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Minutes of the 1042nd Meeting

The 1042nd meeting of the Chicago Coin Club was called to order at 7:00 PM by President Robert Feiler with 13 members and 1 guest, David MacDonald, present. The September minutes as published in The Chatter were approved. A motion was passed to accept Steve Zitowsky’s report of September revenue of $40.00, expenses of $77.40 and a balance of $8,137.97.

First Vice-President Jeff Rosinia introduced the featured speaker for the evening, David MacDonald, who addressed the club on “Overstruck Ancient Greek Coinage.” David was a Fulbright Fellow, received his Master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and recently retired as a history professor at Illinois State University in Normal, IL. His talk was accompanied by twenty-five specimens shown on a large projection screen. David explained many reasons why the coins were overstruck including: overstriking out of date coins to bring them in line with current coinage, clipping foreign coins of a non-standard weight and overstriking the resultant coin to bring it in line with current coinage, military capturing another country’s coins then overstriking them to pay the soldiers and rulers overstriking the coinage of a preceding ruler in an attempt to erase their memory. The most common reason for overstriking coins was to raise funds through demonetizing the coins, then charging a fee to remonetizing them with an overstrike – essentially taxing coins in circulation. David showed an example of a coin that went through this process three times and received a new overstrike each time. Following the talk, Jeff presented David with an engraved club medal and an educational certificate from the American Numismatic Association.

Second Vice-President Lyle Daly introduced the exhibitors for the evening that included: Steve Huber: 1873 French five-franc piedfort of Henri V, 1827 French module of Charles X, and 1943 1-tael from French Indochina with a die crack; Mark Wieclaw: 2 seals from 2005 silver eagle bags (one with P and one with WP stamp), a cigarette lighter in the shape of a stack of Washington quarters, 1944 wartime nickel with lamination error, bronze overstrike on a coin of Hadrian, 132-135 AD, 10-drachm of Ptolemy III, and a denarius of Caligula (37-41 AD); Robert Leonard: examples of the three most important gold coins circulating in the eastern Mediterranean during the 14th century from the Mamluks, the Byzantine Empire and Venice; Winston Zack: two U.S. mint sets in original envelopes with environmental damage, 1973 medal celebrating NATPE 10th anniversary in New Orleans, 1972 medal issued by the Sons of Liberty celebrating the Bicentennial; Donald Dool: 1562 scherf from Luneburg-Stadt, 1570 scherf from Lubeck-Stadt, 1591 scherf from Pommen-Stettin (Pomerania) and 1621 1-flitter from Brunswick-Stadt; and Robert Feiler: 1884 Morgan dollar with sticker “This Dollar Was Earned at Michigan Chemical Corporation, Saint Louis, Michigan,” and 1618 Spanish 4-maravedis of Philip III (1598-1621).

Under old business it was announced that $25.00 guarantees your reservation for the December banquet where Leonard Augsburger will speak on “The Baltimore Gold Hoard.” Lyle Daly volunteered to gather material for a silent auction at the banquet with proceeds going to the club treasury.

Everyone was asked to e-mail November auction material to Paul Hybert by October 25th and it was agreed to put material in the auction from Marcella Sheldon’s estate that failed to sell in a Kolbe auction.

After a roundtable discussion concerning an updated tri-fold brochure promoting the club, Jeff Rosinia, Mark Wieclaw and Bill Burd volunteered to serve on a design committee. Several more members volunteered to lend computer support or submit electronic images from their collections.

Jeff Rosinia and Lyle Daly reported on their visit to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and distributed a large selection of pamphlets and booklets. They also presented President Robert Feiler with a money tube filled with shredded currency at $1008 per inch.

Carl Wolf announced that John Krawczyk, a collector from Florida, was visiting Chicago. He had hoped to make the meeting, but business obligations kept him away. He sent an e-mail asking if anyone was available tomorrow evening.

Respectfully submitted,
Carl Wolf, Secretary

Show and Tell

Items shown at our October 12, 2005 meeting.

