Chatter

Minutes of the 1046th Meeting

President Robert Feiler called the 1046th meeting of the Chicago Coin Club to order at 7:00 PM with 13 members and 3 guests present. Guests were Mike Rubin, Boyd Harris and Leonard Augsburger. A motion was made and passed to accept the Minutes as published in the Chatter. Treasurer Steve Zitowsky reported January revenue of $519.00, expenses of $213.75 with $9,288.37 in assets. Membership applications of Eugene Freeman and Robert Graves received second reading. Separate motions were made and passed that they be accepted into membership.

Under correspondence Steve Zitowsky reported flyers received promoting the Will County Coin Show, Sunday, March 12, Holiday Inn Express, Joliet, IL and the Quad City Coin Show, Sunday, April 2, Milan Community Center, Milan, IL.

First V.P. Jeff Rosinia introduced the evening’s featured speaker, Robert D. Leonard, Jr. with the presentation Coin Collector Gone Bad: The Numismatic Frauds of Mark Hoffmann, The Mormon Murderer. Afterwards, Jeff presented Bob with an ANA Educational Certificate and an engraved Club medal. Jeff also presented the same recognition items to Andy Plioplys the Club’s January featured speaker on Silver Currency Ingots of Northern Europe.

Second V.P. Lyle Daly introduced the eight exhibitors for the evening. Andy Plioplys: checks from the Riggs National Bank, Washington, DC on the Lithuanian Legation account, dated 1938 and signed by the Lithuanian Minister; and a number of Lithuanian promissory notes from the 1930s, authorized by the Lithuanian Finance Ministry and several endorsed by Jewish banks. Lyle Daly: $50.00 star note from 1977; Columbian Exposition medal showing the discovery of America/landing of the Pilgrims; Woodsmen of the World tokens; new Thomas Jefferson nickel; and a U.S. $10.00 silver certificate issued in 1934 for North Africa. Winston Zack: three 1957 U.S. proof sets received from his grandfather’s collection with an odd chalky substance on the quarters. Robert Leonard: gold dinars of the first six Ayyubid Sultans, 1169-1240 AD. Donald Dool: two 1/12 R. from Paraguay, one issued at the Heaton Mint and the other at the Asuncion Mint, a medal commemorating Paraguay’s first coinage showing a 1/12 R. on a medal; two Mexican bonds, from San Luis Potosi and Zacatecas; two French feudal double tournois — a 1636 Bois Belle & Henrichemont and a 1623 Dombes; Mark Wieclaw: silver stater city of Aegina, 510-490 BC; a gold aurus of Caracalla, 198-217 AD; a silver stater struck at the Antioch Mint of Constantine the Great, 307-337 AD; a heavy miliarense of Constantine II, 337-361 AD; and the outer rim of an encased coin from Mishawaka, Indiana. Steve Zitowsky: France S. Franc pattern from 1848; from German East Africa an 1890 silver proof rupie struck in Berlin, an 1908J silver rupie proof struck in Hamburg and three 1916 20-heller coins struck at the Taveta Mint and made from a salvaged ship and empty British shell casings. Jeff Rosinia: 2006 U.S. Proof sets; a group of different stock certificates from Marshall Fields; two books Art of the Market — Two Centuries of American Business as seen through it’s stock certificates; stock certificates of First National Bank of Chicago and First Chicago Corp.

Under old business, Lyle Daly reported on the nearly completed tri-fold brochure promoting the Club. Overall the feedback was good with several suggested improvements. Lyle also reported some interest in reestablishing a Club group to discuss numismatic related topics. During a previous meeting fur was discussed as a possible primitive money souvenir for the 2007 Chicago International Coin Fair. Donald Dool checked with a fur supplier who speculated 100-150 1-inch squares of beaver fur would cost about $400.00. This lead to a discussion with no decision made. The Secretary reported the Chicago Temple, 77 W. Washington is still renovating their main meeting room. They expect to finish within the next 60 days and have the Club on their list as a possible renter.

Under new business the Secretary reported that Gene Hessler of Cincinnati would be the Club’s featured speaker on Saturday, March 9 at the Chicago Paper Money Exposition (CPMX) on the subject World Bank Note Engravers. He also reported that Mike Gasvoda will be the featured speaker on ancient Roman coins on Saturday, April 1 at the Chicago International Coin Fair. President Robert Feiler called for a meeting of the Board of Directors on Wednesday, March 15. Jeff Rosinia and Lyle Daly reported discussions but no decisions on a chosen banknote for the CPMX souvenir sheet. Soliciting paid advertising for the Chatter was discussed with no decision.

