Chicago Coin Club



The Chicago Coin Club is a group of collectors interested in all aspects of numismatics. With one exception, we meet monthly in downtown Chicago on the second Wednesday of every month at 6:45 pm, with support for online attendees. You are always welcome to join us and learn with us.

Choose any of the following to learn more about us. Or just scroll through and read it all.


Objectives

The objective of the club is to pursue numismatic knowledge through the study and research of coins, currency, medals, tokens, and other related items and the sharing of this information through monthly meetings, dialogue, and the publication of literature.

The Chicago Coin Club was founded in 1919 and has continued uninterrupted for over 90 years.

The Chicago Coin Club does not buy, sell, or offer opinions as to the price or grade of a coin. The Club’s operating revenues come from annual dues paid by members, bequests, contributions, and gifts. All expenditures are for operating expenses or for the advancement of numismatics.

Any person interested in numismatics is eligible for membership.

For additional information about the Chicago Coin Club, you email:
Scott McGowan at secretary.chicagocoinclub@gmail.com
or write:
Chicago Coin Club
P.O. Box 2301
Chicago, IL 60690


Monthly Meetings

As of February 22, 2022, our regular monthly meetings, in downtown Chicago, are in-person with support for remote participants. Read our Online Meeting page for the equipment you will need and instructions on receiving the address and password for remote participants. It will take some time to prepare yourself, so start now!

We meet monthly in downtown Chicago on the second Wednesday of every month at 6:45pm CT.

Except for the December banquet, our current downtown meeting space is at the Chicago Bar Association, 321 S. Plymouth Court, 3rd floor meeting room. Plymouth Court is located between State and Dearborn Streets; Plymouth is a short street, going south from Jackson. Please remember the security measures at our meeting building: everyone must show their photo-ID and register at the guard’s desk.

In addition to our monthly meetings downtown, we also meet at some local shows. And we usually meet at Central States when their convention is nearby. The photo-ID and pre-registration security measures are not needed for attending our meetings at ANA and Central States when they are in town.

December 13, 2023 - CCC Meeting - Annual Banquet Meeting Capri Italian Restaurant, 12307 S. Harlem Avenue, Palos Heights, IL 60463. (reservations are required) - Featured Speaker: Raymond J. Dagenais, Ed.D. on United States Flowing Hair Half Dollars
The newly formed United States of America wanted passionately to be looked upon as a sovereign entity. One way to help establish the nation’s identity was to mint its own coinage. The Flowing Hair Half Dollar was the first half dollar produced to address this challenge.
A cash bar, with hors d’oeuvres, will be available from 5:45-6:30pm, followed by dinner and the meeting. The cost is $45.00 per person ($40.00 if paid by December 5), and reservations are required. More details, including the menu, are available in the December Chatter.
This meeting is in-person only.

January 10, 2024 - 6:45 PM CST (UTC-06:00) - CCC Meeting (In-person, supporting remote viewers) - Featured Program: Dale Lukanich on Ole’s Dream: The 1925 Norse Medal
In July 4 or 5, 1825, the vessel Restauration sailed from Stavanger, Norway, for the United States, with 45 migrants aboard. Ole Juulson Kvale was a Minnesota congressman of the Farmer-Labor Party, and a proud Norse-American. Kvale was a member of the Norse-American Centennial Commission, which was to organize a 100th anniversary celebration of the Restauration’s voyage. Mr. Kvale’s dream was to make a medal that could last long after the celebration was over in 1925. These beautiful medals that were struck by the US mint are often collected with the US commemorative coins. Because they are not coins, they are not listed in the Red Book. This talk is intended to shed some light on a beautiful piece of American art.
Participation in an online meeting requires some advance work by both our meeting coordinator and attendees, especially first-time participants. Please plan ahead; reread the latest instructions on the day before the meeting!

February 14, 2024 - 6:45 PM CST (UTC-06:00) - CCC Meeting (In-person, supporting remote viewers) - Featured Program: Mark Wieclaw on The American Arts Medallion program (1980-1984), Success or Failure
Mark will cover the reason for the program, the convoluted order system, and the artists that appeared on each medal. Mark will also add some personal experiences through his tenure working behind the counter at Gold Dust Coins.
Participation in an online meeting requires some advance work by both our meeting coordinator and attendees, especially first-time participants. Please plan ahead; reread the latest instructions on the day before the meeting!

