Chatter

archive also available

Minutes of the 996th Meeting

The 996th meeting of the Chicago Coin Club was called to order on January 9, 2002 at 7:01 PM by President Carl Wolf. The meeting was held at 1 Bank One Plaza.

The November and December 2001 minutes were approved as submitted.

There was no Treasurer's Report due to the absence of the Secretary/Treasurer, Lyle Daly.

Robert Feiler, Vice President and Program Director, introduced the featured speaker for the evening, Philip Carrigan. Mr. Carrigan, a Chicago Coin Club member and club Archivist, has been interested in coins since he was about ten years old. His topic for the evening was Canadian & Maritime Numismatic Entities. Following the talk he was presented with the speaker's medal by Robert Feiler.

Show & Tell had eleven exhibitors as follows:

• Mark Wieclaw - 5 oz. Columbia medal and die; Caracala denarius fouree; Geta denarius fouree; Titus denarius celebrating the opening of the Coliseum; three coins, .50, .25 and .10, machined to fit together.
• Carl Wolf - Primitive money, a framed Boloko from the Congo used by the Songo-Meno people. A U-shaped piece of forged copper. In 1911 a Boloko was worth one male goat or sheep, two a male slave, three a female slave and ten paid a marriage dowry.
• Robert Feiler - 1823 French 5 franc money clip with sliding cover for picture (replica?); 1873 Peruvian one sol box medal with 18 black and white (sepia?) photos of the city (replica); vial of gold dust, one pinch. Northern Alaskan assayer's sample mounted on blue plexiglas; 1800 Duke of Wellington brass box medal.
• Paul Hybert - Five U.S. Annual Mint Reports with ex libris markings.
• Robert Leonard - "Bridewealth" from Turkey. A gold bracelet typically given in sets of three or more to Turkish brides as protection from poverty in case of an Islamic divorce.
• Andrew Michyeta - Falkland Islands, 1979 £10, Duck. Part of conservation set.
• Mike Metras - Solidus of Hericleus, Rome 395-425; Two bu, 19th century Japan; Two shu, 19th century Japan; series of uniface items that might be trial strikes.
• Sharon Blocker - U.S. Mint ornaments from 1996 to 2001.
• Steve Zitowski - Four South African to start. Transvaal, 1874, 2d, pattern proof; Orange Free State, 1888, 1d, pattern proof; Giraquatown, no date (1890), 1d, pattern proof in bronze; Republic, 1892, 3d or "tickey", proof in silver; a world flight token or medal from the 1930's, possibly Peru; an elongated Liberty 5 cent piece dated 1886 from the Columbian Exposition.
• Robert Weinstein - Gold Krishnala from Java, ca. 1200AD; Barbarous Aureus of Roman emperor Tiberius; gold gulden dated 1494 from Frankfurt, has sideways 4; gold gulden dated 1499 from Brandenburg.
• Donald Dool - First four items of a new collection, Scripophily of South America, one per country, 19th century, must have been issued in the country and not a government issue. More information on a 1700, 6 Pfenning from the Bistrum of Paderborn which had been shown at an earlier meeting.

Under old business Bill Burd awarded a Cabeen Honorable Mention medal to Mike Metras. After discussion, motions were made and seconded to designate the April 6th meeting at CICF and the evening banquet as one meeting, the 1000th. The design of the medal for the banquet was discussed and Mark Wieclaw reported that a design has not been resolved.

There was no new business.

The meeting was adjourned after 9:15 PM.

Respectfully submitted by Donald H. Dool,
Second Vice President and Acting Secretary

Speaker's Wor[l]d
An Overview of Canadian & Maritime Numismatic Entities

Presented by Philip J. Carrigan to our January 9, 2002 meeting.

Born and raised in New England, Phil has a long interest in Canadian numismatics. The evening's program started by covering the available literature, first the reference books and then the auction catalogs.

The most popular guide book is Charlton's Standard Catalog, which was first published in 1952. They also have a book on Colonial Tokens; currently in its 4th edition, the first dates from 1988. The many editions are needed to keep up with the new information becoming known about the tokens. Coins of Canada by Haxley & Willey also is popular, but it is hard to acquire in the U.S..

