawings for Young Numismatists were taken by YNs Ezra Berch and Daniel McManus.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Member Exhibits

Herb Hall displayed specimens of the 2001 Proof and Uncirculated silver Buffalo Dollar. These attractive coins were issued to commemorate the establishment of the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian, and carry enlarged versions of designs from the Buffalo (or Indian Head) nickel.

Simcha Kuritzky showed Souvenir Cards and coins from the ANA Convention. Simcha also exhibited a massive bronze 1990 John Muir forest calendar medallion, and another large medal depicting the Biblical scene of Adam naming the beasts.

Ken Swab displayed material from a recent tribute to Jim & Sarah Brady, held at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center: a collectible pin, and a "Good For" token bearing the words "Ronald Reagan ITC".

George McManus reported on the Canadian Numismatic Convention held 27-28-29 July 2001, and showed a Canadian $2 bill and commemorative coins. (Next year's convention will be in Vancouver.)

Kermit Smyth exhibited a cast copy of a 1737 Higley "Broad Axe" copper bearing the word "Becker" on its edge. As Kermit explained, Higley had a copper mine in the Connecticut colony and issued coins and tokens which were commonly used in local trade. After objections from the British government he stopped putting denominations on the pieces and used the legend "Value Me As You May"; they were worth roughly a pint of beer at the local bar. Genuine Higley coppers sell today for $10,000 or more in nice condition. The piece on display was acquired at a flea market 6 years ago for $10, and appears to be an example of what Stacks sold at auction on 15 March 2000 as lot 1184. The word "Becker" on its edge suggests that it might be related to, or a copy of, a counterfeit by the famous Carl Wilhelm Becker (1772-1830). Becker, however, mainly produced die-struck replicas of ancient coins and apparently never signed his name to any of them. According to Kermit, Becker was the first to developed the art of artificially toning or aging coins, and his products fooled many museums. But it is unclear whether or not Becker himself sold his pieces as honest replicas, or as (counterfeit) originals.

Jerry Grzenda presented a display on the theme of "German Imperial Minors" --- lower-denomination coins issued by the various German states before their unification. Jerry also displayed and discussed coins with an Iron Cross design and the legend (translated) "Issued by Authority of the German Commander of the East" for use in occupied Poland. And Jerry showed a variety of coins he had acquired at the ANA Convention: a 1943 Vatican mint set (scarce, since only 1000 were issued); an 1833 Chile 8 escudos; a Ceylon 5 cents; a brass medal made of metal recovered from Fort Sumter and labeled "1961-1965 South Carolina Confederate War Centennial"; a 1910 Portugal 1 escudo; mint condition "Kentucky Cents", colonial US coppers from the 1790s; and finally two Venezuela leper colony tokens.

Next month, please bring some of your favorite coins or paper money to the MCCC meeting and share them with your fellow numismatists!


Feature: ANA Convention and Seminar Reports

The main attractions at the August MCCC meeting were comments on the recent ANA summer convention in Atlanta and on a week-long seminar in Colorado Springs.

Simcha Kuritzky was awarded a Third Place plaque in Atlanta for his exhibit of Hebrew Love Tokens. The First Place award went to a new exhibitor who also won Best New Exhibitor for a display of "Love Tokens for the Family". Simcha described an open meeting of the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory Commission. The CCCAC may request an increased minting of the Buffalo $1 coins. The Commission also asked for suggestions re subjects to commemorate in 2006. (The US is now down to its legally authorized limit of two commems per year.) Simcha suggested that the US might follow the good example of Canada, "our R&D department!", and consider a series on the wildlife conservation theme.

Simcha also reported that the ANA is hoping to issue The Numismatist on CD-ROM; work is underway to get permission as needed from authors. There are complex issues of intellectual property rights involved. The Atlanta convention's competition, a "World Series of Numismatics", was good but ran for over two hours. Dealers present reported "decent" activity.

Jerry Grzenda described several auctions which he attended at the ANA Convention. Bidding was strong, and he found the prices higher than he expected, especially for foreign coins. US coin auctions were Standing Room Only; non-US auctions had roughly 40 bidders present.

Jerry and Simcha reported on the display of a 1913 Liberty Head nickel, shown in a glass case: "It was a temple! At night they put a little hood over it, like it was a bird!" (In the early days of the MCCC a 1913 Liberty Head nickel was exhibited at several meetings, according to long-time members. It was later donated to the ANA and currently resides in the Money Museum.)

Willy Massey observed that coin dealer Richard Nachbar continues to offer ANA memberships to Young Numismatists (as mentioned in previous MCCC Bulletins). A YN needs to write a 25-50 word essay and send it to Mr. Nachbar. Willy also reported that he got a photograph of himself with the young woman who posed for the obverse design on the Sacagawea Dollar.

Gordon Charrick gave an enthusiastic report of his experiences in Colorado Springs this summer, at ANA Headquarters. Gordon attended a one-week seminar, "Basic Coin Grading", and strongly recommends it to anyone with an interest in the subject. The cost was ~$500 which includes room and board ("pretty good, for college food!") on the campus of Colorado College. In addition to about 6 hours daily of lecture sessions there are evening mini-seminars and bull sessions.

The instructors for his course were excellent, according to Gordon, and ANA President Bob Campbell gave a fine talk on "Original vs. Fake Toning". The students also received a presentation from the curator of the Smithsonian's numismatic collection. And there was an opportunity to go on a private tour of the Denver Mint. There are typically 8 to 10 classes running on various topics, with a total of 200-300 students. Some fill up early; Gordon signed up for his in March. The ANA Collection itself was not available for viewing, since construction was underway. It should be open again, however, within a few months.

All in all, Gordon Charrick concluded, "This is the best $500 you can spend if you like coins!"


State Quarter Survey: Balloting Continues

Since no (zero, nil, zilch, nada, ...) votes have yet arrived, the choice of "best" and "worst" commemorative State Quarter still remains open. See the announcement in last month's MCCC Bulletin for details.

Extended Commemorative Quarter Program: MCCC Position?

Ken Swab writes:
Last Tuesday [at the August MCCC meeting] Simcha said that the Senate has a bill before it to extend the commemorative quarter program to the District and the territories. He mentioned that MCCC may want to take a position and write to Senator Sarbanes, who chairs the Senate Banking Committee.

Last September (at the end of the 106th Congress) the House passed HR 5010, [by a vote of] 377-6, a bill to issue quarters to commemorate the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The Senate did not act on the bill.

I have not been able to locate a similar bill in either House this Congress.

Do we want to raise the idea with the membership and see if MCCC wants to take a position? Without a bill before the Congress we may be wasting our time, but we could always adopt a resolution in favor of the concept. It would be something worthy of discussion at a meeting. (Recall the discussion on the MD quarter design and the letter to the governor, which did get the Club President appointed to the Governor's Quarter Design Advisory Commission.)

Your comments and suggestions are welcome!

Auction & Aftermath

The MCCC Live Auction bidding was fun and fast, but nevertheless ran a bit late due to the large number of lots (and the many exhibits and presentations this month). Don McKee & Ken Swab were the auctioneers. The meeting adjourned at 9:40pm.
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.