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Chicago Coin Club
Volume 50 No. 11 November 2004


Important Notes

New Meeting Location

For November, January, and February, we will meet at the Chicago Bar Association (CBA), 321 S. Plymouth Court, Downtown Chicago. Plymouth Court is a short north-south street between State and Dearborn; it begins at Jackson and goes south to Polk. The CBA building is about 1/2 block south of Jackson.

Parking:
Parking is available in a variety of lots. There is a city run facility to the immediate south of the CBA building. There is another about 1-2 blocks south on Plymouth Court. There are more lots on Wabash (2 blocks east), but during the September - May period there might be a shortage of available spaces because this is the heart of the downtown DePaul University campus.

Public Transportation:
The CBA building is easy walking distance from the following:
BLUE LINE: Get off at the Jackson stop, walk one short block east to Plymouth Court, then 1/2 block south;
RED LINE: Get off at the Jackson stop, walk one short block west to Plymouth Court, then 1/2 block south;
ORANGE, BROWN & PURPLE LINES: Exit at the LaSalle stop, walk four blocks east on Jackson to Plymouth Court, then 1/2 block south; or walk four blocks east on Van Buren to Plymouth Court, then 1/2 block north;
UNION STATION: Take the Jackson Street exit, walk east about 8 blocks (some are short) to Plymouth Court, then 1/2 block south;
NORTHWEST STATION: Walk 6 blocks east on Madison Street to Dearborn, go 3 blocks south on Dearborn to Jackson, go east on Jackson 1 short block to Plymouth court, then go 1/2 block south;
RANDOLPH STREET STATION: Walk west 2 blocks to State Street, walk 5 blocks south to Jackson, then 1 short block west to Plymouth court and walk 1/2 block south;
LA SALLE STREET STATION: Walk east on Congress for 5 blocks to Plymouth Court, then walk 1-1/2 blocks north.

Restaurants:
Fast food restaurants are plentiful and the CBA asked that we not bring food into the building. The Berghoff Restaurant is not too far away at 17 West Adams, but in the past they didn't allow people to join a table already seated. A standard American restaurant similar to Maxim's is Monday's Restaurant at 19 East Jackson.

Audio Visual:
Audio visual equipment is extra. A television with a VCR is $75.00 per meeting. Bill Burd discussed the Club buying a television and donating it to the CBA provided we can use it without charge and they thought that would be acceptable. If anyone can bring a camera that could serve as a source to project images on the screen, please let us know so a television can be reserved.

Dropped Membership

The following names are dropped from the membership roll of the Chicago Coin Club:

Gary Lewis
Lester Miller
   
Steve Rodin
M. Michael Williams

Minutes of the Board Meeting
September 15, 2004

President Mark Wieclaw called the board meeting of the Chicago Coin Club to order on September 15, 2004 at 7:03PM. The meeting was held at Connie’s Pizza. The meeting was attended by Carl Wolf, Mark Wieclaw, Steve Zitowsky, Bill Burd, Bob Feiler, Lyle Daly and Jeff Rosinia.

December Banquet: After consideration of the cost, a price of $23 per person was recommended. The menu recommended was pork medallions, chicken medallions, wiener schnitzel, mostaccioli, dumplings, mixed vegetables and apple strudel. We will reserve the Alpine Haus for a minimum of 30 people.

Several names were proposed for a speaker for the December meeting. Among them were David Sundman, Stephen Goldsmith, Tim Kyzivat, John Vander Weit, Howard Rippentrop and Bob Julian.

Meeting Location: Consensus of the board was that the current meeting space is too small and the ventilation is poor. It was decided that we should survey the membership. There was discussion about revisiting a room at the Chicago Bar Association.

Dues: The board will recommend to the club that annual dues be raised to $20, life membership be raised to $500 and associate members should be $10.

Fundraising: It was agreed that we would try a monthly raffle of a silver eagle for $1 a ticket. A silent auction at the holiday banquet was considered. Lyle Daly will ask his wife to assist in organizing the event. The sale of publications such as the history of the Chicago stockyard banks was also entertained; Carl Wolf will pursue.

