• Contents of this Issue
  • Notes
  • Minutes of the 1226th Meeting
  • Women Personified as the Nation or Liberty on Coins
  • Criteria for the Richard Cabeen Award for Monthly Exhibiting Excellence
  • Exhibits
  • Minutes of the 2021 ANA World’s Fair of Money^® Host Club Committee
  • Upcoming Meeting
  • Important Dates
  • Chatter Matter
  • Share This Issue!
• Other Chatter Issues
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Chatter

Editor’s Notes

We seem to be adjusting to our online meetings. We sometimes have audio problems, but they might be fixed if more members used a headphone set with an attached microphone; that would break feedback loops, cut down the background noise, and help prevent each speaker’s voice from dropping.

With the cancellations of all large in-person numismatic events through the Spring, the ANA’s August convention might be the grand numismatic re-opening. If not, I hope we will not have to wait until March of 2022 – for the ANA’s National Money Show in Colorado Springs – for our first large in-person gathering. And remember, the ANA is scheduled to be in Rosemont in August 2022.

See you somewhere in 2021!

Paul Hybert, editor

Minutes of the 1226th Meeting

The 1226th meeting of the Chicago Coin Club was called to order by President Lyle Daly at 6:45 PM CST, Wednesday, March 10, 2021. Due to the pandemic shutdown, the meeting was online using Webex, with 27 members but rose to 36.

Club President Lyle Daly started the meeting asking for a motion to suspend the Order of Business giving the reason that our Order of Business, as outlined in the by-laws, was in conflict with current practice and it would be the intent to soon revise the club’s by-laws for this section. The motion was moved and passed.

Club Meeting Minutes and Treasurer’s Report

The February 10, 2021 meeting minutes were approved with this correction:
  The sentence
Discussion of if Club should purchase additional stock of the Medal of merit (M.o.M.) – Carl indicated they are readily available at multiple mints, so there is no risk of unavailability. Carl to call for quotes and cost savings on 5-6 unengraved M.o.M.
  Should read
Discussion whether the Club should purchase additional stock of the Medal of Merit – Carl said that the die was created 65+ years ago, and was used by many groups. When the original mint closed in the 1990s, the die was sold to another private mint. Two years ago they closed down and the die was bought by a third private mint. Carl to call for quotes and cost savings on 5-6 unengraved M.o.M.

Club treasurer Elliott Krieter reported for the February 2021 period – revenue of $300 from paid dues and an ATM error credit, and expenses of $2,786.34 for Medals. A motion to accept the report was made, seconded, and passed.

Guests and New Members

A second reading was made for Martin (Marty) Longo’s club membership. The membership was accepted by the club.

Old Business

1. Scott McGowan announced that CSNS had formally cancelled its 2021 Convention.
2. Elliott Krieter, ANA Convention committee chair, reported the committee will meet March 18, 2021 and plans are moving ahead, pending the pandemic. Member Marc Ricard initiated discussion about community talk on a possible location change for the ANA 2021 World’s Fair of Money(WFOM). ANA Governor and CCC member Shanna Schmidt indicated the show is still planned for Rosemont, Illinois. Scott McGowan indicated the ANA WFOM Volunteer form would be emailed to CCC membership soon. Shanna offered an invite for anyone to attend the ANA Board open session, and interested individuals should contact her for information.

New Business

1. Lyle Daly announced the authorized signers of the club checking account have been updated to the current club officers Lyle Daly, Elliott Krieter, and Scott McGowan.
2. John Riley discussed the Cabeen Award, specifically on the voting process and points structure.
3. Committee discussions
   1. Banquet Committee – Bob Feiler, John Riley, and Jeff Rosinia – more to come later.
   2. Technology Committee to explore virtual and live meeting integration. Deven Kane, Carl Wolf, and Steve Zitowsky reported they have yet to meet.
   3. Audit Committee – Mark Wieclaw, Bill Burd, and Steve Zitowsky – no report yet.
4. Lyle Daly reported on recent business by the club board regarding club histories (videos) of past members, a central Google Drive for club files, and a potential chat forum for club members.

General Announcements

1. Kagin seminars are coming up in March and two feature club member Robert Leonard.
2. The West Palm Beach, Florida coin club has resumed in-person meetings.
3. One session of the Newman Numismatic Portal Symposium in March will feature club member Shanna Schmidt.

First V.P. John Riley introduced the Featured Speaker, Deven Kane, who spoke on Women Personified as the Nation or Liberty on Coins.

Following a question-and-answer period, John announced Deven would receive an ANA Educational Award and engraved Club medal.

