Chatter

Prepare for Club Auction

The club auction is scheduled for the regular November club meeting; the auction will start at about 7PM, after the business session concludes. In the past few years, club related material (and Chicago area numismatic items) have had the best results.

Please consider using the club auction to dispose of the numismatic items you no longer need. Details will appear in the October Chatter, but it should follow the pattern from recent years.

Minutes of the 1136th Meeting

The 1136th meeting of the Chicago Coin Club was held August 17th, 2013 in conjunction with the American Numismatic Association Convention, Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, 5555 N. River Road, Rosemont, IL.

President Elliott Krieter called the meeting to order at 1:00 PM with an attendance of 64 members and guests. A motion to adopt an abbreviated agenda was passed.

First VP Rich Lipman introduced the featured speaker, Kevin Brown of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, who spoke on the variety of serial numbering methods used on U.S. currency. Following an active question-and-answer session, Rich presented Kevin with an ANA Educational Certificate and an engraved Club medal.

The applications of David T. Alexander and Robert F. Fritsch received first reading. The Secretary announced that the Club has three members who are recipients of the ANA Numismatist of Year Award: Tom DeLorey (2009), Harlan J. Berk (2011), and David Alexander (2013).

Everyone in attendance received a souvenir card showing an 1893 Columbian Exposition general admission ticket featuring the portrait of Abraham Lincoln. Past President Jeffrey Rosinia authored the serially numbered issue which was limited to a quantity of 100.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:55 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,
Carl Wolf, Secretary

CCC NYNC Dinner Report

July 17, 2013

On Wednesday, August 12th, 2013, the Chicago Coin Club and the New York Numismatic Club made history, holding their first ever joint meeting. Organized by the officers of both clubs, and held strictly as a “social event” in conjunction with the 2013 American Numismatic Association’s convention, the dinner was well-attended by members of both long-standing organizations. In addition to enjoying a fine meal, both clubs’ members and their guests were treated to an event which included greetings from both club presidents, briefings on early and later history of both groups, comments on the medallic products of each club, and a souvenir of the occasion. Every attendee was given a specially created and highly appealing commemorative medal as a souvenir of the occasion, from a limited strike of 100 medals which “mule” the NYNC’s traditional Jonathan Swanson-designed allegory on one surface, with a newly created [in medallic form] Chicago Coin Club logo on the other surface.

As President of the ANA’s 2013 Convention “host organization,” the Chicago Coin Club, Elliott Krieter opened the proceedings with welcoming remarks, explaining the reasoning behind and first-ever nature of the evening, and expressing his hopes that not only would the dinner be a success in and of itself, but that it might lead to future, similar events. For his part, New York Numismatic Club President Dr. Constantin Marinescu observed in his welcoming comments that despite the march of technology, the enjoyment of numismatics remains a very personal and very social affair, and that the success of both clubs relies on the human touch and ties club members espouse.

Past New York Numismatic Club President and Chairman of its Board Dr. Jay M. Galst provided background on the roots of early New York collector-oriented societies, the move by the American Numismatic Society to the somewhat geographically challenging Audobon Terrace, and the resulting formation, in 1908, of the NYNC. He related aspects of some of its typical meeting modalities, and noted that one of its many illustrious members was the famed Chicago numismatist, Virgil H. Brand. Following on this, Carl F. Wolf, Chicago Coin Club Secretary, drew on his longstanding and deep involvement with the Chicago Coin Club to provide early background on its formation, later rebirth, and recent growth. He also provided some insights into Virgil Brand’s membership, and some of the effects that having so prolific and visible a collector had on the Chicago Club at the time.

