Chatter

18 Months until ANA in Chicago

The dates are not finalized, but all indications are early in August, 2011. The venue will be the Rosemont Convention Center, same as in 1999. According to an ANA press release, a revised schedule will be tried at Chicago in 2011 — the World’s Fair of Money^® will run from Tuesday through Saturday, after the Official Pre-Show runs from Friday through Monday at the same venue.

The only current major activity is ideas for the convention medal, but ideas for a convention theme also would seem appropriate. ANA has given our committee some more time and info, so we are taking design ideas until Wednesday, February 17, one week after our regular February club meeting. We are still working on email addresses for our local committees, so our club web site’s link to the local organizing group will be delayed until our February meeting, — look under the Upcoming Special Events section.

Minutes of the 1093rd Meeting

The 1093rd meeting of the Chicago Coin Club was held January 13, 2010 in the Chicago Bar Association Building, 321 S. Plymouth Court, Downtown Chicago. President Jeffrey Rosinia called the meeting to order at 6:45 PM with an attendance of 30 members and 2 guests, Gary Hagen and Mac Weist.

The November and December 2009 Minutes printed in the Chatter were approved as published. Treasurer Steve Zitowsky was absent due to illness, but written reports were passed out for review. The Nov-Dec 2009 report showed receipts of $3685.00, disbursements of $3142.82, income of the period of $542.18, total assets of $14,536.26 which is in Life Membership $2390.00 and Member’s Equity $12,146.26. The 2009 Annual Report showed $23,472.85 in receipts, $22,508.52 in expenses and income of $964.33. After several questions, separate motions were passed to approve them as presented.

The application of Mac Weist received first reading. A motion was passed to accept Nicholas Brown into membership following the second reading of his application.

First V.P. Lyle Daly introduced the featured speaker Paul Johnson who delivered a program on Canadian Colonial Tokens. Following several questions, Paul was presented with an ANA Educational Certificate and an engraved speaker’s medal. President Rosinia announced that Paul was the first recipient of the new speaker’s medal showing the Standing Lincoln Statue.

Second V.P. Elliot Krieter introduced the 15 exhibitors. GERARD ANASZEWICZ: Russian order – breast star of the Order of St. Stanislaus; NICK WEISS: centennial medal of International Union of Elevator Constructors; CARL WOLF: framed chevron trade beads; MARC RICARD: 2 numismatic books with noteworthy inscriptions; EUGENE FREEMAN: 3 Canadian tokens; DAVID GUMM: a Canadian token; MARC STACKLER: 3 Zacatecas coins from Mexican War of Independence; PHIL CARRIGAN: centennial medal from New York Numismatic Club; MARK WIECLAW: aureus of Philip II (247-249 AD), 2 Chinese gold taels, 1892-CC Morgan dollar, Peace dollar with a 1978 Camp David Peace Summit counterstamp; ANDY PLIOPLYS: Canadian tokens & mysterious toning on Canadian proof coinage; DAVID SIMPSON: ANA material from 1991 & 1999 Chicago conventions; ROBERT WEINSTEIN: U.S. Independence centennial medal by the U.S. Mint, 1875 Chicago Industrial Expo medal, Chicago Numismatic Roundtable medals of Jenny Lind; RICHARD LIPMAN: medal dedicated to the organizers of the AFL & CIO, Gompers & Hillman, and medal of the Mission San Francisco; ROBERT FEILER: set of 4 brass/bronze custom drink coasters with Morgan Dollar Liberty Head design and a maverick 5-cent trade token; ROBERT LEONARD: New York Numismatic Club centennial anniversary book.

Robert Leonard, also a member of the NYNC, proposed we begin discussing how to commemorate the Chicago Coin Club’s centennial year in 2019. The subject of Bill Burd receiving an ANA Presidential Award was raised and Bill was given a round of applause even though he wasn’t in attendance.

Adjournment was at 9:17 PM with the next meeting to be held at 6:45 PM on Wednesday February 10th at the same location.

