Chatter

1 Month until ANA in Chicago

The Exhibits Rules and Applications for the August convention are on the ANA web site, at http://worldsfairofmoney.com/index.php?id=255. Completed applications must be received at the ANA by July 20.

The Chicago Coin Club meeting at the ANA convention will be at 10 AM on Saturday, August 20. There is no admission charge for our meeting, but the ANA charges $6 per day for non-ANA members to access the bourse and exhibit area.

The http://www.worldsfairofmoney.com/index.php?id=52 page has a link to the most recent Schedule-at-a-Glance detailing bourse hours, speakers and programs, club meetings, and more. The schedule is subject to change, especially as more clubs announce their meetings and plans. So bookmark that page, and recheck before the convention starts.

Minutes of the 1110th Meeting

The 1110th meeting of the Chicago Coin Club was held June 8, 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 24 members.

The Secretary announced that the May meeting neglected to credit Steve Zitowsky with a donation to cover the cost of the Club table at the ANA Convention. A motion was passed to approve the May Minutes as published in the Chatter, but with this addition. A warm round of applause for Steve followed. Treasurer Steve Zitowsky reported a detailed break down showing May income of $1,010.00, expenses of $440.70 and total assets of $19,882.37 held in Life Membership $1,910.00 and member equity $17,972.37. A motion was passed to approve the report.

Following the second reading of Scott McGowan’s membership application a motion was passed to accept him into membership. A bronze 50th Meeting Medal of the Chicago Numismatic Society, donated by Michigan dealer Richard English, was shown and announced it will be put in the November auction. It was announced that member LeRoy Gayden is serving with the Illinois National Guard in Iraq and his address should be published so members can write.

A motion was passed to follow tradition and cast the Club ballot in the ANA election for those candidates who are members of the Club: Vice President: Walter Ostromicki; Governor: Clifford Mishler and Wendell Wolka. Copies of the ANA Registration Form were distributed and members were strongly encouraged to submit it before July 1 and receive a discount. It was announced that Local Volunteers are submitting their convention schedules and more applications were requested. Issue no. 2 of the Convention Newsletter was distributed with extra copies taken by members to carry to other clubs.

Members saw a photograph of the two Club medals on order in epoxy proof stage. President Rosinia expressed an interest in putting archival Club material on exhibit at the ANA Convention. William Burd, Club Archivist, reported that some members are discussing the creation of competitive exhibits on Club medals. Phil Carrigan announced that the Numismatic Theatre schedule is coming together and will be finalized soon. It was announced that the next meeting of the ANA Convention Committee will be June 15th at 6 PM in the offices of Harlan J. Berk, 77 W. Washington, Suite 1320.

The featured program for the evening consisted of three members speaking on the major numismatic references for their collecting specialties: Robert Weinstein, “Indo-Scythian Coinage,” Noel Rodriguez, “U.S. Paper Money,” and Mark Weiclaw, “Ancient Roman Coinage.” Each was presented with an engraved Club medal; however, the ANA Educational Certificates were delayed in the mail. The scheduled speaker for July will be a program dealing with “Coin Photography Using Inexpensive Equipment,” the August speaker “Push Out Coins,” and the Club meeting at the ANA Convention will feature David Alexander on U.S. Medals.

Elliott Krieter introduced the nine exhibitors for the evening. STEVE ZITOWSKY: 2001 Hungarian 3000 Forint commemorative coin; ROBERT FEILER: 11 different pop out coins; ROBERT WEINSTEIN: 5 Indo-Scythian copper coins; JEFFREY ROSINIA: 2 coin savers; DALE LUKANICH: 5 ancient Roman coins; MARK WIECLAW: 16 U.S. star notes & 2 bank coin savers; WILLIAM BURD: 3 silver ingots from San Francisco Mint; RICHARD LIPMAN: U.S. Statue of Liberty proof 1 oz. platinum & a medal commemorating Jews in China; and PAUL HYBERT: 1999 & 2000 ANA Convention exhibitor participation medals, 2011 EAC Program, and preview of an upcoming auction.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
Carl Wolf, Secretary

Speaker’s Wor[l]d
Numismatic References & Books for Some Collecting Specialties

presented by three club members
to our June 8, 2011 meeting

From watching the Show and Tell part of our monthly meetings, we are able to determine some of the numismatic specialties of our fellow members. Their continued ability to present new information in specialized areas allows us to, at least vicariously, collect with them — and, over time, maybe a few of us will actively join them. In this program, three members reviewed the references for three specialties.

