Chatter

1 Month until ANA in Chicago

The details for the convention are being finalized and announced by ANA. Their web site is being revised, so your old bookmarks might no longer work — but the http://www.worldsfairofmoney.com and http://www.money.org should still work. I hope you have made plans to attend the convention, and will try to partake of as many of the offerings as possible.

Remember, August 5-9!

Minutes of the 1146th Meeting

The 1146th meeting of the Chicago Coin Club was held June 11, 2014 in the Chicago Bar Association Building, 321 S. Plymouth Court, Downtown Chicago. President Elliott Krieter called the meeting to order at 6:45 PM with an attendance of 31 members and 3 guests: Chester Donati, Chuck Prock, and Joe O’Donnell from Coin World.

A motion was passed to accept the May Minutes as published in the Chatter. Treasurer Steve Zitowsky gave a detailed report on May revenue of $720.00, expenses of $1,398.55 total assets of $24,616.14 held in Life Membership $2,110.00 and member equity $22,506.14. A motion was passed to accept his report.

The application for membership of Adam F. Olszewski received a second reading and a motion was passed to accept him into the Club. The application of Chuck Prock received first reading. With regret it was reported that Quentin Burrows and Mike Radojcic will not renew their membership.

The Secretary announced correspondence notifying the Club that Nicholas Brown (1177), has passed away. The Secretary read the names who have unpaid 2014 dues and have not responded to three separate letters. They include: Michael Morrissy (1216), Dennis Hoelze (1209), Ernst Armstrong (1195), and William Rau (1190). A motion was made and passed to drop their name from the rolls.

Under Old Business:

• It was announced that the 2014 ANA Convention Committee’s next meeting will be 6 PM, June 18, Offices of Harlan J. Berk, Ltd., 77 W. Washington, Downtown Chicago.
• Paul Hybert, Exhibit Chairman of the ANA Convention, announced the deadline for exhibit applications is June 20.
• Mark Wieclaw and Robert Feiler, members of the 95th Anniversary Committee, reported the following plans for a commemorative medal:
  • 2” medals will have edge numbering & be distributed at the ANA Convention.
  • Copper @ $25 each limited to 95 pieces.
  • .999 Silver (2.55 troy oz.)@ $80 limited to pre-order.
  • .999 Gold (4 troy oz.) @ $5,850 limited to pre-order.
  • A process set in copper will be available with details and costs to follow.
  • Die charges are $2,200 and will be partially offset by donations.
  • A motion was made and passed authorizing the Treasurer to pay invoices on this project up to a total of $28,000.
• Mark Wieclaw, Chairman of the December 10th Annual Banquet, reported on two choices: FoodLife at Water Tower Place, and The Rosewood in Rosemont. A show of hands made The Rosewood the final choice. The cost will be approximately $50/person with more details to follow.
• Mark Wieclaw reported on the progress of Harlan Berk’s recovery, and a Get Well card was passed around for everyone to sign.

Under New Business:

• Robert Leonard announced the XV International Numismatic Congress will be held September 21-25, 2015, in Taomina, Sicily. The deadline for submitting papers is September 20, 2014.
• Joe O’Connell, Amos Press/Coin World announced he is interested in creating short videos that would interest beginning collectors. Coin World intends to upload this to their Web Site. The permission of members is required and members can decline to be part of this project.

The Secretary introduced Chester Donati who delivered a program Security for Home and Business. Following a question-and-answer period, Chester was given a warm round of applause. The Secretary forgot to pack the engraved medal and ANA Educational Certificate, and promised to mail them the next day.

Marc Stackler, Second V.P., introduced the evening’s 11 exhibitors. ROBERT LEONARD: 12” segment of red-feather money from Santa Cruz Islands. EUGENE FREEMAN: 1818 half real from San Antonio and 1828 50 centimes Haiti. JAMES DAVIS: 1891 Swiss medal from 700th Anniversary of Bern, 1919 one rupee from India, and 2001 $10 coin from Liberia with American eagle hologram. DAVE CROOKS: 2 gold coins from Saddle Ridge Hoard; RICARDO SEQUEIRA: a 1894-S $20 gold coin from Saddle Ridge Hoard, a Mexican 8 reales and 3 Nicaraguan commemorative coins. DALE LUKANICH: two Federal Reserve Notes and seven National Bank Notes. STEPHEN HUBER: two double talers and two single talers from Germany. BOB FEILER: cigar box labels showing gold coins, and 1930 Lincoln cent pop-outs of an Indian Chief. RICHARD LIPMAN: 3 international notes featuring scientists, a toilet token, and an apothecary weight. MARK WIECLAW: a sea-turtle stater (480-446 BC) and a land-turtle stater (445-431 BC), both from Attic Desina, then a brockage denarius of Julius Caesar, 46 BC. CHESTER DONATI: U.S. baseball coin in $5 gold and $1 silver.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:26 PM. The next meeting will be 6:45 PM, Wednesday, July 9 at the same location.