Second V.P. Melissa Gumm announced there were 5 exhibitors for the evening. A total of 6 presentations were given, due to one additional exhibitor during the meeting.

The next meeting will be April 14, 2021.

Lyle Daly adjourned the meeting at 9:16pm CST.

Respectfully Submitted,
Scott A. McGowan, Secretary

Speaker’s Wor[l]d
Women Personified as the Nation or Liberty on Coins

by Deven Kane,
presented to our March 10, 2021 meeting.

The inspiration for the symbol of “Liberty” on coinage stems from the ancient Roman goddess of freedom, Libertas. CCC member Deven Kane will take us on a fascinating exploration of the concept and varied portrayal of Liberty on world coins, from antiquity to the modern age.

This presentation provided a broad survey, covering 2,500 years, of coinage on which a female was the personification of the issuing country or of an idea such as liberty. The first four hundred years were covered by three styles of the same coin, a silver tetradrachm of Athens now known to collectors today as The Owl of Athens. One side features a helmeted bust of Athena, the patron of Athens, while the other side features a standing owl. The earliest coin, the classic design circa 510-500/490 BC, is well designed for the period, but the motifs are stylized; the coin circa 454-404 BC is better executed but motifs are more stylized; while the coin struck in 131/0 BC is well executed and has a realistic helmeted bust of Athena.

The personification of Rome during the Republic was known as Roma. The shown denarius of the Rome mint, from 140 BC, features a helmeted head of Roma on one side while the other side features Victory, holding reins and whip, driving a biga with ROMA below. Another silver denarius – of the Marsic Confederation, from 90-88 BC, during the Social War against Rome by Italian tribes – features the laurel-wreathed head of Italia. Once the empire was established, the emperors preferred their images on the coins – the emperor personified the empire.

Hadrian was one of the few Roman emperors to travel the empire during times of peace. Deven showed us silver and gold coins, all struck under Hadrian and with a bust of Hadrian on one side; the other side has a legend giving the name of a province and a figure or scene representing that province. These pieces were struck at the Rome mint from 130 to 133. We saw legends mentioning Italia, Hispania, Germania, Brittania, Gallia (Gaul), Africa, Asia, and some others. The personifications were shown standing, seated, and kneeling, but the small size of a coin means the figures lack personally identifiable details and characteristics. The personification of Mauretania (modern Morocco) holds two javelins and stands in front of a prancing horse on a bronze sestertius, so this figure might be male. The province of Egypt was special, in that it was the emperor’s property and not a Senatorial province; we saw coins with personifications of Egypt, Alexandria, and the Nile River; the last figure was male, because Nilus was a male river god.

The last gasp of the city goddesses in the Roman world came when the Empire had become Christian. We saw a Roma coin with a she-wolf nursing twins from Rome, and coins from Constantinople under Constantine; one of them features Christian symbols of an angel and a Chi Rho. Changing the focus to Liberty, Deven showed what might be the oldest coin with a personification of Liberty.

A shown electrum stater from the city of Kyzikos in Mysia features a female seated upon a rock, upon which is an inscription in ancient Greek which transliterates to eleutheria. This is the only stater from Kyzikos to bear an inscription, meaning liberty, so the intent is clear – to celebrate a liberation. Its presence in a hoard from about 334 BC ties this to Alexander’s first defeat of the Persians at the river Granikos, located to the south and west of Kyzikos; this victory liberated Kyzikos from Persian control. This very rare stater is the first coin struck as a direct result of Alexander’s campaign to conquer the world, predating even Alexander’s own coinage.

Liberty had an intermittent run on Roman coins, starting during the Republic; the name Libertas usually appeared on these coins. The Liberatores were the assasinators of the Dictator, and their intent was to support the Republic; the Dictator had been loved by the public, which was not happy with the rich families killing their hero. The Dictator is known to us today as Julius Caesar, and we saw coins issued by Liberatores such as Brutus and Cassius which feature or invoke Libertas. Cassius was the last Roman ruler not to use his bust on his coinage.

Deven showed a bronze coin issued by Marc Antony and Octavian in Thessalonica, Macedonia, with a bust of Eleutheria on one side and a standing Nike (Victory) on the other side. This coin, from the Second Triumvirate circa 37 BC, is from the transition to Empire. The next Roman Libertas coins we saw came from 69, the year of the four Emperors. After coins featuring a bust of Libertas (one of which reused the “twin daggers flanking a pileus” motif from Brutus’ EID MAR coinage) we saw coins of emperors Galba, Vitellus, and Vespasian which have a similar reverse: a standing Libertas holding a staff in one hand and a pileus in the other. We even saw some Eleutheria coins of that year.