Indo-Scythian Coinage by Robert Weinstein
These people called themselves the Saka — the word Scythian is from the Greeks, with the c pronounced with a hard sound. The location is Central Asia, and the timeframe is after the era of Alexander the Great and its Greek influence.
Robert C. Senior, The Coinage of Hermaios and its Imitations Struck by the Scythians, Classical Numismatic Group, Lancaster (2000) — Hermaios was a Greek, or possibly of Greek and Scythian ancestry, and coins from his reign are very scarce. The Scythians produced imitations of his coins for hundreds of years after his death, and these imitations are very common.
Robert C. Senior, Indo-Scythian Coins and History, (3 volumes), Classical Numismatic Group, Lancaster (2001) — Volume 1 is an analysis of the coinage, containing text, maps, charts, and alphabets to help read the coins. Volume 2 has only plates showing all of the coins. Volume 3 details the various mintmarks, and has easy finders by types, monograms, and letters.
Robert C. Senior, Indo-Scythian Coins and History, Supplement, Classical Numismatic Group, Lancaster (2004) — Details items found after the above 3-volume set was produced.
Michael Mitchiner, Indo-Greek and Indo-Scythian Coinage, 9 volumes, Hawkins Publications, London (1975-1976) — Before Senior’s works, this card covered work was the standard. Nearly all of the content now is considered wrong, but this is still used because of the many coin images. After looking at many coins for many years, you can tell if a coin is real or counterfeit.
Heidemarie Koch, A Hoard of Coins from Eastern Parthia, J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu (1990) — An example of a specialized work within a specialization.
Osmund Bopearachchi, Indo Greek, Indo Scythian and Indo Parthian Coins in the Smithsonian Institution, Manohar, New Delhi, 1993 — The coins are in the Smithsonian, but the work is published in India.
Journal of the Oriental Numismatic Society, London, Various Authors — An excellent publication; Bob’s longest membership is in this group that follows the Victorian definition of Orient as “anything in Asia.”
A number of other notable specialized works have been published in India recently, including Oriental Numismatic Studies, now at 10 volumes. Bob recommends Advanced Book Exchange (www.abebooks.com) as a good source for these works.

U.S. Paper Money by Noel Rodriguez
Large notes, small notes, the new small notes with anti counterfeiting features — those are only some of the major types of notes available to collectors. These are the references that Noel uses while collecting U.S. paper money:
Official Blackbook Guide to United States Paper Money, 2007 — An earlier edition was the first book that Noel used in this area; it is packed with information, and Noel still refers to it.
Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, United States Paper Money — Uses this with his Large Note collection; his collection here started with the Educational notes, and he showed us his.
Kenneth Bressett, United States Currency — Has much information on the Fractional Notes, but Noel no longer buys it every year. It covers specimen, counterfeit, and real.
John Schwartz and Scott Lindquist, Small-Size U.S. Paper Money, 1928 to Date — These are the size of what we use today; Noel likes this area, and he showed us two pieces that he had recently shown to Scott Lindquist: a 1934 $20 star with a new low serial number (G00001724) and a $100 new high (G00662335). That gave us an idea of the details covered in this book.
Don C. Kelly, National Bank Notes, 5th edition — These notes show the name and Charter number of the issuing bank. This part of Noel’s collection covers more than just the Chicago and northwest Indiana areas; he showed us a $20 from Carmi, Illinois and a $10 from Oly, Pennsylvania — his daughter’s nicknames match those town names. There are many ways for a collector to define completeness in this area.
Noel also mentioned The Numismatist and Bank Note Reporter as two periodicals that cover this areas.