Membership Growth: A first step towards this end is to develop a take away, possibly a tri-fold, for use at coin shows.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by Lyle Daly


Minutes of the 1028th Meeting

President Mark Wieclaw called the 1028th meeting of the Chicago Coin Club to order on August 11, 2004 at 7:00PM. The meeting was held at 77 W. Washington, room 420A.

The minutes for April, May, June and July were approved.

Treasurers Report:

TCF Checking $3,937.56
Bank One CD 1,470.37
Bank One CD 1,465.67
TOTAL $6,873.60

There were 13 members in attendance and no guests.

Carl Wolf introduced the speaker for the evening Tom DeLorey. The topic was Doubled Dies.

Carl Wolf thanked Mr. DeLorey for his lecture and presented him with the CCC speaker’s medal and an ANA educational award.

Carl Wolf discussed upcoming programs.

There were four participants in the evening’s show and tell. They presented as follows:

Membership Reading:
There was a second reading for John Riley.

Old Business:
Banquet committee no action. Jeff Rosinia obtained an A/V cart for the club to use.

New Business:
Bob Greenstein donated some periodicals to the club. A representative from Public Radio will attend the September meeting. The club is seeking a speaker for the banquet. The club is seeking speakers for next year.

Discussion about dues increase and club costs. The current dues structure will no longer support our costs. If the club has to find a larger room for monthly meetings we will begin losing money very rapidly.

General Discussion:
Lyle Daly brought up the possibility of sponsoring an ANA local seminar to help raise money for the club. He will find out what is involved and what the cost would be.

Meeting adjourned at 9:15 PM

Respectfully submitted by Bob Weinstein


Minutes of the 1030th Meeting

President Mark Wieclaw called the 1030th meeting of the Chicago Coin Club to order on October 13, 2004 at 7:00PM. The meeting was held at 77 W. Washington, room 420A.

The minutes for September were approved.

Treasurers Report:

TCF Checking $3,752.06
Bank One CD 1,470.34
Bank One CD 1,472.34
TOTAL $6,694.74

There was a discussion about having a more detailed treasurer’s report which would include club expenses. Treasurer Steve Zitowsky agreed to begin using a more detailed format for the report.

There were 17 members in attendance and one guest, Nikolai Vukic from Montenegro.

First Vice-President Bob Feiler introduced the speaker for the evening, John Vander Weit. The topic was The Coins of Alexander the Great.

First Vice-President Bob Feiler thanked Mr. Vander Weit for his lecture. The CCC speaker’s medal and an ANA educational award were unavailable and will be presented to him at a future date.

There were seven participants in the evening’s show and tell. They presented as follows:

Old Business:
The December banquet will be held at the Alpine House. Cost is $23.00 per person.

Consignments are being taken for the November auction.

The nominating committee has presented a slate of candidates for the 2005 election. They are as follows:

If anyone wishes to challenge any of these candidates they must submit a petition of 5 signatures.

The following members are unpaid for 2004 and will be dropped from the membership rolls: Gary Lewis, Lester Miller, Steve Rodin, and Michael Williams.

The room in which we currently meet is rather small. After a discussion it was decided that for the November, January and February meetings we will try a room at the Chicago Bar Assoc. The cost of that room is $90 per month.

Bob Leonard suggested that the left over bamboo money for this year's CICF be put into the auction.

New Business:
Carl Wolf is checking into the possibility of getting the designer of the Illinois State Quarter to speak at the banquet.

The subject of a dues increase was once again discussed. The likely amounts for 2005 will be as follows:

Several fundraising activities were discussed. A silver eagle raffle at each meeting. A silent auction which would include non-numismatic items. Carl suggested publishing a monograph on some aspect of Chicago Numismatics in which we could sell advertising space. Saul Needleman said he had wanted to do a follow up to Perspectives in Numismatics but previously there had not been an interest. He suggested that it might now be a good time to consider this. Lyle Daly once again suggested an ANA seminar. Mark Wieclaw would like to produce a CCC history pamphlet. Bob Feiler presented the idea of a 3x5 heavy duty zippered leatherette bag. They are ideal for carrying small quantities of coins in 2x2’s or slabs. The CCC logo would be silk screened on the bag. The cost for these would be $1.05 in quantities of 250-499. They could be used as give aways at meetings held at major shows and sold for $3.00. He also suggested advertising them in the numismatic press. Other suggestions to raise money for the club are welcomed. At the suggested level of dues increase the club would still be barely breaking even on a yearly basis.