Respectfully Submitted,
Carl Wolf, Secretary

Speaker’s Wor[l]d
Canadian Colonial Tokens

presented Paul Johnson
to our January 13, 2010 meeting

Paul has collected these pieces for 20 years; they are full of history, and are by no means a dead series as new discoveries, information, and interpretations appear regularly. Some are funny, some are ironic, and some are pretty; most are inexpensive and not hard for the patient collector to acquire. In his program, Paul showed some of his favorite tokens in this large series.

By 1812, when these tokens first appeared, there were 6 independent British colonies that would later become Canada. Lower Canada (now Quebec), Upper Canada (now Ontario), New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island formed the Confederation of Canada in 1867, ending the era of colonial tokens. (Newfoundland joined in 1949.)

Taxes and payments to British merchants had to be paid in hard currency, draining the colonies of coins. The pay for colonial troops, shipped from Britain, was a major source of currency; in addition to British coinage, silver and gold coinage from Spain, the U.S., and other countries was legal tender. Local copper tokens, issued by individuals, merchants, or governments, were used for making change in everyday commerce.

The most common token denomination was the Half Penny of the British pound, shilling, pence system used in the colonies. At 26 to 28 mm in diameter, they were about the size of a U.S. Large Cent, but at 5 to 8 grams they weighed less than the Large Cent’s 10.89 grams. worn British half pennies weighed a little more than 8 grams, and that was the intended weight for the early tokens. There were hardly any other denominations of copper tokens: some One Penny token types, weighing 17 to 18 grams, are known; two Farthing token types, about the size of a modern U.S. nickel, are known; and only one Two Penny token type, weighing about 28 grams and 40 mm in diameter, is known.

The use of popular topics on the tokens was one way to convince people to take them. Sir Isaac Brock, the hero of Queenstown Heights in the War of 1812, was used as the first subject of the token manufacturers; he had captured Detroit, but was killed while repulsing an American attack. It was a popular type, with at least 7 varieties known. They were made in England and entered circulation in 1813; his name was mispelled as Brook on the tokens, and the shown monument, an urn atop a pedestal, looks nothing like the monument later erected. The other Canadian hero of the war was Captain P.B. Broke, who commanded the HMS Shannon which captured the American warship USS Chesapeake. A token shows the battle taking place in front of Britannia.

Magdalen Island had been given to Sir Isaac Coffin for service during the American Revolution. He arrived on this inhabited island in the Saint Lawrence River in 1815, bringing tokens bearing a seal and a split cod, but the locals wanted no part of the intended feudal barony. The pieces ended up in Nova Scotia, where many of the design elements were familiar.

The most common category of early tokens was merchant tokens; the merchants needed small change. Generic tokens were cheaper to acquire, especially if they were under the typical 8 grams. A merchant’s own token would cost more but it would be a form of advertising; a known and respected business might find better acceptance for its tokens, as banks sometimes refused to accept tokens, especially when light. One type of generic 1813 token had an American spread eagle design; it was not very popular due to the war, but the design was copied in later years so it could not have been that unpopular. Following the introduction of laws against new tokens, lightweight spread eagle tokens with the dates 1813, 1814, and 1815 were produced after 1825.

The most famous token is the Molson’s token, produced by a rich Lower Canadian family with many interests besides brewing. The token, made by Jean-

To increase their acceptance, popular slogans appeared on the tokens: “speed the plough,” “no labour no bread,” “trade & navigation,” and “ships, colonies & commerce.” The latter is attributed to Napoleon who used it to explain why Britain had beaten him; there were many dies from different producers, and the design was popular. The token coomonly shows a ship with a British flag, but the variety made by Wright and Bale of New York has a U.S. flag on the ship; this piece is very light, at only 4 grams.

Tiring of the lightweight pieces, the banks stopped accepting them; they issued their own tokens in full weight. These were so popular, that they soon were imitated in lighter weight. The Bank of Montreal first issued theirs in 1836, using the the French word sou for half penny. Struck in Birmingham, their denomination appears as “un sous“ which is like saying “one cents.” Commonly referred to as the bouquet sous because of the bouquet containing thistles, roses, shamrocks, maple leaves and wheat, this is another popularly collected type.