Ancient Roman Coinage by Mark Wieclaw
As with the other two areas, there are two types of works: one covers all or a large part of a specialty, and the other covers a specialized niche of a specialty. It is hard to call something as large as Ancient Coins a specialty, and even Ancient Roman Coins turns out to be large once you get into it.
Roman Republican Coinage, M.H. Crawford - London 1974 — The standard reference for this area. An earlier work by Sydenham (from the 1940s and 1950s) is still useful, but neither work is perfect. Crawford has better dating of the cpoins, but the plates in the reprints are not as good as in the original. These are the sources of the Cr and Sy numbers found in articles and dealer listings.
Monnaies Sous L'Empire Romain, Henry Cohen, 8 volumes, late 1800s — In French, and available as a 1955 reprint. There is a small additional volume for translation from French to English. Although it has some drawings of coins, there are no plates. It is fine for specialized collectors, but Mark does not recommend its use otherwise.
Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC), Harold Mattingly, 10 volumes, Spink & Son, London — Volumes I-VI originally printed in the 1920s and ’30s with several reprints (in and out of print); Volumes VII-X issued from 1970s to 1990s. This is for serious collectors; this is one of the cases where books increase in value faster than the coins. Even the reprints quickly went out of print.
Roman Coins and Their Values, David R. Sear, 4th revised edtion 1988, Seaby — This is the only book you need unless you want to be a scholar; 90% of the coins you encounter are in this book.
Monete Imperiali Greche, G. Dattari, 1901 — Not in English. The standard reference for Roman issues from Alexandria, it is great for the Alexandrian tetradrachms. Some varieties are illustrated.
Catalogo Completo Della collezione - Dattari", Giulio Bernardi Editore, Trieste 1990 — This contains pencil rubbings of all coins in Dattari’s collection; you need this book to make the 1901 reference work for you. Only 100 or 150 copies printed.
Greek Imperial Coins and Their Values, David R. Sear, Seaby 1991 reprint — Another fine work by Sear, truly necessary for this area (Greek Imperial is another way of saying Roman Provincial from Greek areas).

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Show and Tell

Items shown at our June 8, 2011 meeting.

1. Steve Zitowsky showed a 2001 silver 3,000 forint coin from Hungary — this is the only 21st century coin in his collection. This coin commemmorates the 100th anniversary of the first Hungarian film, The Dance, and Steve first heard of this coin 8 or 9 years ago. The film consists of 24 clips of dancers from the opera house, and the coin mentions the cinematographer and director, Béla Zsitovszky (1867-1930). While in Budapest, Hungary recently, Steve visited the theater where the film had been shot (on the roof), and he showed us a picture of the building’s front. Although air conditioning units now are on the roof, some open space still remains up there.
2. Inspired by mention of a presentation for an upcoming meeting, Robert Feiler showed a wide range of “popup” coins, including:
   • A block of Lucite containing a set of coins: 1¢, 10¢, 25¢, 50¢, and $1.
   • 1908-dated Barber coins, 10¢, 25¢, and 50¢, on a watch fob; the bar has a patent date of Nov 22, 1891.
   • A gold-plated 1903 Edward VII British cent; the bar has a patent date of Nov 22, 1904.
   • A 1974 Eisenhower dollar. We wondered about production techniques: did the original coin need any treatment before striking? how many strikes were needed to obtain the high result?
3. Robert Weinstein showed examples of three square copper denominations of Indo Scythian coinage, known to current specialists as: the unit, half unit, and quarter unit.
   • A unit of King Vonones with Herakles holding a club on the obverse which has Greek legends, while the reverse shows the Greek god Palus with a Kharosthy legend. The marks are considered control marks, not mint marks.
   • A half unit of King Vonones, but with different control marks than on the full unit.
   • A quarter unit of King Vonones, having the same control market as on the half unit. This is very scarce — only one piece is listed in the addenda to Senior’s reference work on this area, then two appeared later.
   • A half unit of King Vonones, having the same control mark as the full unit.
   • A quarter unit of the greatest Indo Scythian king, Azes, showing the king on horseback and holding a whip. This is a new type for this king, acquired from a catalog where it had been misattributed; the known type shows the king holding a spear.
4. Jeffrey Rosinia is building a collection of coin saver folders from Chicago area banks and S&Ls. These encouraged people to save their change, and then open an account with it.
   • A 1969 folder from the Fisrt National Bank of Chicago — picturing a Mercury Dime on the cover, and with places for $3 in dimes.
   • One folder includes text encouraging people to look for the 1942/1 overdate dime.
   • Among the uncommon folders were one for SBA dollars and another for folded currency.
5. Dale Lukanich showed large bronze coins from Rome:
   • An As showing Agrippa, struck under Caligula.
   • An As of Claudius, 50-54 AD, with a standing Liberty on the reverse.
   • An As of Trajan, 98-99 AD, with a walking angel carrying a shield on the reverse.
   • A Sestertius of Commodus, 189 AD, with the obverse legend letters partly off this thick coin.
   • A Sestertius of Philip I, commemmorating the thousandth anniversary of Rome. COS III appears on the short column, a cippus, on the reverse.
6. Mark Wieclaw showed bank coin holders and many US “star” notes:
   • From the Lakeview Trust and Savings bank, the “largest bank outside of the Loop,” two coin folders: the one for quarters shows a Washington Quarter on the cover, while the one for dimes shows a Mercury Dime.
   • The $1 stars included a 1957B silver certificate, and a note from 1988.
   • The $2 stars included both a red seal and a green seal example.
   • The only $5 star was a 1953 silver certificate.
   • The $10 stars were a recent 1999 and an older pair with consecutive serial numbers.
   • The $20 star was from 2004, while the $50 stars were a new one and one from 1985.
   • The $100 stars were from 1950, 1996, and 2003.
7. Bill Burd showed silver ingots from the San Francisco Mint, circa the early 1900s. Starting in the 1880s, the US Mints would make a refined ingot from submitted metal — the 5 ounce silver ingots are common, the 20 ounce ingots scarce, and any ingot over 50 ounces is rare; ingots weighing less than 5 ounces might not have been made. All of the shown ingots bear a stamped oval; in the 1950s, a year-dated stamp in a circle was used.
   • A 999.75 fine silver ingot weighing 5.12 ounces.
   • A 999.75 fine silver ingot weighing 19.95 ounces.
   • A 999.75 fine silver ingot weighing 64.86 ounces.
8. Richard Lipman showed some recent items:
   • A 2011 platinum proof, .9995 fine. This is the third year of a six-year series of platinum coins that honor the preamble of the US Constitution. The set uses a common Statue of Liberty obverse, and a different reverse for each year; this year uses “to ensure domestic tranquility”. Both uncirculated and proof versions were issued in prior years, but only a proff this year; the issue price was $200 over spot.
   • A gold plated bronze medal honoring 1,000 years of Jews in China; part of an old synogogue is featured. The descendants of those from the Silk Road migration are mostly integrated into Chinese society. The legend includes “Honor the customs of your ancestors,” and the design reflects a mixture of cultures.
9. Paul Hybert mostly showed items acquired at the recent Early American Coppers (EAC) Portland, Oregon convention:
   • A silver exhibitor medal from the 2000 ANA in Philadelphia. The main obverse element of this product of the Gallery Mint in Arkansas was inspired by a Mercury Dime. An example was given to each exhibitor, so this is a participation medal, not an award medal.
   • A similar silver participation medal from the 1999 convention in Chicago, but this was given to exhibitors and judges; also from the Gallery Mint. The helmeted Athena head on the obverse was inspired by an ancient Greek coin.
   • The program for the EAC 2011 convention and show. While showing the seminar list, John Kraljevich’s “The Taste of Dogmeat: Lewis and Clark in the Pacific Northwest” resulted in some audience questions that led to a short recap of that presentation.
   • A preview folder showing a selection of Large Cents from the Al Boka collection that Heritage will auction this September — not at the ANA convention, but that means the catalogues and coins should be available for viewing at our convention.

