Chatter

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Minutes of the 1115th Meeting

Session I of the 1115th meeting of the Chicago Coin Club was held November 9, 2011 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 17 members and 2 guests, Charles Knox and Sheila Tucker.

A motion was passed to accept the October Minutes as published in the Chatter. In the absence of Treasurer Steve Zitowsky, the Secretary read his report showing October income of $528.00, expenses of $412.82 and total assets of $16,348.99 held in Life Membership $1,910.00 and member equity $14,438.99. A motion was passed to approve the report.

Following the second reading of Charles Knox’s application for membership, a motion was passed to accept him into membership. The application of Sheila Tucker received first reading. The Secretary announced that Junior Member Ivan Thompson submitted his resignation and members Richard Craig, Martin Aguilera and David Bynum were delinquent with their 2011 dues. A motion was passed to drop them from membership.

Robert Leonard, General Chairman of the recent ANA Convention, spoke briefly of the final wrap-up of reports. Mark Wieclaw, Host Chairman of the 2013 ANA Convention, spoke briefly of this communications with Rhonda Scurek, ANA Events Manager, and asked members who were interested in serving as a Chairperson to contact him.

Members were reminded that the Club would hold a meeting 1 PM, Saturday, November 12 at the International Currency and Coin Convention, Rosemont. The speaker will be Pierre Fricke, Sudbury, MA on History of Collecting Confederate Paper Money, 1865 to Date. Members were also reminded there will be no Wednesday, December 14 meeting. The Club’s Annual Banquet was moved to Saturday, December 10 at Marcello’s Restaurant, 645 W. North Avenue, Chicago. The featured program will be Michael Gasvoda on The Hunt Brothers’ Incredible Ancient Coin Collection. Reservations of $40 per person are required.

The evening’s program was the Annual Auction of member submitted material, put together by Bill Burd at Chicago Coin Company. President Rosinia served as the auctioneer.

The meeting was recessed at 8:15 PM and will be reconvened 1 PM, Saturday, November 12 at the International Currency and Coin Convention, Rosemont.

. . . . . . .

Session II of the 1115th meeting of the Chicago Coin Club was held November 12, 2011 in conjunction with the International Currency and Coin Convention, Crowe Plaza Chicago O’Hare Hotel, 5440 N. River Road, Rosemont, IL. Second V.P. Elliott Krieter reconvened the meeting at 1 PM with an attendance of 26 members and guests.

The membership applications of Bruce Perdue and Eric Helms received first reading.

Elliott Krieter introduced the featured speaker, Pierre Fricke, Sudbury, MA who delivered a PowerPoint presentation on History of Collecting Confederate Paper Money, 1865 to Date. Following a question and answer period, Pierre was presented with an ANA Educational Certificate and an engraved Standing Lincoln Club medal.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:05 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
Carl Wolf, Secretary

Speaker’s Wor[l]d
History of Collecting Confederate Paper Money, 1865 to Date

presented by Pierre Fricke
to our November 12, 2011 meeting

The author of the recent Collecting Confederate Paper Money titles (2005 and 2008) started his presentation by reminding us that he would concentrate on the collectors, dealers, researchers, and styles of collecting the paper money — the paper money itself would be in a supporting role. And his interest is only with the paper money issued in the name of the central Confederate government — the notes issued by individual states and locales form a completely separate area.

The first series of four designs, known as the “Montgomery” notes after the city where the Confederate government was based when these were authorized, were engraved and printed in New York City by the National Bank Note Company. The first shipment of the $1 million order was made before hostilities broke out, but not so the second shipment, which left a New York dock with federal agents close behind. Cut off from the Northern financial houses, the South had to rely upon its own resources and foreign supplies brought in through the blockade. All notes have the name of their printer; the Southern Bank Note Company had been the New Orleans office of the American Bank Note Company before the war, while others were small, local printers. Most notes used simple lithographed designs. The range of design and paper quality varied greatly due to the large number of notes needed during the war. The system of 72 different major designs in a span of four years allowed for counterfeiting of the Confederate notes. Additionally, each series expired, and would be taxed if rolled over. Notes were cancelled when turned in, usually by cuts. This system was more complicated than the Union’s funding system.

As an example of the bad implications of the South’s funding system, Pierre told how the construction of the ironclad ship Louisiana was halted for three months due to the lack of money; the result was that the Union’s fleet of wooden ships was not opposed by any ironclads during their successful attack on New Orleans. Pierre’s last piece of Civil War history dealt with the value of Confederate paper money over time — specifically, how much Confederate paper money was needed to purchase a US $1 gold coin that contained just under one-twentieth of an ounce of gold: $1.20 at the start of 1862, $3 at the start of 1863, $20 at the start of 1864, $60 at the start of 1865, and $80 after Lee surrendered his army. $80 is about how much it costs us now, in current US dollars, to buy that amount of gold!