The auction catalogs of two outstanding Canadian collections were mentioned. The 1976 McClay-Clements catalog by Frank Rose has many wonderful pieces, such as a 1911 dollar. The catalog of the WWC Wilson collection consists of four parts issued over four years by Wayte Raymond beginning in 1925.

The Canadian decimal coinage started in 1858 for Canada itself, and 1861 for the Maritimes. First coin shown was an 1859 Large Cent, which is known with many varieties (mostly around the date). Its mintage of 10,000,000 makes it more common than the 1858 Large Cent of which only 400,000 were minted. This native coinage started the eventual elimination of foreign (G.B., French, and U.S.) coins from circulation. The large cents continued into 1920, with the small cents starting in 1920.

A 1910 LC was shown in a "slab" from ICCS. Their grading is considered accurate and conservative; but since they are rendering only an opinion, they place the coin inside of a sealed flip instead of the hard plastic shell common to US collectors.

An 1894 5 cent silver piece was shown to justify the "fish scale" nickname. These small silver coins were minted up through 1920 when 10,000,000 were minted. The first 5 cent nickel pieces were produced early in 1922, but 2,500,000 of the silver pieces were minted in 1921. However, since most silver pieces were melted, the approximately 400 pieces available are from sales at the mint. With only 75 of the 50 cent pieces known, and Phil's feeling that the quarter is underappreciated, 1921 is a high profile year for Canadian coins. Although most of the rare 1921 coins are known in VF-XF, some VG pieces show that their rarity was unappreciated by contemporaries.

An 1858 20 cent piece was shown. Minted in only the first year of Canadian coinage, it appears the same as later 25 cent pieces. Its "cheap shilling" nickname can be traced to the British shilling's value of 24 Canadian cents.

The coin issuing Maritimes are New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland. Life was hard, and the economy was based upon forestry and fishing. Most coins were of a low denomination, and were greatly worn by heavy use. The few coins of New Brunswick were produced by the Royal Mint; Phil showed a Half Cent from 1861, its only year issued. Denominations up to 20 cents were issued for there.

The coinage of Nova Scotia is similar to that of New Brunswick. Some collect these by variations about the date, leaf veins, and such. Prince Edward Island had a limited coinage, from the Heaton Mint but without any mintmark. The only denomination was the cent, and it was produced in 1871 only.

Newfoundland issued it first coins in 1865, using denominations of one cent through 20 cents and $2. Large Cents were issued through 1936, and Phil showed a 1920 LC with a C mintmark. It is in a PCGS slab, marked as from the Norweb collection, and with the unusual grade of MS 66 BN; copper coins usually must show some RED to get a 66. An 1870 5 cent grading VF-30 helped Phil make the point that most low denomination silver coins are very worn - many were not saved. Half dollars were too much for everyday transactions, so they stayed in banks and are available today in the higher grades. Similarly, Newfoundland and Canadian coins from 1942-1944 are tough in uncirculated condition.

Collectors identify tokens by a "B" number, for Breton who first took a hand in organizing them. Tokens may have a Queen Victoria obverse but Canadian reverses. Most were made in Great Britain for Canada, but some of the pieces have dubious ties to Canada. Phil showed an 1882 B-910, having an obverse similar to a US Large Cent obverse and an advertising reverse. He showed a few more tokens, before getting to the medals of the CNA.

Founded in 1950, the Canadian Numismatic Association has struck a number of medals. The medal for their first convention (1954) was struck in silver and brass, with respective mintages of 2 and 200. Phil showed a restrike (denoted by the R) made in 1967 to satisfy the demand. The program concluded with a copper and silver pair of medals issued for the joint CNA/ANA 1962 convention in Detroit. The obverse devices are the left half of an eagle and the right half of maple leaves, in beautiful relief.

Show and Tell

Each image has a scale in the lower-left corner, with the tics spaced 1 mm apart. Because the brightness and contrast were manipulated on a computer, the coloring of a coin's image differs from the coin's actual coloring.