“Be harmonious, enrich the soldiers, scorn all others” was the dying advice of Septimius Severus to his sons Caracalla and Geta. Caracalla had Geta murdered in their mother’s arms ten months later, so Deven called the appearance Libertas on Caracalla’s coins a farce. The last examples we saw of Libertas on Roman coins came in the 4th century, appearing on coins issued by short term emperors who were killed by their successors. As the empire became more Christian, the gods and goddesses, including Libertas, disappeared.

Deven skipped ahead to the late 1700s for his next coins – the first US coins which featured a bust of Liberty, and the shown ONE CENT coin even had a staff topped with a pileus on Liberty’s shoulder. The first slide had some US coin types into the 1800s, and his second slide carried on with types into the 20th century, ending with a Peace dollar. A separate slide, featuring the Saint-Gaudens $20 gold piece, also showed Hettie Anderson (one of Saint-Gaudens’ models), the Sherman monument (which has a similar striding Liberty figure), and related works of Saint-Gaudens.

Back in Europe, France experienced revolution in the late 1700s. Its coinage used a new year-numbering scheme and some denominations used a bust of Liberty, but here wearing a Phrygian cap (which is different than a pileus). Other denominations used a three-figure motif representing liberté, égalité, and fraternité. France saw a number of revolutions in the 1800s, some successful and some not. A famous painting of the 1830 revolution shows a woman holding the tricolor flag while leading armed men over the bodies of their fallen opponents – this is Marianne, liberty as the personification of France. Marianne has appeared on French coins in a range of styles over the years, even appearing on current Euro coins; one of the most famous styles is known as La Semeuse (the Sower).

The use of Liberty and related symbols was not limited to Revolutionary and then Napoleonic France. We saw slides of coins from a number of “sister” (although “puppet” might be more accurate) republics using a figure of Liberty, either alone or with another figure. These coins were from the Roman, Cisalpine, Venetian, Neapolitan and other republics sponsored by France. These examples of Liberty imposed by an external benefactor did not long survive. Deven concluded the French section of his presentation with a slide of Liberty on coins for the colony of French Indochina – although Deven saw irony here, the issuers of these coins were serious.

Slides of coins from South and Central America showed the use of Liberty starting at the end of Spanish colonies in the early 1800s. The latest coin was dated 1960. Although dies were made locally at the start, more French engravers were used as time went by, resulting in coins with a somewhat French style. The last replacement of a monarch with Liberty on coins was after the 1889 fall of the House of Braganza (Brazil and Portugal). Included on this slide was a 1912 Rupia of Goa (Portuguese colony in India) featuring a bust of Liberty wearing a Phrygian cap.

For the last group of slides, Deven returned to personifications of the issuing countries. First was Britain/UK, with coins featuring the figure of Britannia – the same name as used by the Romans, with the figure still holding a spear and with a shield nearby. The coins, dated from 1673 to 2001, used different styles of Britannia.

The 5 lats coin of Latvia, first issued in 1929, features the bust of a woman in local headgear. We saw a slide with a photograph of the original model (Zelma Brauere), artist drawings of her head in various positions, paper notes showing a complete figure in local garb and a more recent one using the bust as used on the 5 lats coin, and a 2014 2 Euro coin with a different rendering of the design. Definitely a well known motif in Latvia.

From Roman times, Hispania has been the personification of what now is Spain. We saw her in different styles on a number of denominations dated 1870, which mirrored the depictions of Hispania from the coinage of Hadrian, and then some denominations from the mid-1930s; one of these busts wears a Phrygian cap. Then we saw a 10 zloty coin of Poland with a bust maybe of Polonia, but others say it is of Queen Jadwiga even though she is not wearing a crown.

We saw a few 20th century Italian coins with different renderings of Italia, one of which is in the Italia Turrita style, named for the turreted crown she is wearing. From the late 18th century, coins of Switzerland have featured Helvetia, the personification of Switzerland, in different styles.

With St. Patrick’s day a week away, Deven concluded his presentation with Hibernia, the name used by the Romans although they never had invaded Ireland. A hammered coin featured a crowned harp, while copper 18th century coins featured the legend HIBERNIA and the figure of Hibernia next to a harp. Although the figure of Hibernia is not a popular icon now, the 2016 euro-denominated coins honoring the 1916 uprising feature the statue of Hibernia atop the Dublin Post Office.

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Criteria for the Richard Cabeen Award for Monthly Exhibiting Excellence

by John Riley

The “Show and Tell” portion of Chicago Coin Club meetings has long been a monthly fixture of the organization and was formalized into a good-natured annual competition in 1968. Richard Cabeen, long-time club member and hobbies columnist for the Chicago Tribune, donated $5000 to the Club; this amount was made into an Annual Award for Excellence in Exhibiting named in his honor – the annual award is to specifically recognize the qualities of visual appeal and a succinct, well-executed explanation of the item(s) being shown. Incorpoated now as Club Policy, Awards for presenters are given at the December banquet/awards meeting.