Worthless at war’s end, some of it found use as wall paper, and some pieces were kept as souvenirs. The first collectors appeared in the northeast. Among them was Robert Alonzo Brock who donated his collection in 1866 to the Boston Numismatic Society. In New York City, Thomas Addis Emmet collected varieties and, in 1896, donated his collection to the New York Public Library — three large books of notes and bonds; In 1867, Emmet’s Table of Confederate Currency appeared in the American Journal of Numismatics. In December of 1865, an auction by W. Elliot Woodward of Roxbury Massachusetts included a very fine $1,000 Montgomery note — it realized $4.75.

In 1875, Dr. William Lee, a Virginia physician, wrote The Currency of the Confederate States of America, the first book on the subject. John Haseltine of Philadelphia, a numismatic dealer and market maker, wrote his Descriptive catalogue of Confederate Notes and Bonds in 1876, and it served as the standard reference for the next 40 years. Haseltine was also involved with the Confederate Cent that surfaced at that time — it was an unsolicited pattern made by a Philadelphia jeweller named Lovett who was still worried about possible charges of treason; restrikes were offered in gold, silver, and copper, along with a few of the original copper nickel pieces. An 1883 Haseltine auction realized $4.50 for a $100 Montgomery note, and $6.50 for the $5 by Manouvrier of New Orleans — the first Confederate note to return back to its face value! About that time, the New York promoter J. Walter Scott offered one of the four Confederate Half Dollars at auction; it realized $1,070.

All retired Confederate notes had been kept at Richmond. After Richmond fell, much of the paper went North, along with the records. Raphael P. Thian worked for the US government; he studied the signers of the notes as well as the serial numbers of the various series, with the result being the 1880 Register of the Confederate Debt, of which six original copies are known today, and the 1884 The Currency of the Confederate States. The best use of the book was to separate counterfeit from genuine notes by checking names, dates, and serial numbers; about 95% of it is still considered correct today. In addition to creating souvenir albums for dignataries and distinguished persons, he also sold some notes on the side. The Duke University Library has the Thian Albums.

A number of works helped distribute detailed information to collectors. George W. Massamore’s 1889 Descriptive and Chronological Catalogue of Confederate Currency concentrated on only 300 of the thousands of varieties that had been identified. Over a span of 50 years, John C. Browne created one of the greatest, largest collections. The favored collecting fashion changed over time — sometimes concentrating on specialized varieties, sometimes by general varieties, and by many different themes and types. William Bradbeer’s 1915 Confederate and Southern States Currency contained information about the pieces, was reprinted in 1945, and was later used as a basis by Criswell. H.D. Allen wrote a series of articles in The Numismatist, full of history and without any pricing.

The popularity of collecting Confederate currency also fluctuated. Hiram Deats’ collection sold in 1892 during a soft market, with popularity returning in the 1920s. B. Max Mehl, a numismatic promoter of the early and mid 20th century, offered Confederate currency in many auctions and listings; the catalog of the 1941 Collins Sale was impressive. Dr. Philip Chase’s 1947 book, Confederate Treasury Notes, studied counterfeits in addition to the regular notes; it provides good information, but the numbering system now is obsolete. Grover Criswell was a flamboyant character, whose 1957 book, Confederate and Southern State Currency, has a type numbering system that is still used although other worksshould be used for the varieties. The works and contributions of Claud Fuller, Richard Todd, Sydney Kerksis, Brent Hughes, and Arlie Slabaugh were also mentioned. Dr. Douglas Ball was a studious researcher whose thesis appeared in 1991 as Financial Failure and Confederate Defeat; that was followed in 1998 by A Comprehensive Catalog and History of Confederate Bonds.

The collecting of Confederate Currency is an active area of numismatics. Hugh Shull, George Tremmel, Mike McNeil, and Pierre Fricke have recent and planned books that present more information to the modern audience. We should expect to see works being offered on the Kindle soon, along with some new books. In terms of making primary source information more readily available, look for a DVD set of the correspondence between the Confederate government and the printers. The Civil War Sesquicentennial should boost interest in this collecting area, and we can only hope to still be around for the Civil War Bicentennial!

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Auction Results
November 9, 2011

These are the realized prices for the lots listed in the November Chatter.

Our December Banquet (1116th Meeting)

Important Dates

Chatter Matter

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CHICAGO COIN CLUB
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