General Discussion:
Bob Feiler recommended the book Encyclopedia of Chicago to anyone who is interested in our wonderful city.

Meeting adjourned at 9:15 PM

Respectfully submitted by Bob Weinstein


Show and Tell

Items shown at our October 13, 2004 meeting.

  1. Chuck Jacobs started with an overview of the numismatic history of Japan in Inner Mongolia, an area of China. The first Japanese interest came in 1895, a time when many world powers were setting up in parts of China. The Japanese puppet state was named Men Jiang, and the Men Jiang bank issued coins and bank notes by the mid 1930s. Chuck showed notes from the 1940 series: the 5 fen note pictured sheep, the 1 chou (10 fen) note showed a bactrian camel, and the 1 yuan (10 chou) note showed the Great Wall; all notes had a geometric design on the reverse. Both the 1938 and 1945 100 yuan notes are known with and without an applied oval handstamp, and Chuck did not know the exact purpose of the stamp. The local economy was based upon subsistence agriculture, so this area's notes did not show the signs of rampant inflation which occurred in the more developed Japanese controlled areas.
    In a different area, Chuck showed an 1854 U.S. half dime with MINT counterstamped in the obverse field. This mark is known on a number of world coins from that era, and a 1953 Stack's catalogue states that this was applied to samples of world coins kept by the Japanese mint for studying Western coin design. Chuck sounded skeptical, and does not know of the current thoughts on the marking.
  2. Don Dool continued some past exhibiting themes of early dated European copper pieces, and South American scripophily:
  3. Lyle Daly started with a Lewis & Clark Coin and Pouch set which he recently received, then he showed a 1965 Dutch Antilles 2½ cent coin which he he bought out of a dealer's junk box; the shield design is i high relief, and it reminded him of medieval coins. Club members noted that the design style started in the 1800s.
  4. Mark Wieclaw showed a number of ancient coins he had recently acquired:
  5. Steve Huber showed some large silver coins, starting with his only Egyptian coins:
  6. Bob Leonard showed three medieval coins; they were a part of a hoard of copper coins found in what is now northern Iraq:
  7. Bob Weinstein showed a number a number of coins (100-400AD) of the Western Satraps of India, who were one of the last of the Sakas. The Persion word satrap translated as governor, but it also was used to denote a petty ruler. A prodigious amount of silver coinage was struck, with obverse brockages common; the copper pieces are not as common. The general look changed slowly over the centuries, starting with a portrait of the king on the obverse and Brahmi script surrounding a stylized mountain, river, moon, and sun on the reverse. After showing a number of somewhat similar pieces, Bob showed fourees, then immitations made by successors to the Satraps (on some, the Brahmi legends were gibberish), and then a fouree of an immitation.

Our 1031st Meeting

Date:November 10, 2004
Time:7:00 PM
Location:Downtown Chicago
At the Chicago Bar Association (CBA), 321 S. Plymouth Court, in the Albert F. Holfeld Room on the 5th floor.
Member Auction: Although the deadline for listing lots in the Chatter is past, you can still bring your lots with you to the November meeting. In the past few years, club related material (and Chicago area numismatic items) have realized the best results. Please consider using the club auction to dispose of the numismatic items you no longer need.

You can place a reserve on each lot, and there is no commission charged to either the buyer or seller. Auction lot viewing will be held before the meeting starts, and again briefly before the auction starts.

Please find elsewhere in this issue of the Chatter a listing of all auction lots that were known to us by Tuesday, October 26.


Annual Member Auction

Here are the lots known to us by October 26, 2004. The gaps in the lot numbering are intentional; they simplify our book keeping. The auction will be held near the start of the meeting, after a short time for lot examination; consignments are accepted until the auction starts.

Club material - Material donated to Club:

  1. The club has about 60 bamboo tallies, ordered for the 2004 CICF handout but unused because of various reasons. The pieces will be grouped into various sized lots at lot viewing, before the beginning of the auction.

Material consigned by members.

