Chatter

Archive available at http://www.ChicagoCoinClub.org/
Volume 53 No. 6	June 2007

Minutes of the 1061st Meeting

May 9, 2007

The 1061st meeting of the Chicago Coin Club was called to order by President Robert Feiler at 7 PM in the 6th floor conference room, Dearborn Center, 131 S. Dearborn. In attendance were 18 members and 1 guest, Robert Slobins, Newark, DE.

The April Minutes were approved as published in the Chatter. Treasurer Steve Zitowsky reported April revenue of $366.00, expenses of $888.69 and a balance of $11,143.35. The largest expense was $542.00 to convert video tapes of senior members in 1989 to DVD. A motion was made and passed to accept the report. Following the second readings of the membership applications Marc Stackler, Jared Irish, Eric Schmidt and Kevin Foley motions were made and passed to accept them into the Club. The application of Robert B. Slobins received first reading.

The featured speaker was Robert Wallace who delivered a presentation on Archaic Silver Coinages of the Thracian Tribes, 550-480 B.C. After a question and answer period, President Feiler presented Robert with an ANA Educational Certificate and an engraved Club medal.

Exhibitors for the evening were: MARK WIECLAW – a 1984 $10 Olympic commemorative coin in card holder, denarius with brockage of Caracalla (210-217 BC), an electrum stater from the Cyzicus mint (440-415 BC), a fourré denarius of Caracalla and a fourré of Alexander the Great; ROBERT WEINSTEIN – 9 coins from the Kushan Kingdom and the CCC medal of merit for M. Vernon Sheldon (1956); ROBERT FEILER – 5 ancient coins; STEVE ZITOWSKY – 3 coins from Katanga issued in 1961, 4 coins from Biafra issued in 1969 and 2 shipboard tokens issued in 1930s for Nederland Stoomvaart Maatschappij; STEVE HUBER – 8 coin purchases from the CICF; PHIL CARRIGAN – a Canadian bronze medal issued in 1896 honoring T.J. Tiffin; ERIC SCHMIDT – 10 coins found over years in change or searching through rolls including gold-plated 1964 Kennedy half dollar, 1989 off center Lincoln cent, clipped Lincoln cent, 1905 Indian cent and 1991-S Kennedy half dollar; ROBERT SLOBINS – Austrian 5-schilling Madonna coin set from 1934, ’35 and ’36; LYLE DALY – 4 bronze ancient Roman coins.

Members stood for a moment of silence in memory of Charles J. Ryant, a past-president 1975-76. Lyle Daly announced the floor where the meeting is currently held will be converted for another use and the conference room will no longer be available within two months. This led to a discussion on availability of sites at the Federal Reserve Bank and the Chicago Temple Building.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 PM

Respectfully Submitted,
Carl F. Wolf, Secretary

Speaker’s Wor[l]d
Archaic Silver Coinages of the Thracian Tribes, ca. 550-480 B.C.

A presentation by Robert Wallace
to our May 9, 2007 meeting.

For approximately 70 years during the early development of coinage, the largest and most beatutiful coins came not from one of the powerful empires but from Thrace. After setting the economic and geo-political stage, showing coinage examples from the region, and reviewing some theories on the Thracian coinage, Robert Wallace gave us his thoughts on the reason for these spectacular coins.

Most of ancient Thrace now is in Bulgaria and Macedonia; although most of its coastline was on the Black Sea, its Aegean coast was separated from the rest of Thrace by mountains. In the sixth and seventh centuries B.C., settling Greeks pushed Thracians out of the coastal Aegean area; the Thracians did not want to become Greek. Although Homer praised Thracian wine and craftsmen, most Greeks regarded Thracians as drunken brigands.

The towns of the Greek coastal areas accepted Greek coins and issued their own coins in small denominations, such as the trihemiobol of the late fifth century and a Gorgon Head piece that Robert showed us. The Persians invaded the coastal areas on their way to Greece proper, but the Thracians kept the upper reaches of the major river valleys; that was fortuitous because that was where the rich silver deposits were located. Robert showed coins from a range of Thracian tribes, including:

A 33.58 gram dekadrachm from the Derrones (500-480 BC), featuring two bulls.
A 28.65 gram octodrachm from the Bisalti (475-465 BC), featuring a horse.
A 28.34 gram octodrachm from the Orreskioi (479-465 BC), featuring Hermes driving two bulls.
An octodrachm from the Edones circa 480 BC, featuring Hermes driving two bulls; it also has Greek letters.
A 28.32 gram octodrachm from Edones king Getas (470-465 BC), featuring 2 bulls.