Andy Plioplys inquired into the publication of member’s telephone numbers and e-mail addresses. The Secretary spoke on a long-standing Club policy of not sharing addresses or membership lists for security reasons. However, members are encouraged to exchange and share addresses among themselves and any officer, but primarily the Secretary, Treasurer or Chatter editor, is in a position to pass on messages from one member to another and as a necessity the telephone numbers or e-mail address of the sender must be included.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:25 PM.

Respectfully submitted,
Carl Wolf, Secretary

Speaker’s Wor[l]d
Coin Collector Gone Bad: The Numismatic Frauds of Mark Hofmann, the Morman Murderer

A presentation by Robert D. Leonard Jr. to our February 8, 2006 meeting.

Mark Hoffman was a well-respected member of the autograph community right up his arrest for two fatal 1985 bombings when some of his frauds were about to be exposed. Although he had made some metallic items, he concentrated in documents and other paper items including such numismatic items as scrip, certificates, and notes.

As with most criminals, sources are confused on some details. He was a professional liar for such a long time, that even parts of his confession are doubted. Some details changed over time as he told different things to different people, so it is very hard now to separate the truth from his boasts and his claims.

Bob started his presentation by showing all eight Hofmann-related books and then some selected journals and magazines. The most recent book, from 2004, was written by Charles M. Larson who had guarded Hofmann in prison; Hofmann supposedly told Larson how to counterfeit.

One of his first altered coins was a 1916 US dime with an added D mintmark. The D was added using electroplating, by selectively adding silver in the mintmark area while the surrounding area was masked; pronounced genuine by the Treasury Department. Some doubters question how thoroughly Treasury checked the mintmark, while others who have tried that procedure have not produced good results.

Later, in the 1977-1979 time frame, Mark produced a fake 1900 token for the Lagoon Amusement Park. That well known park is still locally owned, and the piece was sold to the owner. Is it a counterfeit or a fantasy piece? No real piece is known, so maybe it is a fantasy. But if such tokens had been created and used, then this piece is a counterfeit. This shows a recurring aspect of many of Hofmann's products: they are an example of something known (in general) to have existed, but no other pieces are available for comparison.

Hofmann joined the Token and Medal Society (TAMS) in 1979, and had an article on an 1844 presidential token published in a 1980 TAMS Journal; only to have John J. Ford denounce him as a seller of “fairly modern fantasy production” in a 1981 TAMS Journal.

Another area involves fakes of mint errors. According to Bob Campbell, there are still mint error fakes floating around the Salt Lake City area. Maybe the most famous item claimed by Hofmann is a US 1959-D Wheat Ear Reverse Cent, supposedly found in circulation in 1986. Two times autheticated by the Secret Service, but denied by all grading services. There are a number of reasons to doubt its validity: according to engraver Frank Gasparro, the mint was very concerned about producing such a mule, and therefore was extremely careful during striking; and no such mules showed up in circulation in 1960 during the hunt for small date cents. This piece sold for $48,300 in 2003, and Bob considers it Hofmann's greatest error forgery.

Hofmann's paper money forgeries were produced in a number of methods. He took remainders and forged names and numbers to make them more valuable — these are the most commonly encountered of Hofmann's forgeries. Other forgeries were made using rubber stamps on modern paper; it sounds impossible that such items could fool anyone, but remember that the originals usually were lithographed, and these were very obscure pieces, almost unique.

Hofmann is remembered mostly for forged and fantasy Mormon documents which fooled leaders of the Mormon Church for a number of years. Yes he used paper from the correct time (obtained by removing blank pages from library books), but then he would use modern ink. A few months after an item was put on a want list, Hoffman produced the item. One of the old lessons that must be relearned every few years is: If something is too good to be true, it is!

Bob distributed a handout of Hofmann's numismatic forgeries, a bibliography, and concluded with some “Lessons and Advice.”

Show and Tell

Items shown at our February 8, 2006 meeting.