  1. CCC 50th anniversary medal, .999 fine silver, serial number 870
  2. CCC 500th meeting medal, bronze
  3. Two small gold colored Lincoln plaques made by ex-member J. Henry Ripstra
  4. CCC 750th meeting counterstrike on 1919 Standing Liberty half
  5. CCC 750th meeting counterstrike on 1981 Kennedy half
  6. CCC 1959 Fall Festival medal, bronze colored
  7. CCC 1962 Fall Festival medal, bronze colored
  8. CSNS 1965 bus token, Chicago, bronze colored
  9. CSNS 1965 bus token, Chicago, blue colored
  1. Hess-Divio AG hardbound catalog Munzen Medaillen, Auction 283 Antique, Medieval and Modern MB $5
  2. Hess-Divio AG hardbound catalog Munzen Medaillen, Auction 285 Medieval and Modern MB $5
  3. Hess-Divio AG hardbound catalog Munzen Medaillen, Auction 287 Medieval MB $5
  4. Hess-Divio AG hardbound catalog Munzen Medaillen, Auction 289 Ancient, Medieval and Modern MB $5
  5. Hess-Divio AG hardbound catalog Munzen Medaillen, Auction 292 Ancient, Medieval and Modern MB $5
  6. Hess-Divio AG hardbound catalog Munzen Medaillen, Auction 293 Collection of Lawrence Stack - Money of France MB $5
  7. Hess-Divio AG hardbound catalog Munzen Medaillen, Auction 294 Medieval and Modern MB $5
  8. Freeman & Sears bound, Mail Bid No. 7 Ancient, Medieval and Modern
  9. Freeman & Sears bound, Mail Bid No. 9 Roman
  10. Freeman & Sears bound, Mail Bid No. 10 Roman
  11. Freeman & Sears bound, Fixed Price List No. 7
  12. Freeman & Sears bound, Fixed Price List No. 8
  13. Freeman & Sears bound, Fixed Price List No. 9
  14. Pegasi Auction IV, Ancient and Medieval and Artifacts
  15. Bowers and Merena, Treasures of the World, Ancient, Medieval and Modern
  16. Loser, Schaumaunzen und mehrfache Taler Auction 40
  17. Ira and Larry Goldberg, The Benson Collection U.S. Coins and Currency
  1. Krause & Mishler (Bruce, ed): Standard Catalog of World Coins, Vol Two (only) 1986 Hb, p1251--2496 (1245pages) [includes the countries Indian Princely States thru Zimbabwe] open $8.00 MB $8
  2. Yeoman, Catalog of Modern World Coins, 1961, 4th ed, 509pp. MB $4
  3. Kelly, James, 1945 Fall Price List No. 21 (gray card covers), 40pp. MB $3
  4. G F Kolbe, Mail Bid Sale, No One Feb 28, 1976, 763 lots; w PRL. MB $4
  1. A set of three ceramic Siam gaming tokens: 1/32 Tical, 1/16 Tical and 1/8 Tical.
  2. A lot of 1937 Numismatic Scrapbooks by Hewitt Bros., consisting of 6 issues: #4, 5, 6, 10, 11, & 12. Also included is reproduction of Jan 1935 Numismatic Scrapbook on the occasion of the 37th Anniversary CSNS Banquet May 1, 1976.

Important Dates

November 10 CCC Meeting - Club Auction - no featured speaker
December 8 CCC Meeting - Annual Banquet - Featured Speaker - to be announced
January 12 CCC Meeting - Featured Speaker - to be announced
February 9 CCC Meeting - Featured Speaker - to be announced

Birthday and Year Joined

December 6 Allen H. Meyer 1990
December 7 Brian C. Stubbs 1980
December 10 Mike Gasvoda 1995
December 16 Michael Schmidt 2000
December 19 William Noble 1980
December 26 Kevin J. Blocker 2000
December 29 Nick Weiss 1996
December 31 Phillip J. Carrigan 1989

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

Paul R. Hybert
prhybert@worldnet.att.net

Club Officers

Mark Wieclaw- President
Robert Feiler- First Vice President
Jeff Rosinia- Second Vice President
Directors:Lyle Daly
Mike Metras
Steve Zitowsky
Carl Wolf
Other positions held are:
Robert Weinstein- Secretary
Steve Zitowsky- Treasurer
Paul Hybert- Chatter Editor
Phil Carrigan- Archivist