Respectfully Submitted,
Carl Wolf, Secretary

Speaker’s Wor[l]d
Security for the Home & Business

a presentation by Chester Donati,
to our June 11, 2014 meeting

The Busybody “Visual Surveillance System” was invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1731. A set of mirrors, mounted on the outside of a window frame, allowed a person to see who was along the outside of a building, all while remaining safely inside. After showing us an image of a modern take on that device, Chet showed another device from the 1700s — a watchman clacker, used to wake up citizens during an emergency or fire. Moving into the 1800s, we saw a Holmes Alarm Telegraph circa 1852. This first burglar alarm featured a ringing bell, and used wires above buildings to carry a signal to a central office. Sounds like a telephone system, except telephones had not been invented yet. Chet noted that Alexander Graham Bell, after inventing the telephone, rented Holmes’ wires during the day — from 6AM until 6PM, the wires were used for phone calls, and used for alarm signals from 6PM until 6AM.

Artifacts from the 1920s included an OWL Pay Alarm — insert a dime, pull a lever, and then you could turn ON your alarm — and an ADT / Western Union call station — press the button to summon an ADT messenger from the Western Union office. ADT started in the messenger business, as American District Telegraph. We saw photos of central stations, starting with the late 1800s and ending with a recent view inside Chet’s business, DMC Security Services, Inc. Things are always improving. In the last forty years, the ultrasonic motion detectors have gone from large units that needed dedicated wires, to smaller than a pack of cigarettes and communicating wirelessly.

With the exonumia and collectible parts covered, Chet waded into aspects of modern security. First came the statistics on home burglaries, then came some facts, and then some suggestions. The program concluded with some security considerations for people attending a coin show. Two million home burglaries are reported each year in the US. The months with the most breakins are July and August; February has the fewest breakins, and not just because it has the fewest days. Most burglaries occur during the day, when there is less of a chance of the burglar’s finding someone home. About 85% of breakins are committed by non-professionals — desperate people looking for small and expensive items that can be quickly converted into cash. Their tools can be as simple as screwdrivers, pliers, pry bars, and hammers; many windows have only a latch, not a lock, but a screen can be silently cut in an instant.

Many breakins are a crime of opportunity. Maybe it was an inviting house — easy access, with good cover — or maybe it was just carelessness — something as simple as not locking a door or window. A successful burglar tries to fit in; he could carry a clipboard and walk right up to the door, knock on it, try the door handle to see if it is unlocked, and have a one-sided conversation such as, “Hi, glad you are home, here are the papers we should …” while walking through the door — all appearing very normal to the casual passerby. Or maybe he would turn away, just to place a quick kick on the door; a cheap lock or frame, and he is in. Most breakins are through the front door.

A heavyduty deadbolt with a one-inch bolt is good, but make sure the strikeplate is securely fastened to the frame. When a burglar enters, he will first look for possible exits. A lock that needs a key to open it from the inside could help trap a burglar, but some building codes ban them as a safety (fire) hazard. If all the trades contractors at a new house were given keys, changing the door locks could make sense. Sliding glass doors have their own vulnerabilities and security enhancements, but anything is only as secure as its installation. Chet told of visiting one house where the homeowner had wanted the door to slide open the other way; the installer obliged by taking it, out spinning it around, and installing it the desired way — Chet walked outside, had the homeowner lock the latch, and then Chet lifted the door out of its frame!

Commonsense appeared a number of time in the program. It is important to know your neighbors, so they can watch your place, and you can watch theirs. Although you might want to proudly show the shipping box, from your large television, on garbage day, it might be better if you cut it into small pieces. Alarm systems also were covered — your insurance company might give a discount if you have an alarm, but remember, the system keeps track of when it was turned on! Find out the amount of coverage actually provided by your insurance policy — the standard amount is small, maybe one to two thousand dollars. Are you covered while travelling to and from coin shows? While travelling, remember to be aware of your surroundings; maintain a low profile, and remove those show badges as soon as you can! There was more to this program than is covered in this short report, and there is more to security than could fit into this presentation; luckily for us, Chet provided a handout covering alarms, safes, and more.