The tribes that issued these did not issue smaller denomination coins. With an agrarian economy that did not need even small coins, many have wondered, “why were such large coins issued?” The Persian control of northern Greece, during 514-479 BC, resulted in tribute payments to the Persians. Some believe that large silver coins would be a natural method of paying tribute, and they would use the 29.63 gram octodrachm of the Greek Aegean coastal city of Abdera (530-500 BC) as supporting evidence. However, such a large coin was not issued by any other Greek city. The silver paid in tribute was most likely as bullion; aside from a part in Asia Minor, the Persian empire did not use coins. Robert showed a 5.53 gram siglos (485-420 BC) from the Achaemenid Empire of Darius I to Xerxes II.

Since the Persians did not use coins, and would probably just melt any coins into bullion, why would anyone take the time and effort to create impressive coins that would only be destroyed? Although a piece from Akanthos (500-483 BC) features the Persian motif of a tiger attacking a bull, hoard evidence shows that some pieces were struck after the Persians had been expelled. Also, some of the major issuers of large coins did not have to pay tribute to the Persians.

Fabulous silver and gold Thracian vases and other objects start appearing in hoards that date from after 450 BC. Robert uses that to support his theory that the large, artistic sliver coins were a type of fad; and there might have been some one-upmanship at work, with the Thracians telling the Greeks, “You might have invented coinage, but your puny coins cannot compare to our beautiful coins.” After the large-coin fad had run its course, the next fad was the spectacular Thracian vases, now in many museums, that were found in hoards.

Robert suggested that a 16.5 gram tetradrachm from Thasos (148 BC) represented a possible revival of the fad, but the poor style is merely a bad imitation of the original. The originals typically were the diameter of (at least) a U.S. half dollar but were much thicker.

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Show and Tell

Items shown at our May 9, 2007 meeting.

Mark Wieclaw has seen many Olympic coins from the U.S. in the hard plastic government packaging, but, until this appeared in the shop, he had never seen an Olympic coin in the cardboard holder available only at the Olympics. Then Mark showed some ancient coins:
- To complement the featured speaker’s talk, Mark showed an electrum stater from Cyzicus — it bears the head of Attis on the obverse and four square punches on the reverse.
- Two coins of Caracalla (209-217 AD): a denarius struck as a brockage, and a forré (struck at the mint with silver surfaces over a copper core).
- An Alexander the Great drachm made as a forré — so this is a contemporary counterfeit.
Bob Weinstein showed coins of the first three kings of the ancient Kushan empire of Central Asia:
- A tetradrachm of Kujula Kadphises bearing a copy of the bust of Hermaios found on a Greek coin which Bob also showed. While this Kushan coin shows Hercules on the reverse (very comnmon), the Greek coin shows a seated Zeus.
- A drachm of the same king, but with Nike on the reverse.
- A 2 drachm of the same king, but with a seated Zeus on the reverse.
- A later piece of the same king, but with a bust of Augustus.
- The of the next king who was called Soter Megas (the Great Savior).
- A tetradrachm of the same king with the inscription in the local language, but parts of letters are off of the small flan.
- A small piece with a bull on one side and a dromedary camel on the other side. The king’s actual name, Vima Takto, appears on this piece. Coins with the complete legend show the complete name and title.
- Vima Kadphises followed his father Vima Takto as king; Bob showed a coin with a figure of the king with the club of Hercules and a Greek legend on one side, while the other side has a figure of Shiva with a sacred bull and a local language legend.
- Bob concluded with a piece of Chicago Coin Club history acquired on eBay — the 1956 Medal of Merit awarded to M. Vernon Sheldon.
To complement the featured speaker’s talk, Bob Feiler brought an assortment of ancient coins:
- His first ancient coin, featuring a sea eagle attacking a dolphin, came from a dealer’s junk box.
- An ancient Greek coin with Pegasus flying right.
- A coin with the head of Artemis on the obverse and a hunting dog on the reverse.
- A coin with a laureate Zeus on one side and plowing with a cow on the other side.
- A commemorative of Rome with a helmeted Constantine the Great and a wolf nursing twins.
Steve Zitowsky showed some pieces that were not issued by recognized governments:
- In 1961, the Katanga province in southern Congo broke away and coins were issued in its name. Steve showed 1 franc and 5 franc pieces in bronze, as well as a 5 franc in gold. All pieces show a Katanga cross on the reverse; that was an indigenous medium of exchange from an earlier time; they had been made from the abundant local copper deposits.
- In 1969 the Nigerian province of Biafra broke away and coins were issued in its name. Steve showed a 3 pence, aluminum 1 shilling, 2½ shilling, and a silver 1 pound.
- Dutch steamship tokens from the 1930s. They are denominated at 5 and 10 cents, and include the word Boordgeld.
Steve Huber briefly summarized some CICF acqisitions bfore passing them around on a tray. The wide range of pieces included:
- A bracteate of Frederick II of Ohm, 1212-1250.
- An Athenian owl from a recent hoard.
- A proof 1913 Saxony 3 mark of Frederick II.
- A 1772 Frankfurt cityview taler.
- A very proof like 1880 5 pesetas from Spain.
- An 1807 piece from Italian Tuscany.
- Two certified pieces from the Brand collection: an 1833 Wurtemburg piece and a 1764 3 guilder from West Freisland.
Phil Carrigan showed an 1896 medal acquired from Stack’s January George Gund III collection auction and including a pedigree to the Norweb collection. This Canadian medal features H.J. Tiffin and was issued for the Civic Library Inauguration. The reverse shows Chateua de Ramezay and the legend includes Museum and Library 1705-1896.
Eric Schmidt showed some circulation finds:
- A gold plated 1964 Kennedy half dollar.
- A 1989 off center cent found in a drawer of a fast food restaurant — his first job.
- A 1972 cent on a possibly clipped planchet.
- A 1905 Indian cent — the only Indian cent he ever found of the 60,000 cents searched in the last few years.
- A 1991-S proof Kennedy half dollar.
- A 1905 Liberty nickel that he grades Fair.
- A Tennessee state quarter with Elvis Presley.
- Eric concluded with a 1920 quarter dollar given by his great grandfather; the coin shows a full head and a full date.
Robert Slobins showed three 5 shilling Madonna pieces from Austria dated 1934, 1935, and 1936. After taking control of Austria the Nazis demonitized this series and melted them for silver, accounting for the rarity of the 1936 piece.
Lyle Daly showed a range of pieces:
- A bronze folles of Galerius (305-311); Lyle noted that the letter spacing in the legend is independent of words. The mark of the Carthage mint is on the reverse.
- A bronze folles of Licinius with Jupiter on the reverse.
- With a tarteron of Manuel I and a half tarteron, Lyle has completed his denomination set of Byzantine coins.
- A “radar” note found in circulation; the serial number on this 2001 series $20 is 12222221.