1. Steve Huber showed two catalogs used in French numismatics; both written by authors with the same VG initials, their different numbering schemes use the VG prefix - can be confusing. Steve also showed pieces demonstrating three numismatic terms:
   • An 1873 5 franc piedfort of the pretender Henri III. A piedfort typically has the same design and diameter as a regular coin, but is struck on a planchet twice the thickness of the usual planchet.
   • An 1827 module de 5 franc honoring Charles X’s visit to a mint; this is a medal in the size of a 5 franc coin.
   • An undated tael of French Indo-China, struck 1943-1944.
2. Mark Wieclaw started by bringing us current on his "fun" interest in the mint’s lead seals from West Point: a July, 2005 shipment still used the WP marking, while a September, 2005 shipment used the W marking. Then on to his real exhibits:
   • A lighter made in the form of a stack of large Washington quarters.
   • At the shop, a bag of US war nickels (40% silver) contained some which were virtually uncirculated. Mark showed a 1944-P nickel with striations in the planchet.
   • A Bar Kochba bronze coin. These were struck over Roman coins, and this one shows the bust of the Emperor Hadrian.
   • A Ptolemaic decadrachm, very porous and in poor condition.
   • A denarius with Caligula on one side and his mother, Agripinna Senior, on the other. This is the cover coin of a Wayne Philips book.
3. Bob Leonard showed three gold coins of the priciple gold issuers of the eastern Mediterranean in the 14th century. He located the issuers on a map, explained how their status was changing, and showed how the look of the coins mirrored the issuer’s status:
   • The good looking gold coin of the still expanding Mamluke Sultanate has inscriptions identifying the ruler on one side, and religious inscriptions on the other side.
   • The crude gold coin of the Byzantine Empire (circa 1325-1341) shows Christ blessing the 2 emperors; it is only 11.3 karat.
   • The gold ducat of Venice carries the name of the doge, and has correct legends.
4. Winston Zack brought in some items from his grandfather:
   • Some of many proof sets from the early 1960s; some coins show environmental damage, and the striking appearance of some coins led to a discussion of mint errors and post-mint damage. Some of the orginal envelopes are still sealed, and that led to the observation that some dealers pay more for some sealed envelopes hoping to find a cameo coin.
   • A token from the 1973 10th anniversary convention of NATPE in New Orleans. Moon Landrieu is identified as mayor.
   • A 1972 Sons of Liberty medal with a bust of Washington reminded us that the US bicentennial celebration had an early start.
5. Don Dool showed a number of small copper coins known as scherfs and flitters. A flitter’s worth depended upon the location: ½ pfennig, 1 pfennig, or 2 pfennigs; while a scherf was worth ½ pfennig everywhere.
   • A 1562 scherf from Luneburg-Stadt.
   • A 1570 scherf from Lubeck; one side features the arms of the city of Lubeck.
   • A 1591 scherf from Pomerania;a crowned griffin is on the obverse of this 0.5 gram coin.
   • A 1621 flitter from Brunswick, showing a lion; acquired from a collector in Cyprus.
   Don concluded by mentioning the wildman talers shown last month (they were new to some people); the wildman occurs in German mythology.
6. Bob Feiler showed some varied pieces:
   • An 1884 US silver dollar with a sticker on the reverse. It says, “This dollar was earned at Michigan Chemical Corporation Saint Louis, Michigan.”
   • A 1618 4 marevedis from Spain’s Segovia mint. The reverse is very worn, but the nice obverse shows Phillip III.

Our 1043rd Meeting

Annual Member Auction

Here are the lots known to us by October 25, 2005. 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.

Items donated to Club by Sheldon Estate:

1. ANA Medal designs, commemorative quarter design, etc. Includes drawings of proposed medals for the ANA; portrait drawings of Dr Heath, Jerrems and Hooper; drawing for a pine tree shilling commemorative; and more.
2. 22 Numismatic Christmas & New Year Greeting cards from Betty and Paul Vincze to the Sheldons. From 1959 to 1980. Each card depicts both sides of a medal designed by Vincze. Each year is different.
3. Frank J. Katen pamphlet Let there be Light prepared by Committee of Eighty (1950). 24 pages. This details the controversy between the ANA and Katen ending in his expulsion from ANA. Also single sheet supplement to the July 1950 issue of the Numismatist listing personal data on the candidates.

Material consigned by members.

101. Garfield mourning ribbon. Cloth ribbon, white field with black lettering, black border and black bow. Pin back. Inscribed "In Memoriam James A Garfield Sept 19th, 1881 we mourn our President"
102. Lincoln medal approx 1½ inches high and 1 inch wide, copper, Serial No 202 on reverse. Made by J. H. Ripstra former CCC member.
103. Two tickets to Republican National Convention in Chicago July of 1960.
104. Booklet Panorama of the Battle of Gettysburg on Exhibition in Chicago copyright 1884.
105. An imitation of a bronze Japan Knife Money from period of 680 - 250 BC.
106. Postcard depicting Wm Bryan for President and John Kern for VP. Heading on postcard is Democratic Candidates. Card postmarked Nov 2, 1908. Condition is poor with two corners missing and one torn and taped.
107. Chicago Coin Club Bulletin Volume 1 No. 3 October 1936. 4 pages. Very good condition.

Important Dates

Birthday and Year Joined

Chatter Matter

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