As David T. Alexander [a member of both Clubs] provided the assembled with perspective on the medallic tradition in each organization, the boxed gift medal and a certificate of its having been one of the 49 medals given to the dinner attendees, were given to the 29 members and guests of the Chicago club, and the 20 diners affiliated with the New York club. Because the limited striking of 100 examples was edge numbered, the question of which Club’s collection would receive medal #1 and which would receive medal #2 had been raised. The officers had determined that the only equitable way to settle this was to “flip a coin,” or rather, the newly issued medal. New York Numismatic Club President Constantin Marinescu flipped the medal, and when it landed Swanson side up, Dr. Marinescu immediately informed Elliott and the audience that he was pleased to announce the New York Numismatic Club’s wish to donate Medal #1 to the very gracious Chicago Coin Club, for all the work and generous hosting they had done in anticipation of the evening’s event. The remaining medals were allocated to each organization to round each club’s share to 50. Understandably, the Chicago club’s remaining 20 medals sold out the next day at their table at the convention, at a price of $20 per medal, boxed. The New York Numismatic Club will offer their remaining 29 medals to their membership at their next meeting in New York.

All in all, an evening adjudged by all to be a fine way to begin a tradition.

Mark Anderson of NYNC and Carl Wolf of CCC

Current Advertisers

Trip Reports — ANA in Rosemont

Phil Carrigan reports:
Before ANA I was excited about the John Ford consignment. Of particular interest were his Canadian colonial tokens. I purchased two lots/tokens, one scarce and the other a bargain in EF (compared to the prior lot which sold in AU at over 3-times the money). In total I floor bid on ten lots, quit on eight and landed the two. There were US Bust coins which appealed to me but went for aggressive dollars.

I did obtain two Bust dimes from dealers I like, and several medals from John Kraljevich and Rick Gross. I bought literature from Charlie Davis and David Fanning, and the 750+ page book by Karl Moulton on John J Ford and the Franklin Hoard. In addition to buying stuff, I attended meetings with learned presenters and met old and new friends. The only downer was the back-and-forth drive from home to Rosemont.

Paul Hybert reports:
That was fun — may I have another? We have only eleven months until the next ANA Convention, in Rosemont during August 5-9, 2014. This year I helped out in the Collector Exhibit Area, getting away for only one of the Money Talks presentations, a few organization meetings, and and a few quick looks at dealer tables.

I liked the presentation by Augsburger, Orosz, and Smith on the US coinage of 1792, and regretted arriving after it started. The room was full, and David Lisot was filming so I can order a DVD as a refresher. I bought a Bust half on an early day, and then four more after noon on Saturday — imagine, an out-of-state dealer still on the bourse floor at that time! True, he was not right at the entrance, but he was in a low-numbered aisle. The Collector Exhibits were in the far corner of the hall, as far as you could get from the only entrance to the hall, but the dealers in that area stayed busy through the noon hour on Saturday.

Eugene Freeman reports:
I think that public awareness of the show, due to the Scouting at the ANA activity patch, significantly increased the youth participation in the show in general — and especially on Saturday. One of the ANA members indicated that there were significantly more youth participating in the Treasure Trivia than in the past (and this was before Saturday). Compared to 34 boys and 4 girls that were in the merit badge clinics in 2011, this year there were 85 boys and 35 girls!

Most of the dealers were pleased to see more youth at the show, and many took the time to make the Scouts feel welcome. One of the adult leaders said, “When you get an invitation like this, you never know how it will go for the Scouts. This was terrific! Next year, I am bringing my whole troop!”

I did not hear a single negative comment from a Scout leader — which means that they will bring their Scouts back next year!

In the world coin area, there was a wide variety of material available for sale, including a significant one-per-location collection that yielded some tough locations, including a coin from Nauru and one from Transylvania. I was also able to acquire some Italian States that I did not have in my collection, and I acquired a few hundred items for my inventory.

Great show!

Note:
The wrapup meeting of the Local Hosting Committee will be held one week after our regular September meeting — the minutes of that meeting will appear in the October Chatter. Hoping for many more details.

Our 1137th Meeting

Important Dates

Unless stated otherwise, our regular monthly CCC Meeting is in downtown Chicago on the second Wednesday of the month; the starting time is 6:45PM.

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

Contacting Your Editor / Chatter Delivery Option

chatter_editor@yahoo.com

The print version of the Chatter is simply a printout of the Chatter web page, with a little cutting and pasting to fill out each print page. The web page is available before the Chatter is mailed.
If you would like to receive an email link to the latest issue instead of a mailed print copy send an email to chatter_editor@yahoo.com. You can resume receiving a mailed print copy at any time, just by sending another email.