Our 1062nd Meeting

Date:	June 13, 2007, First session
Time:	7:00 PM
Location:	Downtown Chicago At Dearborn Center, 131 S. Dearborn, 6th Floor, Conference Room 6A (right off the elevator lobby). 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 show their photo-ID and register at the guard’s desk.
Featured speaker:	Mike Gasvoda - The Propaganda Coinage of Augustus, 27 BC – 14 AD
Featured speaker:	Mike Gasvoda is a respected collector of ancient Roman coinage and has put together a new presentation dealing Roman Emperor Augustus and his propaganda coinage. Those who attend this meeting will hear how Augustus dominated Roman politics through coins that promoted his name, his titles and honors, his divine right to rule, his military victories, buildings and temples he held sacred, etc. This propaganda was so effective it influenced coinage designs for centuries. Members will come away with an insight into this watershed period of Imperial Roman coinage.

Date:	June 23, 2007, Second session
Time:	11:00 AM
Location:	In the Mr. Lincoln Room of the DoubleTree Hotel which is across the street from the MidAmerica Coin Expo, which is held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, 5555 North River Road, Rosemont, IL. No admission charge for our meeting.
Featured speaker:	Paul A. Cunningham - U.S. Military Tokens: Civil War – Current
Featured speaker:	Military tokens have existed for as long as armies gathered and fought. With each war the primary use of tokens evolved. During the Civil War, military tokens purchased food, but by the time of the Viet Nam War, soldiers used tokens for gambling. Paul Cunningham is the leading authority on military tokens and authored three books on exonumia including the two-volume Military Tokens of the U.S., published in 1998.

Important Dates

June	13	CCC Meeting - Featured Speaker - Mike Gasvoda on The Propaganda Coinage of Augustus, 27 BC – 14 AD
June	22-24	MidAmerica Coin Expo at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, 5555 North River Road, Rosemont, IL. Admission is $5.
June	23	CCC Meeting - 11am in the Mr. Lincoln Room of the DoubleTree Hotel which is across the street from the MidAmerica Coin Expo, which is held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, 5555 North River Road, Rosemont, IL. No admission charge for our meeting. Featured Speaker - Paul A. Cunningham on U.S. Military Tokens: Civil War – Current

July	11	CCC Meeting - Featured Speaker - John Riley on Pre-World War II Token Issues from Shanghai

Birthday and Year Joined

July	4	Chester Poderski
July	12	Flemming Lyngbeck Hansen	2000
July	13	Gerard Anaszewicz	1981
July	19	Terry L. Capps	1996
July	19	John R. Connolly	1997
July	19	Richard S. Hamilton	1986
July	27	David Simpson	1980

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

http://www.ChicagoCoinClub.org/

Club Officers

Robert Feiler	- President
Jeff Rosinia	- First Vice President
Lyle Daly	- Second Vice President
William Burd	- Archivist

Directors:	Eugene Freeman Elliot Krieter Carl Wolf Mark Wieclaw

Other positions held are:
Carl Wolf	- Secretary
Steve Zitowsky	- Treasurer
Paul Hybert	- Chatter Editor

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