1. It being three months since our last Show and Tell, Mark Wieclaw eagarly started the program with a "fun" exhibit: lead seals from the shipping boxes for the U.S. Silver Eagles. Mark has shown shown these before, but tonight's were dated 2002; or rather should have been dated 2002 because the last digit was off of the seal. After all 20 of the seals Mark checked showed this, he had ventured to Bill Burd that a seal with a full date might be very rare; so Bill showed him a seal with a full date! His real exhibits were:
   • A denarius of Titus (79-81), a son of Vespasian. This piece, with an elephant on the reverse, commemorates the openning of the Coliseum in 80 A.D.
   • The copper core of a fouree (the original surface silvering typically disappeared quickly), issued in the 211 to 212 A.D. time frame. While a traditional denarius weighs approximately 3.5 grams, this weighs 2.3 grams.
   • A fouree of Caracalla, weighing 3.1 grams. Only a small spot of copper shows through on the reverse.
   • A trick 1964 half dollar, found while sorting a bag of half dollars. The reverse had been machined, and a quarter was in the hole. Also the quarter had been machined, and it held a dime.
2. Continuing his theme of primitive money, Carl Wolf showed a boloko from what is now Congo. The U-shaped piece of forged copper weighed 2lbs., 6ozs.
   The Songo-Meno people called this item boloko and used it as money through the first half of the twentieth century. They lived near the junction of the Sankuru and Kasai Rivers in present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, they weren't metal smiths and they didn't posses the technological knowledge to make the boloko. Instead, they bartered with the Nkutshu people farther inland and gave in the exchange raw copper and salt, another of their currencies. The croquet hoop shape probably evolved so it would be easier to carry in large quantities.
   The Songo-Meno used this currency in their most important transactions. In 1911 French anthropologists wrote that one boloko was equal to a male goat or ram, two bought a male slave, three a female slave and ten boloko were required in payment of a marriage dowry.
3. Bob Feiler continued his theme of objects made from coins:
   • 1823 French (gold plated) Five Franc money clip (Replica?). The Obverse features a cover which slides open to reveal a large compartment with space for a photo or picture.
   • 1800s Duke of Wellington 1 3/4" Brass Box medal with a slip fit cover. Obverse: a portrait of the Duke of Wellington. Reverse Inscription: "By his consummate skill as a general he has raised the British army to the highest excellence, & himself the most noble, & exalted hero, in the annals of history"
   • 1873 Peru One Sol (replica) 1 3/4" diameter box medal containing 18 black & white sepia toned very early photos of the capital city, famous monuments, buildings and notable sites.
   • 2 ½" long glass vial filled with gold dust; one pinch, Northern Alaska assayers sample mounted onto a 2 ½" square sheet of dark blue Plexiglas.
4. While gathering information on early US coinage, Paul Hybert acquired some of the early U.S. Mint Reports. He brought five reports and showed their ex libris markings:
   • 1935 - Stamps of "DISCARDED FROM LEGISLATIVE LIBRARY Victoria, B.C." and "PROVINCIAL LIBRARY VICTORIA, B.C." help explain its excellent condition.
   • 1931 - A front cover sticker sticker with a Library of Congress number, stamps of "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS DUPLICATE EXCHANGE" and "Research and Editorial Division Republican National Committee," a "From the Library of Kenneth L. Hallenbeck" pastedown, and a faded binding hint at an interesting life.
   • 1910 - Chicago Numismatic Society hand written in ink. Printed in early 1911, it bears a "MAR 4 - 1911" date stamp in purple.
   • 1877 - A pastedown from the Greenfield Library Association, listing library hours of "Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 5 to 7½ P.M." and "Saturday, from 3 to 7½ P.M.". No one remembered ever seeing half past the hour so expressed.
   • 1863 - Hand written "Benson J. Lossing Esq. with the regards of Jhn A. McAllister" in ink on front paper cover. Some members ventured opinions as to Lossing's identity, but nothing was ventured on McAllister.
5. Bob Leonard showed a 22 karat gold bracelet, acquired during his September, 2001 trip to Turkey. Originally used as a woman's store of wealth during marriage, the current divorce laws have lessened the need for it by a man's first wife. Bob also showed a Numismatic News article, from February 1, 1965, which described the practice and need for it.