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Show and Tell

Items shown at our June 11, 2014 meeting,
reported by Marc Stackler

1. Bob Leonard presented on red-feather money of the Santa Cruz Islands:
   1. One-foot-long segment and two detached platelets of red-feather money, from the Santa Cruz Islands (part of the Solomon Islands), circa 1950.One of the oddest of all Odd & Curious Money, red-feather money consists of a 30-foot coil of glued-together bird feathers: red feathers from the scarlet honeyeater bird, attached to those of pigeons. Each coil took up to 600 man-hours of work to make. They were used primarily to buy wives, at a price of 10 coils per wife. The pieces shown this evening came from a coil that was severely damaged by insects about a decade ago. Part was cut away and discarded by the collector, while the remainder was cut into foot-long sections.
   2. Bob also brought an article from Scientific American, March 1962, showing how red-feather money was constructed and used.
2. Eugene Freeman talked about 2 items:
   1. Haiti, 50 centimes, 1828. Eugene mentioned that during its earliest history as an independent nation, Haiti was divided into two regions, although this coin was struck after the country was unified.
   2. Photos of a “Texas Jola,” dated 1818, one of the very rare half-real coppers struck in San Fernando de Bexar (now San Antonio) under Spanish control. The coin belongs to Eugene and is on display at the Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin. The “jolas” (half-reales) were ordered struck and were redeemed in silver. Soon afterwards they were thrown in the river (presumably so the issuer (who was the postmaster) could avoid having to issue and redeem them again), where they remained undiscovered until 1939. Texas jolas are the only Spanish colonial coins struck in what became the continental United States, since at the time Texas was part of New Spain. On the reverse is a five-pointed star, thought possibly to be the precursor to the Texas “lone star.”
3. Jim Davis presented 3 items:
   1. Swiss, 1891 silver medal for the 700th anniversary of the founding of Bern (1191-1891).
   2. India, 1919 one rupee, possibly made with silver purchased from coins melted by the Pittman Act.
   3. Liberia, 2001 $10, gold-plated copper with a hologram of an American eagle.
4. David Crooks showed gold coins — $20 and $10 — from the Saddle Ridge hoard.
5. Ricardo Sequeira showed several items:
   1. 1894-S $20 from the Saddle Ridge hoard.
   2. Mexico, 8 reales cob under Philip V.
   3. Three Nicaraguan commemorative coins:
      1. 100 córdobas, 1912-2012 Centennial of the establishment of the Nicaraguan córdoba. In silver.
      2. Building of the Cathedral at Leon, Nicaragua. In silver.
      3. 50 córdobas, foundation of the Nicaraguan central bank, featuring the national flower and bird. In copper nickel.
6. Dale Lukanich brought in some paper money he acquired at a garage sale:
   1. Seven national bank notes, circa 1902 (five $5 and two $20).
   2. Two early Federal Reserve notes ($1 and $5).
7. Steve Huber showed four German thalers. To demonstrate grading standard differences between the US and Europe, Steve exhibited an 1862 Frankfurt Taler sold by Kunker as Proof and confirmed as proof by another highly respected German dealer. PCGS graded it as mint state. Steve also exhibited two Frankfurt double thalers, as comparison. While PL, the Frankfurt proof does not exhibit the brilliant mirror fields of US coins; it is PL, possesses a square rim, and definitive square lettering. PCGS grades in Paris by sending US graders. The fourth coin was a 1767 Nurnberg thaler graded by PCGS as MS66.
8. Bob Feiler brought items acquired in January, from Florida coin shops.
   1. Two early cigar box labels, embossed with gold coins.
   2. 1930 Lincoln cent pop-outs with pin backs, featuring an indian chief motif.
9. Rich Lipman went into the backgrounds on some items he brought in.
   1. Personages featured on some foreign notes:
      1. France, 500 francs, with a vignette of Blaise Pascal (mathematics).
      2. Croatia, 100 thousand kuna, of Roger Boscovich (atomic theory).
      3. Yugoslavia, 5000 dinar, of Nicola Tesla (alternating current electricity).
   2. Tokens
      1. One drachm apothecary weight. (8 drachms = 1 ounce).
      2. Toilet Token made for the Nik-O-Lok company.
10. Mark Wieclaw showed 3 coins:
    1. Attic Aegina, 480-446 BC stater with a sea turtle design on the obverse.
    2. Another stater from Attic Desina, 445-431 BC with a land turtle design on the obverse.
    3. Rome, silver denarius of Julius Caesar, 46 BC, brockage.
11. Chester Donati, our featured speaker of the evening, brought 2 recently issued commemorative coins: the baseball mitt, $5 (gold) and $1 (silver).