Other areas covered by Paul included government issues, repurposed foreign pieces such as Wellington tokens, counterstamps, and the blacksmith tokens. As to references, the latest Charlton catalogue is always updated with new material, Canadian Coin News has a page on Colonial tokens, and the journal of the Canadian Numismatic Association were recommended. The only slightly awkward moment of the evening came before the presentation, when a club member wanted to meet the CNA President Paul R. Johnson — oops, that is not our Paul Johnson.

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Show and Tell

Items shown at our January 13, 2010 meeting.

1. Gerard Anaszewicz showed a Russian breast star of the Order of St. Stanislaus, from the mid 1800s. This is a Polish Order in the name of a Catholic saint, the patron saint of Poland. Although the order was started by King Stanislaus of Poland in the late 18th century while Poland was independent, this example dates from when the order was awarded by the Russian Czar. The piece is mostly silver with some gold plating, and green and white enameling; the latin legend is “encouraging through awards” which is appropriate considering that it typically was awarded to benefactors of charitable works such as hospitals. Also shown was a July 12, 1962 invoice in the amount of $37.50 for the piece, from Ben’s Stamp and Coin; we tried to remember other shops that have occupied that location, but we could only remember Rarcoa and the current place, Berk’s.
2. A family member gave Nick Weiss a 100th anniversary medal of the IUEC, the International Union of Elevator Constructors; a number of his relatives are members. In proof silver selectively gold plated, it was made by the Northwest Territorial Mint and issued in 2001. When Nick phoned the mint and asked for some information, he was told that they had no information on their old pieces.
3. Carl Wolf showed a framed display of Chevron Trade Beads. These were the first of the fancy beads; made from multiple layers of different colors of glass, these cylindrical shaped pieces have scalloped edges running lengthwise. But the beveled edges, highlighting the multiple layers, was the highlight; they fascinated the locals who had no idea how they were made. First made in the 13th century with 7 layers, the number of layers decreased until examples from the 1800s have only 4 layers. At first, some traded for four times their weight in gold.
4. Marc Ricard showed examples of numismatic literature demonstrating provenance:
   • The 1947 1st edition of two works in one hardcover binding, published by Barnes & Noble: Dictionary of Numismatic Names by Albert R. Frey, with Glossary of Numismatic Terms by Mark M. Salton. An inside page shows the rubber stamp of David M. Bullowa, 37 South 18th Street, Philadelphia.
   • Volume IV, covering U.S. Half Eagles, of the 6-volume set U.S. Gold, An Analysis of Auction Records from 1975 by David Akers. All volumes in this set are inscribed by Akers to John J. Pittman, August 1975.
5. To complement the evening’s featured speaker, Eugene Freeman started with some tokens used in Canada.
   • An 1815 1 penny piece intended for Magdalen Island.
   • An undated Wellington medal that lists British victories on the reverse. Listed in Breton, this early example of Military Payment was was used in Spain; it lists victories in Spain during the Peninsular Campaign. A number of varieties are known, with more victories added as time went on, but the original misspelling of CIUDAD as CUIDAD was continued.
   • A 1755 4 solidi from Corsica. This piece is not fully struck, and examples are known with both coin and medal rotation. The first county formed in Texas as a state was Novaro county, named for one of the early leaders of Texas whose ancestors were from Corsica. He in turn named the county seat Corsicana, and Eugene lived near there before moving to the Chicago area.
6. David Gumm showed an 1854 one penny from the Bank of Upper Canada. One side shows St. George slaying a dragon, while the other side has devices including an anchor, sword, cornucopia, and crown.
7. 2010 is the 200th anniversary of Mexican independence from Spain and the 100th anniversary of the revolution, so Marc Stackler will exhibit pieces from those areas this year.
   • An 1811 silver 2 reales from Zacatecas of Nueva Galicia a province of Mexico in the colonial era. This very crude provisional coinage of Zacatecas tried to mimic the official coinage from Mexico City, but not very artistically; pomegranates appear in the Bourbon shield instead of lions! This area was controlled by loyalists, explaining the desire to keep traditional design elements.
   • An 1812 8 reales with a better bust of Ferdinand VII and a better Bourbon shield. But still rough in appearance.