Tenth Meeting of the ANA 2011 Convention Host Committee

June 15, 2011

Meeting was held in the offices of Harlan J. Berk in Chicago. Attending were General Chairman Bob Leonard, Assistant General Chairman Mark Wieclaw, and Chairmen Carl Wolf, Robert Weinstein, Richard Lipman, Paul Hybert, Jeff Rosinia, Eugene Freeman, Elliott Kreiter, and Harlan Berk.

The meeting began at 5:55 pm. Mr. Leonard and committee members expressed their thanks to Mr. Berk for the meeting room, supper, and parking vouchers.

Final Budget Allocation: A consensus was reached on the final Committee budget, since distributed to all members. It was agreed that volunteers who work a minimum of two hours should receive a free parking voucher, and those who work a minimum of four hours will receive a free convention volunteer shirt.

Mr. Wolf, Chicago Volunteers Manager, reported that 4 volunteers had dropped out, but have been replaced by 4 new volunteers, so that the total number remains at 70. In addition, there are 14 Committee chairmen not counted. Also, 9 volunteers are available to work multiple shifts, which gives us the equivalent of 79 volunteers plus the 14 chairmen = 93. Good as this is, it is still not enough; we are aiming for over 100 volunteers, and are calling on the entire Committee to make a last effort to recruit additional volunteers for the Kids Zone and Prize Area. Our ability to offer free parking is an additional incentive now. The Chicago Coin Club will have a table at the Greater Chicago Coin, Currency & Collectible Show, June 30 – July 2, and will try to recruit additional volunteers there. Mr. Wolf will post the volunteer schedule at the World’s Fair of Money^®, and asked for advice as to whether to post the entire list at once, or one day at a time.