Ballots are distributed to all attending members in good standing on the evening of the meeting by the Second VP; presenters are to be graded on a scale of 1-10; a “10” being the highest score possible for an exhibitor. All votes are tabulated by the Second VP afterwards and an overall average score is tabulated each month throughout the year. Traditionally, there are no exhibits at the November meeting (Club Auction) nor in December (Awards and/or Banquet). In an effort to encourage participation and a balanced range of presenters, scoring has been “weighted” in recent years: an extra percentage point is added to presenters who participate in at least five meetings during the calendar year. An additional point is added for the sixth month and so on.

First and Second Place medals are awarded at the December meeting and, based on a point range within 10 percentage points of first place, two or three Honorable Mentions are typically recognized.

Show and Tell

Items shown at our March 10, 2021 meeting,
reported by Melissa Gumm.

1. Lyle Daly showed a Billon Stater of the Redones, circa 80-50 BC. This Celtic coin was of ancient Amorica, now modern-day Brittany in France. In Gallic, red means to ride a horse or a horse-drawn chariot, making Redones “chariot drivers” or horse riders. There are no words on the coin – the obverse features a stylized head of Apollo and the reverse a stylized anthropomorphic horse (a charioteer pony with a human head) with a rider and a 4-spoke wheel. The belief is that the 4-spoke wheel refers to Taranas, the Celtic god of thunder. A large hoard of these coins was found in June, 1835 – the “treasure of Amanlis”, approximately 10,000 coins, likely was hidden from advancing Romans.
2. Following in the topic of his program and celebrating women’s history month, Deven Kane showed a 2nd century denarius featuring the draped bust of Antoninus’ wife on the obverse and a scene of charity with 2 officials giving an award on the reverse. This coin commemorates Puellae Faustinianae (Girls of Faustina), a young women’s charity to educate girls from poor families, established by Antoninus in memory of his late wife, Faustina the Elder.
3. From his collection of cut coinage, Dale Lukanich showed a portion of a gold hemistater of the Celtic tribe known as the Aulerci Eburovices, from northwest Gaul – this coin is styled after a Greek stater of Alexander the Great. This is a demonstration of how, in ancient times, coins were viewed for their intrinsic value – the metal value of its gold, silver, copper, or lead – versus the denomination. A coin would be cut into pieces to give “change.”
4. Mark Wieclaw began with US quarters and ended with ancient coins.
   1. An 1893 Barber quarter with a three-line stamp of 3 17 02, which Mark believes is for the date March 17, 1902.
   2. A 1941 Washington quarter with VG counterstamped on it. Because the underlying coin grades Very Good, Mark humorously suggested the coin had been marked by the “No Frills” grading service.
   3. A silver antoninianus of Trebonianus Gallus (251-253AD) with a very sharp obverse but a weak reverse, featuring Victory, due to a worn reverse die.
   4. A silver antoninianus of Gallienus (253-268AD), struck at the Cologne mint – again, the obverse is very sharp while the reverse is weak.
   5. A Bronze coin struck at the Rome mint, with a tigress on the reverse. The reverse was struck with a clashed die, so parts of an obverse design are seen.
5. Rich Lipman showed paper items.
   1. Two partial sheets of $2 bills, one printed with number 1 front and back plates, and the other printed with number 2 front and back plates. The front and back plates are replaced as needed, so the front and back plate numbers of a note are less likely to match as more notes of a given design are printed.
   2. A hand-written 1795 check from the Bank of the United States (first), in Philadelphia; paying $1,250.00 to Robert Morris from Samuel Meredith (the second Treasurer of the United States).
6. Joe Boling showed two “North Africa” US silver certificates which were altered after the war. The notes usually referred to as “North Africa” notes (US silver certificates with gold seals on $1, $5, and $10 denominations) were used by US troops throughout the European theater during WWII. As usual, many of them leaked over into the civilian economies. When the war ended, large holders of these feared that they would be demonetized, and hit on the idea of removing the gold seals and replacing them with blue seals, converting the notes into ordinary silver certificates then circulating throughout the world. No other changes were made – such as converting the serial numbers into ranges not used with gold seals. Thus, the altered notes can be identified by checking the serial numbers against those used for the North Africa printings. There are minor differences in the treasury seals used on the altered notes that can be used for identifying them if a list of serial numbers is not at hand. The easiest “tell” is scrawny tails of the letters “R” in the altered seals.