6. Silver coins have long interested Drew Michyeta who showed a 1979 10 pounds coin from the Falkland Islands. With a duck as the main design element, it is part of a conservation set, started in 1974, from more than 20 countries; With only 1,800 minted, this coin is the key for the set, as most mintages were in the 7,000 to 12,000 range. Although it had sold for as much as $100 at one time, this piece was acquired recently for $27.
7. Mike Metras first mentioned that he had attended the Cleopatra exhibit earlier today, then he described:
   • A gold solidus of Honorius (395-425) he had acquired at auction the previous month. The hole kept away most bidders.
   • A small gold coin from Japan, this 2 bu weighs about 3 grams and is from 1860.
   • A similar piece, but this 2 shu weighs about 1.5 grams and is from 1832-58. The actual metal content is approximately 60% gold and 40% silver.
   • A series of uniface items, in lead or white metal, appear to be trial strikes for:
     • 1619 3 kreuzer
     • 1737-56 Amadeus of Fulda
     • 1780 Frederick II of Hesse Cassel
     • and a piece bearing the legend "May your generations increase by thousands."
     Mike welcomes your comments and suggestions about these.
8. Sharon Blocker showed a series of ornaments offered by the mint; from a half dollar based design in 1996, to a cent based design in 2000, each had an original price of $18.95. Add in the two Sacajawea dollar designs in 2000 at $34.96, for completeness. Conclude with comments and opinions from all around the room.
9. Mostly foreign pieces were shown by Steve Zitowsky
   • An 1874 proof Two Pence "pattern" for Transvaal, struck in Brussels.
   • An 1888 One Penny for Orange Free State, struck in Berlin.
   • An 1890 One Penny for Griqua Town, struck in Berlin.
   • An 1892 proof Three Pence for South African Republic; approximately 35-40 pieces made.
   • An unidentified medal from Chile or Peru, apparently connected with aviation.
   • An elongated nickel from the 1893 Columbian Exhibition. Because an 1886 nickel (the second rarest date of the series) was used, this probably is not a modern production.
10. Also showing coins from around the world was Bob Weinstein, but his pieces were from the ancient and medieval eras.
    • A set of three krishnala from about 1200 AD on the isle of Java, consisting of the full denomination, a half, and a quarter. The quarter unit now is the most common, after many appeared on the market in 1980. A lingum appears on one side; some believe the letter nah also appears, but Bob is not sure. In 1979, Mitchener listed them as from the seventh century Ionian coast.
    • A barbarous aureus of Tiberius; Spink attributed this to India, but Bob is not so sure.
    • A 1499 gulden from Brandenburg, Franconia. Coat of arms on one side, and Saint John on the other.
    • A 1494 Frankfurt gulden, with the last digit on its side. Although a number of coins are known with a four on its side, this is the only piece using the medieval form of a four.
11. Don Dool concluded the program by showing something new and something old.
    • Don started with his newest collecting effort: nineteenth century South American scripophily, one non-government piece from each country. Out of the 10 countries and 3 colonies, he has pieces from:
      • Argentina, Obligacion Territorial del Banco Union Nacional. Quintentos (500) Pesos issued in Buenos Aires on July 1, 1889;
      • Ecuador, Compañia Minera Pillzhum. Cinco (5) sucres issued in Guayaquil on January 12, 1892;
      • Peru, Compañia Nacional del Ferrocarril Mineral de Pasco. Quintentos (500) soles issued in Lima on January 2, 1892;
      • Venezuela, Compañia Minera Nacional Anonima El Gallo. One hundred twenty five bolivares issued at Ciudad Bolivar on March 1, 1887.
    • A 1700, 6 Pfenning from the Bistrum of Paderborn. Don had brought this to his first Show and Tell, as one of four century-ending coins; but this was shown in error. According to the inscription this coin was issued by Franz Arnold, Freiherr von Wolff-Metternich zu Gracht but he did not become Bishop until 1704. It could be a contemporary counterfeit but usually copper coins were not counterfeited so probably it was a mistake it making the die. There ensued some discussion as to whether or not the last zero digit was sufficiently different from the preceding zero, to indicate that the original date was 1706.