   • Two 8 reales for comparison: an 1818 from Mexico City for reference, and an 1817 from Zacatecas with a bust that is not that great. Both were struck with collars and have correct reverses.
8. Early January found Phil Carrigan in New York for the Kolbe auction, but he also attended the New York International Coin Expo where he acquired a centennial medal from the New York Numismatic Club, 1908-2008, and also the club’s centennial history An Island of Civility.
9. Mark Wieclaw showed a range of items:
   • An 1892-CC Morgan dollar graded MS62.
   • A 1922 Peace dollar bought as a cull dollar. The reverse has a round counterstamp marking the Camp David Peace Summit of September 5-17, 1978, and the obverse design has a corresponding flattened area. It was mentioned that this unofficial product was mentioned in an article in a recent The Numismatist.
   • An aureus of Philip II, son of Philip I who was also known as Philip the Arab. The coin has a column on the reverse and was issued for the secular games held for the 1,000th anniversary of Rome.
   • Two one tael gold pieces: an approximate doughnut shape in .9999 fine gold, and a Credit Suisse bar with 37.5 grams of fine gold.
10. Andy Plioplys is originally from Canada, and he showed a range of items to complement the evening’s featured speaker:
    • An 1852 Bank of Upper Canada piece.
    • An 1842 Bank of Montreal piece marked Province of Canada; not Upper and not Lower, just Canada. And why not? The real Canadians were in Quebec; according to Jacques Cartier, the word canada is Iroquoi for small village.
    • As a youth in Toronto during Canada’s centennial in 1967, Andy just had to save his money and buy the different offerings from the mint. The proof set in a plastic film pouch has coins with a mottled appearance. The presentation coin set has coins damaged (toned) from contact with the fabric. And the leather binder (no gold coin) has all silver coins toned black. No one offered a suggestion in response to Andy’s pleas for how to make the coins look as new again.
11. David Simpson showed some silver pieces from ANA conventions in Chicago:
    • A 1991 1 ounce .999 silver round with a Morgan head design, from Silver Towne.
    • A 1999 proof silver piece from the 108th anniversary convention. Is this piece, with globes reminiscent of the Columbian half dollar, made by the Franklin Mint?
12. Robert Weinstein showed a range of medals:
    • An 1875 Chicago Industrial Exposition (third annual) medalion struck in white metal. Struck by the Elgin Watch Company, the series consists of 7 pieces with 3 different dates. The expo’s purpose was to demonstrate Chicago’s recovery from the great fire of 1871.
    • An 1876 bronze U.S. Centennial medal made by the U.S. Mint, with original box.
    • Some test strikings of the Chicago Numismatic Roundtable’s Jenny Lind medal: one in pure aluminum, and two bimetallic (aluminum with a copper plug).
    • A Jenny Lind medal struck over a 1945 Walking Liberty half dollar.
13. Richard Lipman showed some recently acquired medals:
    • A four-sided piece with rounded corners, featuring busts of labor organizers Samuel Gompers of the AFL and Sidney Hillman of the CIO on one side. The other side has a union rally scene.
    • While in San Francisco, a short side trip out of the city to one of the original Spanish Missions resulted in a medal from the gift shop. Part of The California Series, it features San Francisco de Asis Dolores.
14. Robert Feiler showed two unusual recent acquisitions:
    • He had received an unidentified token, and sought help in identifying it. Good for 5¢ in trade and with the initials S.H.F., it looks like one side of a 5¢ Shield Nickel, with a circle of stars of alternating types and sizes surrounding a 5, but it is larger.
    • A set of four heavy brass/bronze coasters with a stylized Morgan head above the letters RLIand below TWENTY DOLLARS. These pieces were machined, not stamped in a press.
15. Robert Leonard started by showing the program from the meeting where Jason Freeman attained Eagle Scout standing.
    • Pictures of Eugene Daub’s plasters for the New York Numismatic Club centennial medal, as well as an earlier plaster based upon the Pomona statue. The final medal uses Victory from the Sherman Memorial.
    • Various histories of the Chicago Coin Club and the recent An Island of Civility centennial history of the New York Numismatic Club, which includes a listing of club medals as well as a short biography of each club member. Bob closed by suggesting that the Chicago Coin Club publish a centennial history in 2019, listing all the people who have ever been members of the club, with brief numismatic biographies.