Programs from Past Meetings


Club Newsletter

Our monthly newsletter is called the Chatter and is mailed to all members at the beginning of each month. Here is the current issue.


Upcoming Special Events

The 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2021, and 2022 ANA summer conventions were in Chicago — the Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, to be exact. We were the host club, and we will be the host club again when ANA returns to the Stephens Convention Center on August 6-10, 2024. A 2022 non-numismatic things-to-do listing of area events and activities is available online; although a bit dated, it provides a starting place if you will be visiting the area before summer of 2024.


Past Special Events

A one-day ANS/CCC Symposium was held on March 27, 1996. The program consisted of ten original papers by outstanding numismatic scholars from the Midwest and the curatorial staff of the American Numismatic Society. A 7 PM dinner was separate from the symposium. All events took place at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers, 301 E. North Water St., Chicago, on March 27, 1996. This was the headquarters hotel for the Chicago International Coin Fair, held from March 29-31, 1996.

We celebrated the club’s 90th Anniversary with medals and a banquet in 2009.

The one-thousandth meeting of the Chicago Coin Club was honored with a banquet dinner meeting in April, 2002, held on Saturday night during CICF, at the show's hotel (a new location for 2002). Mark Wieclaw chaired the planning committee.

2019 was the official 100th anniversary of the Chicago Coin Club; in celebration of this milestone we had many activities we hope you enjoyed, including:

The club hosted the annual summer convention of the American Numismatic Association at the Rosemont Convention Center in a number of years since 1991. They hold their conventions in cities around the country; check their schedule of future conventions, to see if they will be close to you.


Special Projects

One of the items honoring the 800th meeting of the Chicago Coin Club, on September 14, 1985, is the book Perspectives in Numismatics. Its 19 manuscripts cover many aspects of numismatics: Sear on Roman Coinage, Lhotka on Medieval European Coinage, Newman on Maryland's Dollar Denominated Paper Money, van Beek on Jetons, and Pearlman on the Hobby are only some. So far, the text from 18 of the manuscripts are avaible online. The illustrations will be brought up from the original artwork where possible, so the illustrations will take some time.

From 1989 through 2011, the club prepared a handout for all attendees at the meeting held in conjunction with the Chicago International Coin Fair, under the general heading of Odd and Curious Money. In 1996, the club started a similar handout for the meeting in conjunction with the Chicago Paper Money Exposition, with each handout looking at a bank from the Chicago area. Although the handout is free to each attendee, extras are available for sale.

The club is pleased to host an online numismatic library containing works in HTML to make viewing more flexible and searching possible. Please send comments, questions, and requests to us and include library as part of the subject line.

In honor of the centennial of the Chicago Coin Club, the club created a Hall of Fame to recognize some of the prominent numismatists among its ranks over the past century. Twelve inductees form the Inaugural Class, with one member announced each month during 2019. After the inaugural class of twelve has been named, the criteria for future membership shall be developed, along with all of the other tasks in support of this endeavor.

Late in 2023 the club started a Coins for “A”s program, for CCC-member Young Numismatists.


Club Items for Sale

Some medals and handouts are still available. See the order form for pricing and availability.


Affiliations:

American Numismatic Association
Life Membership 7
Central States Numismatic Society
Life Membership 150
Illinois Numismatic Association
Life Membership 132

Membership

To become a member of the Chicago Coin Club you must attend a meeting and fill out and submit an application along with a membership fee of $20 ($10 for Junior membership).

A 1st reading of your application will be held at this meeting for membership approval.

A 2nd reading will be held at the next monthly meeting, following publication of your name in the club newsletter. Upon membership approval, applicant will become a member. Applicant not required to be present at 2nd reading.


Comments and questions are always welcome. These Chicago Coin Club pages are created and maintained by Paul Hybert, with design advice from Mike Metras.