1. Andy Plioplys showed some Lithuanian-related items:
   • Cancelled bank checks from the 1930s, drawn on the account of the Lithuanian Embassy at Riggs National Bank of Washington, DC. The checks are signed by either the ambassador or his assistant; more recently, that ambassador was one of the signers of the Lithuanian Declaration of Independence in the 1990s. All of the embassy's checks were thought destroyed by the embassy in the 1990s, but some were recently found with other items in a box in Lithuania.
   • Andy concluded by showing many examples of a new type of promissory note; at least new to the gathered club members. Dating from the 1920s and 1930s, these are personal loans which were bought at banks. On the back side are found the signatures of the previous holders. The unique aspect is that they were recognized by the government: they bear government stamps and signatures. Of his 150 examples, Andy has 5 from Jewish institutions which bear Hebrew markings.
2. Lyle Daly started with two items acquired at Kane County, then a range of items:
   • A $50 star note, from the 1977 series with Blumenthal and Morton as signers. Before following her own interests, his wife asked, “You bought a $50 bill for $60. Will you pay me $120 for $100?”
   • A large Columbian Exposition medal — bronze finish on white metal.
   • He showed the Woodsmen of the World token he had exhibited a few months back, and added some more information about that fraternal organization.
   • Another Woodsmen token; this one appears to be silver, but it has no camp number engraved on the reverse.
   • Next was a new Jefferson nickel with the old Monticello reverse. Lyle did not seem very excited about it, and there were no interesting comments from members.
   • Last was a US $10 silver certificate overprinted “NORTH AFRICA.” The other overprinted US notes from WW II are overprinted “HAWAII” but those used Federal Reserve Notes. Lyle asked about the difference, but no one had an answer; someone ventured that they had used what was handy, so there is no meaning to the choice.
3. Winston Zack showed a few 1957 US proof sets, from his grandfather. Most are still in the original, unopened envelopes, but the two from opened paper envelopes show white powdery toning on the silver coins. Some comments were ventured, but no concensus was reached.
4. Bob Leonard showed gold dinars of the first 6 sultans of the Ayyubid dynasty (1169-1240) which ruled in Egypt and Palestine. Laid out together in issued order, some characteristics are obvious: circular inscriptions on the first three and linear inscriptions on the last three, Although all are about the same size, the weights of these 6 pieces varied from less than 6 grams to more than 9 grams; but that is not unusual for pieces that passed by weight. These coins were struck from brass dies which can still be used after breaking (iron dies would shatter); that is why cracks are not rare on these coins.
5. Don Dool has expanded his scripophily collection to include all of Latin America, so he started with some additions to it.
   • Nineteenth century bonds from two companies in Mexico: one in San Luis Potosi, the other in Zacatecas.
   • A complete Paraguayan copper coin collection consists of 6 coins — Don has 3 and showed: an 1845 1/12 R from the Heaton mint, an 1845 1/12 Rfrom the Ascuncion mint (made from poor quality dies), and a 1945 numismatic society medal honoring the centenary of the mint shows the 1/12 R coin as part of the design.
   • A 1636 double tournois with the bust of Maximilian I on the obverse and seven fleur de lis on the reverse.
   • A 1623 double tournois with three fleur de lis on the reverse and an unattractive portrait of the ruler on the obverse.
6. Mark Wieclaw showed mostly ancient coins. Some very nice coins.
   • The Greek city of Aegina issued silver coins with a sea turtle design. Issued from 510-490 BC, this is one of the nicest examples Mark or we have seen.
   • An aureus of emperor Caracalla, struck 206-207. This gold coin was not as stunning as another one he saw and wanted, but this still is a very nice example. The reverse shows Victory in a biga.
   • An anapagraphic coin of Constantine the Great. (That is the fancy way of saying “no legends on obverse.”) The reverse shows Victory advancing.
   • A beautiful coin of Constantius II, with four standards on the reverse.
   • Found at work in a box of coins bought from a dealer, part of a good-for token bearing “123 N. Main Strret, Mishawaka, Ind.” Only the “ring” remains; the hole size does not match any US coin, so Mark cannot tell what had been in there.
7. Steve Zitowsky rought much material about German East Africa, but he started with a French pattern.
   • A lovely 1848 pattern 5 Franc, made of tin or white metal. Most of the pieces listed in Krause have someone's name, but not this piece. Steve is looking for more information.
   • An 1890 rupee from the GEA company, and a proof 1908 rupee from GEA.
   • Steve then distributed a handout on the German military leader in GEA during WW I as an introduction to the next items.
   • Locally struck coins from the Tabora mint in 1916, during WW I. The metal for these pieces came from various local sources, including salvage from a scuttled German warship, copper wiring, and shell cases. The 20 Heller coins are the most common now, and Steve explained the major differences between the varieties: the two known obverses have either a large or small crown, and the three reverses have either a pointed or curly tip on the two “L”s of Heller.
8. Jeff Rosinia showed a range of items:
   • Regular and proof U.S. State Quarter sets from 2006.
   • A set of five different Marshall Fields stock certificates. The name has been merely a division of a larger company for some years now, and sometime in 2006 the name of the stores will change.
   • Two specimen stock certificates from the First National Bank of Chicago, another example of a Chicago company which no longer exists.

A Question from the Club President

I would like to know if any of the members would prefer to have their issue of the newsletter sent via E-mail rather than by snail mail. If enough people would like the newsletter sent electronically it could help to reduce our postage and production costs. My email address is r.feiler@sbcglobal.net

Bob Feiler

Our 1047th Meeting

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