Friendship Luncheon: Mr. Leonard reported that he had asked a prior Friendship Luncheon attendee at a meeting of the South Shore Coin Club what favors she thought were most popular, and she mentioned mints, lotion, magnifying glass, and a large purse-like bag. Mr. Wolf reported that he has arranged for LuAnne Freeman to attend a large promotional products show with him, and that she will be scouting for suitable items there. Favors will be obtained in early July, after the expiration of the early registration discount, to gage attendance.

Proclamations and Greetings: Mr. Leonard reported on a conversation he had with Bill Horton, General Chairman of the 2000 Philadelphia convention, at the International Paper Money Show in Memphis. Mr. Horton obtained proclamations for the convention from the mayor of Philadelphia, the governor of Pennsylvania, and the president of the United States. The ANA does not solicit such proclamations, Mr. Leonard was told. Though Committee members doubted that attendance would be increased by proclamations, Mr. Leonard said that he intended to solicit proclamations or letters of welcome from the mayor of Rosemont, Governor Quinn, and President Obama.

The 50 Numismatic Theater speaker’s medals ordered are sufficient for the Numismatic Theatre, which will have 28 presentations by 36 speakers. It was agreed to present a medal to each speaker every time they speak, though one speaker is presenting twice. Mr. Leonard listed a few of the highlights, including Andy Plioplys, Robert Hoge, Mike Gasvoda, David Alexander, Harlan Berk, and Dale Lukanich. Based on the schedule of presentations, it was decided to change the meeting time of the Chicago Coin Club meeting.

Mr. Leonard reported that the second issue of the Convention Newsletter is out. A small error was detected by editor Dave Simpson. A third issue will be prepared, to be distributed just prior to and at the convention itself. It will promote, among other things, the Kids Zone, Passport, and the YN program. The only request for volunteers will be for Pages.

ANA Ambassadors Committee: Mr. Weinstein reported that he attended meetings of the Club of Illinois Numismatists in Springfield and the Calumet (IN) Coin Club. In Springfield, four persons took volunteer applications and in Calumet, two. He promoted our free parking offer in Springfield.

Branding Committee: Mr. Burd did not attend, but Mr. Wolf said that they had decided that four hours of volunteer commitment would be required for a shirt, which will be worn by volunteers while on duty.

Exhibits: Mr. Hybert reported that he has not received any applications yet, and neither has National Volunteer Mark Lighterman, and he does not know how many have applied. The deadline for applications is July 20. He is expecting to receive all completed applications by August 12. Additionally, all exhibitors and judges may purchase one banquet ticket at the greatly discounted rated of $25, for their personal use.

Noncompetitive Exhibits: Mr. Berk reported that he is taking photographs for Douglas Mudd. He is also helping Mr. Subak with the labels for his coins. He will be going to the Field Museum to select two World’s Columbian Exposition medals and dies.

Outreach/Local Transportation Committee: Mr. Kreiter said that he would be visiting the Hillside Coin Club.

Patrons: Mr. Berk estimated that Patron donations were at least $25,600.

Pages: About six Pages are firm so far, Mr. Rosinia reported. In Boston, Pages were assigned to a designated area of the bourse, but since most Pages are children of dealers, they go where they please and have an advantage over the others since they have done it before.

Scout Clinics: Mr. Freeman stated that only a single Scout has signed up so far, but it is too early to be concerned. He expects so much interest that he is considering expanding the program to two days, Friday as well as Saturday afternoon; the ANA is donating 250 Red Books for the Scouts. Flyers for the clinics have been distributed by the Northwest Suburban Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and the La Grange Council has also been contacted. Other distribution is pending, and Mr. Freeman was told to have more flyers printed if needed, using the Committee’s budget.

Mr. Freeman felt that parents of Scouts should not be asked to volunteer at the convention. Their help is essential to make it an educational experience for the Scouts.

Assistant General Chairman: Mr. Wieclaw reported that the Des Plaines casino would not open until July 18.

The final Committee meeting prior to the convention is scheduled for Wednesday, July 20 at 6:00, beginning with dinner at Mr. Berk’s office, 77 W. Washington St., Chicago.

Meeting adjourned at 7:32.

Our 1111th Meeting

Important Dates

Chatter Matter

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CHICAGO COIN CLUB
P.O. Box 2301
CHICAGO, IL 60690

http://www.ChicagoCoinClub.org/

Club Officers

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