Reminders:

• You can email to Melissa a description of what you will show at a meeting, to give her a start on this write-up.
• Send it to mjg513@yahoo.com.
• After a meeting, all members who viewed the meeting should email her their scoring sheet – a listing of each exhibit number followed by a score is all that is needed.

Minutes of the 2021 ANA World’s Fair of Money^® Host Club Committee

March 18, 2021

Meeting called to order by Host Committee chairman Elliott Krieter at 7:04pm CDT. Attendees: Elliott Krieter, Scott McGowan, Carl Wolf, Dale Carlson, Mark Wieclaw, Lyle Daly, John Riley, Jack Smith, Bob Feiler, Paul Hybert, Steve Zitowsky, Marc Charles Ricard, and Mike Gasvoda.

Elliott announced that discussions with ANA indicated “the show will go on” unless the Illinois Governor issues pandemic related orders which severely limit a gathering’s size. A review of Committee Reports followed.

Volunteers/Ambassadors: Scott McGowan reported the volunteer form has been sent to club membership; seven completed forms have been received. Committee suggestion to send/take the form to other club meetings, such as Will County Coin Club, Elgin Coin Club, and others.

MoneyTalks: Mark Wieclaw reported no updates; awaiting further information from ANA’s Sam Gelberd.

Pages: John Riley reported waiting on the Page application form from ANA; it is not yet listed on the ANA website. Many pages tend to be children of dealers, and pages sign up closer to the show date. All Page applications go to ANA headquarters, not to CCC.

Exhibits: Marc Ricard reported that the typical information (Exhibit application forms, space allotted, and other details) is not yet on the ANA website.

Youth: Jim Ray not present. Scott McGowan, who co-chaired Youth/Scouts in 2019, indicated that this area has come under more ANA direct control. In the past, working with Gene Freeman, the host committee would contact the local scout council that covers Rosemont (Pathways to Adventure Council) to gain written approval by council for a scout related event. This is required if ANA plans to do the Merit Badge Clinic. After such approval, the event is placed on the council’s calendar, and communications are sent to all BSA and GSA councils and other child related organizations promoting the event and encouraging advance registration so ANA can prepare supplies. Scott to transfer details to Jim.

The committee will also need to review the SCOUTING AT THE ANA patch and year segments, which we believe we have for 2021.

Harlan Berk has agreed to sponsor the volunteer shirts.

Our committee’s budget for the 2021 show is larger than the 2019 budget.

Elliott to inquire if ANA will allow our committee members to utilize the ANA staff room rate for convention hotels. It was noted that official convention hotel information is on the ANA website.

Elliott to discuss parking passes for convention volunteers. In 2019, we secured 100 single-day and 25 weekly passes.

Scott McGowan reported attending the ANA Board Open Session, and provided details of the motion to explore alternative sites for ANA WFOM 2021 if Covid restrictions prevent the show in Rosemont, Illinois. Motion did not pass, and comments were clarified that while CCC would be saddened if the show moved, the club would understand the circumstances.

Dealer Tables this year would be around 300, versus the usual 450, due to spacing needs.

Next committee meeting will be May 20, 2021.

Meeting Adjourned as call maximum limit was reached at about 7:45pm.

Scott A. McGowan,
Secretary, Chicago Coin Club

Our 1227th Meeting

Important Dates

Unless stated otherwise, our regular monthly CCC Meeting is online during the Covid-19 isolation era on the second Wednesday of the month; the starting time is 6:45PM CT.

Chatter Matter

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Club Officers

Correspondence

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
Payments to the Club, including membership dues, can be addressed to the Treasurer and mailed to the above address.

Payments

Renewing Members Annual dues are $20 a year ($10 for Junior, under 18). Annual Membership expires December 31 of the year through which paid. Cash, check, or money order are acceptable (USD only please). We do not accept PayPal. Email your questions to Treasurer.ChicagoCoinClub@GMail.com Members can pay the Club electronically with Zelle™ using their Android or Apple smart phone. JP Morgan Chase customers can send payments to the Club via Quick Pay. To see if your Bank or Credit Union is part of the Zelle™ Payments Network, go to https://www.zellepay.com Please read all rules and requirements carefully.

• The Club has registered the Treasurer.ChicagoCoinClub@GMail.com address with Zelle™ to receive payments.
• When you send a payment via Zelle™, we will receive a notification.
• Be sure to fill out the “What’s this for?” field – e.g., “Dues 2020 & 2021”
• Once the transaction completes, the Club will receive your payment typically within minutes, and you will know that the payment was received.
• Be sure to have your Location enabled on your phone for the transaction.

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