Chicago Coin Club
Financial Report
for 2001

Compiled by Lyle Daly
Secretary/Treasurer

. . . . . . .

I have reviewed the Financial Records of the Chicago Coin Club for 2001. Bank statements, receipts and Financial Statements as presented by the Club Treasurer compare favorably.

Steven Zitowsky

1000th Meeting Announcement

January 30, 2002

Dear Fellow Numismatist:

On April 6, 2002 the Chicago Coin Club will celebrate its 1000th meeting! This is a milestone few clubs achieve and we're planning to celebrate it in grand style!

The celebration will be held in conjunction with the Chicago International Coin Fair, April 5-7, Holiday Inn O'Hare, 5440 North River Road, Rosemont, IL and various memorabilia are planned. A .999 fine 5-ounce silver medal ($48 + $11 for registered mail), a .999 fine 5-ounce silver medal with gold highlights ($63 + $11 for registered mail), and a 24-karat 8-ounce (approx.) gold medal ($2600.00 + $15 for registered mail) will be issued to honor the occasion. We'll hold a 1 PM meeting with Steve Album as the featured speaker who will speak on The Development of Islamic Coinage, 650 - 1250 AD. In keeping with tradition, the Club will present everyone who attends a handout dealing with primitive money. This year it will be the story of Gold Dust Money and it will include a few flakes of genuine gold!

The activities will culminate that evening at a banquet held in the hotel. A fabulous menu is planned and the featured speaker will be Dr. Ute Wartenberg, Executive Director of the American Numismatic Society, New York. She will speak on Owls to Athens - The Dollar of the Ancient World. Banquet tickets are sold on a reservation basis and are available at $45. Please don't wait until April 6th to buy a ticket - it may be too late. Check out our Web site www.chicagocoinclub.org for latest updates.

A souvenir program is also planned that we feel collectors will keep for years to come. Everyone at the banquet will receive one and copies will be mailed to the Club members who couldn't attend. They'll also be made available to every new member for years to come. It will include an updated history of the Club, the descriptive list of medals issued with photos, a roster of the Past-Presidents, Medal of Merit Recipients and the Club's Constitution and By-Laws.

Hence the reason for this letter. An event like this requires considerable resources and the Chicago Coin Club can use your support.

The organizing committe decided upon two methods of support. Congratulatory advertisements in the souvenir program are available at: full page $100, half page $50 and quarter page $25.

Also, the souvenir program will recognize those Patrons who helped support the day's events. The available levels of Patron support are: Platinum $500, Gold $100, Silver $25 and Bronze $10.

To ensure that you're properly recognized in this project, please be sure we have your response by March 15, 2002. It should be mailed to Chicago Coin Club, P.O. Box 2301, Chicago, IL 60690.

Sincerely,

Membership Note

The following members have not paid their 2001 dues even after being sent a personal letter in October by our Secretary. Do you know any of them? If you wish to telephone them, then do so now A motion will be made at the February meeting to drop them from our membership rolls.

Carl Wolf
President

Our 997th Meeting

Date:	February 13, 2002
Time:	7:00 PM
Location:	Downtown Chicago - Please remember the security measures at our meeting building: give a club officer the names of all your guests prior to the meeting day, and everyone must have a photo-ID.
Featured speaker:	Paul Hybert - Learning from U.S. Mint Reports What were some of the big and small concerns of the Mint during its first hundred years? The original documents are available in a number of forms. This talk will start by introducing some of those forms, and then, by using some of those reports, show both the results of some decisions and the information that would influence later decisions. For example, we all know the Large Cents were replaced by the small copper-nickel cents in 1857; want to see an annual tally, from 1857 until 1863, of how many Large Cents ended up back at the mint for melting?

Important Dates

Birthday and Year Joined

Chatter Matter

All correspondence pertaining to Club matters should be addressed to the Secretary and mailed to:

CHICAGO COIN CLUB
P.O. Box 2301
CHICAGO, IL 60690

Visit Our Web Site

http://www.ChicagoCoinClub.org/

Contacting Your Editor

Club Officers