Minutes of the 2014 Chicago ANA Convention Committee

June 18, 2014

The eighth meeting of the 2014 Chicago ANA Convention Committee was called to order at 6:00 PM by Host Chairman William Burd on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 in the offices of Harlan J. Berk Ltd., 77 W. Washington, Downtown Chicago. The following members were present: Steve Zitowsky, Dale Lukanich, Marc Stackler, Jeff Rosinia, Eugene Freeman, Elliott Krieter, Robert Feiler, Mark Wieclaw, Paul Hybert, and Carl Wolf.

1. William Burd welcomed everyone to the meeting. Although Harlan Berk could not attend, he received a warm round of applause for providing the meeting site, parking vouchers, and hosting the dinner.
2. Committee Reports
   1. Pages — Elliott Krieter (Rich Lipman absent)
      1. YNs are signing up.
      2. Pages can begin as early as the Saturday August 2.
      3. Rhonda expressed to Bill the ANA would be okay with 10-15 total pages for the entire show.
      4. When the U.S. Mint makes special offers, pages cannot wait in line wearing their page vest.
   2. Scouts — Eugene Freeman
      1. Telephoning each Scout council to find the right person to email the flyers so they do not get trashed. The 5 Girl Scout Councils that cover Illinois have been contacted and have received flyers. Flyers have been sent to one Boy Scout Council; distribution to one of its districts has been delayed, due to Scout summer camp. 
      2. Flyers have been sent to the Central Region for Venturing Scouts (formerly called Explorers); they are planning to feature our event in their newsletter, which is emailed to 10,000+ Venturers and to councils in this area. 
      3. Flyers have also been delivered to the Park Ridge Library for distribution.
      4. Limiting the length of the Boy Scout Merit Badge Clinic is still a concern.
      5. Planning to email all who earned the Scouting at the ANA patch last year.
      6. Mark Wieclaw reported that Robert Greenstein said Harlan J. Berk, Ltd. closed their Oak Park location and plan to donate the “supplies” to the Scout program. Bill Burd and Eugene Freeman will follow up.
   3. Ambassadors — Carl Wolf
      1. Several volunteers emailed they will not be able to attend.
      2. More volunteers are still needed.
      3. Asked Bill Burd to review the convention budget to accommodate a room for two Floor Captains.
      4. Bill reported the U.S. Mint will offer the Gold Kennedy Commemorative coin at 11 AM on the show’s first day. After registering, those who wish to buy the coin need to form a line. This is going to require additional volunteers.
   4. Money Talks — Dale Lukanich
      1. Believes the lineup of speakers is nearly complete.
      2. There are still several openings for last minute applications.
      3. Has a good group of volunteers to help with introductions.
   5. Collector Exhibits — Paul Hybert
      1. Exhibit applications are on the ANA web site.
      2. Deadline is June 20, however ANA will accept more applications received a few days after.
      3. Set up is Mon August 4th Noon – 6PM, & Tues 7:30AM – 9AM.
3. Speaker Medals — Carl Wolf
   1. The ANA submitted a list of 29 speakers and programs, with more to follow, and medals are already engraved.
   2. Neck ribbons have arrived and are ready for attachment.
   3. Bill Burd will submit how many medals need to be engraved for the committee.
4. Bill Burd
   1. U.S. Mint release of the Kennedy Half covered under 2.c.iv.
   2. The ANA will conduct an Appraisal Service run by volunteers on Saturday, the last day. This was offered at the Atlanta Convention with positive feedback.
   3. Plans to conduct a Silent Auction during the Cocktail Hour/Banquet are progressing.
   4. Chairman photos are needed from Elliott Krieter, Eugene Freeman, Paul Hybert, Jeff Rosinia and Richard Lipman.
   5. Although the convention schedule is not finalized, it is already posted on the Web.
   6. The U.S. Postal Service will not attend the convention.
   7. There are 10 international mints scheduled to appear.
   8. Names were put forth who should receive an invitation to attend Chicago Coin Club sponsored events during the convention.

Respectfully Submitted,
Carl Wolf, Secretary
Chicago Coin Club

95th Anniversary Celebration — Patrons

The Club would like to extend their sincere appreciation to those who gave their support to the success of our 95th Anniversary celebration.

Our 1147th 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

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