Trip Report — 2010 NYINC

By Mike Gasvoda

Lynn and I arrived at the Waldorf Astoria at about 3:00 PM on Monday January 4. We couldn’t check in to our room so we proceeded to the lot viewing area on the 18th floor. We were able to view the Triton lots (CNG), the Manhattan sale lots (Freeman and Sear), and the New York sale lots. We were finally able to check into our room at 4:30 PM and we unpacked for the week. At 9:30 PM I met my coin dealer/bidder at the Bull and Bear to discuss our bidding strategy. We decided how to go after lots and agreed I would attend the first Triton sale with him to see how the market was reacting to the current economic conditions.

Tuesday morning I had a breakfast meeting with another dealer to discuss their upcoming sales in the spring. I returned briefly to my room and then proceeded to the Triton sale. I sat through the Greek lots and then came to the Roman lots that interested me. As this was the first major sale of the show I was curious to see how the Greek lots fared — and they did well. The market was still very strong in spite of the economy.

As my lots came up for sale my anticipation grew. I got my first lot below my max bid. The second lot I was interested in — the cover coin from the auction catalog — was coming up and my dealer and I were still trying to decide our maximum bid. We finally settled upon the estimate as our max bid. When the lot came up, it opened at $5,000 above the estimate. We never even bid on the coin. It sold for $160,000 ($182,000 with the buyer’s fee). I thought it was worth maybe $50,000 — boy was I wrong! I was the under bidder on this coin in 2002 at $25,000. At that time it sold for $27,000 USD (an NAC auction in Zurich). Boy talk about a stupid mistake — I should have bought it then!

We eventually won several lots including a neat die pair from a Roman coin — prossibly a Balkan provincial mint — either an As or Dupondius. It will be a great addition for my coin presentations to show people how coins were actually made back then.

We attended the CNG/Freeman & Sear cocktail party at 5:30 PM and stayed until it was over at 7:00 PM. We had some fun conversations with AJ Gatlin and Eric McFadden from CNG followed by a nice visit with David Hendin from Amphora — of CCC 90th anniversary presentation fame. This all followed by a visit with Victor England from CNG.

We skipped the Greek section of the Manhattan sale to watch the Purdue basketball game but then came in for the Roman lots. We got a couple lots but also lost a couple. Ed Waddell had commission bids against us — he seemed to be our main competition.

Wednesday was our free day and it was mainly occupied by seeing the David Letterman show — and this proved to be an all day project. We were both exhausted by the time we got out of the taping at 5:30 PM. We stayed up until 12:30 AM just to see ourselves on TV for about 3 seconds — but we had fun!

Thursday was professional preview day and I begrudgingly paid my $100 to attend. I found a few coins at Harlan Berk’s booth and a couple more coins elsewhere. I had a nice visit with Kerry Wetterstrom (Celator) and Wayne Sayles (ACCG & Sayles and Lavender). I gave Wayne a check in support of ACCG and I encourage all ancient coin collectors to do the same.

Before the ANS gala was a great cocktail reception and we enjoyed that very much. It was a surprise to run into fellow CCC member Bill Burd and we were able to spend about 30 minutes together before the gala began. I had not known Bill well before this event but what a pleasure it was to get to spend some time with him.

We were invited guests of CNG for the ANS gala — an event that we always enjoy at the NYINC. We sat next to Eric McFadden, David Vagi, and Alan Walker. Also at our table was Peter Van Alfen from the American Numismatic Society (ANS) and several other serious collectors of ancient coins. Our friend, Victor England, was the honored guest for the evening and the program was very enjoyable. Way to go Victor! We danced to music after the ANS presentation to Victor and then collapsed in bed after a very long day.

Friday we taxied to the ANS to view the auction lots for the Stack’s library collection — I understand we just missed Bill Burd! Peter Van Alfen gave us a tour of the ANS and it was terrific. If you’re not a member of the ANS you’re missing out. It’s a great club/organization. We then taxied to the “Met” (the Metropolitan Museum of Art) and had a great afternoon.

We got up early Saturday and headed back to Chicago — it was a great trip and one I will always remember. All CCC members interested in ancient coins should go to this show at least once.

Our 1094th Meeting

Important Dates

Chatter Matter

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