Volume 67 No. 3 | March 2021 |
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The 1225th meeting of the Chicago Coin Club was called to order by President Lyle Daly at 6:45 PM CST, Wednesday, February 10, 2021. Due to the pandemic shutdown, the meeting was online using Webex with 32 members, but rose to 43.
Club Meeting Minutes and Treasurer’s Report
Old Business
New Business
General Announcements
First V.P. John Riley introduced the Featured Speaker, Steve Feller on A Journey to and from the Santo Tomas Internment Camp through Numismatics: A Tragedy in Manila.
Following a question-and-answer period, John announced Steve would receive an ANA Educational Award and engraved Club medal.
Treasurer’s Report
Second V.P. Melissa Gumm announced there were 8 exhibitors for the evening. A total of 7 presentations were given due to one exhibitor with connection problems.
First Vice President John Riley thanked Deven Kane for his hard work in making these online meetings happen.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:47pm CST by Secretary Scott McGowan.
Respectfully Submitted,
Scott A. McGowan,
Secretary
by Steve Feller,
presented to our February 10, 2021 meeting.
As was the case of enemy civilian internees throughout World War II, places needed to be found that were secure. One such place, out of dozens in the Philippine Islands, was the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. Over four thousand people were interned there, and the majority were Americans. This program will tell stories through surviving camp artifacts and other documents.
On Sunday, April 28, 2013, an Easter Mass that was first sung by Allied detainees in a Japanese internment camp in Manila 70 years earlier was performed in the town of Murwillumbah, far northern NSW, Australia. The choral concert was historic because it was only the second time the mass has been performed. Its original performance began at 10:30am on Easter Sunday, April 25, 1943, in the darkest days of the Pacific war, following the fall of Hong Kong, Singapore, and Manila, and the bombing of Darwin, Australia. The first concert was held in the Fathers’ Garden of the church on the campus of the historic University of Santo Tomas, which the occupying Japanese forces turned into a civilian internment camp.
The musical arrangement was written by Mario Bakerini-Booth, an accomplished trumpet player and band leader. After the camp’s liberation in February 1945 by American infantry, he smuggled the original folio to Sydney where he migrated with his wife, the singer Dorothy “Dolly” Baker. Years ago, Mrs Bakerini-Booth gave Mario’s handwritten score to fellow musician and friend Kel McIntosh, a saxophonist, music teacher, and life member of the Tweed Valley Jazz Club in Sydney.
Egyptian-born but of Italian descent, Bakerini-Booth was an accomplished classical trumpeter who studied music in Florence. He became a bandleader, playing jazz at leading hotels and nightclub venues across Europe in the 1930s. With the outbreak of war in Europe in September 1939, the band travelled to India and then Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) for an engagement at Colombo’s Galle Face Hotel. Pursuing work for the band, Mario and Dolly travelled to Shanghai where they formed an 18-piece orchestra which was booked for a lengthy season at Shanghai’s Cosmo Club on Bubbling Well Road. However, menacing world events intervened and, with the Japanese army poised to invade China’s commercial capital, Mario and Dorothy joined hundreds of expatriate Europeans to flee by sea. They caught the last British ship to leave Shanghai, the 4,000-ton steamer Anhui, and sailed south for Hong Kong, then a British Crown colony. They found Hong Kong’s harbour almost deserted and the wharves empty. With only a few hours’ notice, the 900 passengers were told they were sailing on to Singapore. On the second day of the journey, the captain announced they were heading east to Manila.
The events forcing Dorothy and Mario’s flight to safety were momentous. On December 8, 1941, the Japanese Imperial Army stormed the British and American sectors of Shanghai, known as the International Settlement. In the same 24 hours, the Japanese air force bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (December 7, 1941 on the other side of the international dateline) which brought the United States into the Second World War. When the passengers put ashore in Manila Harbor, they were already aware that Japanese forces had landed in the north of the country on the same day (December 8) and were heading towards the capital. However, they were taken by surprise by the speed of the advance. On January 2, 1942, the city surrendered and Mario and Dorothy were trapped. The foreign European population, mainly American and British businessmen, their wives and families, was rounded up and incarcerated in a civilian detention center at the University of Santo Tomas, a fenced campus of 50 acres. More than 4,000 civilians were herded into the main building, the gymnasium, and the domestic arts building which became their “home” for the next three years. This camp was one out of dozens in the Philippine Islands established for detainees.
Camp records show that there were 390 deaths among internees between January 1942 and March 1945. Official records show that male internees lost an average of 53 pounds during their 37 months of incarceration at Santo Tomas. General MacArthur entered the compound on February 7, 1945. Even the shelling by the retreating Japanese could not dampen the sheer jubilation of the internees. The liberation of the camp was followed by an exodus from Manila by internees anxious to return home. Mario and Dorothy Bakerini-Booth, each weighing about 70 lbs, joined a ship to Australia where they planned to start a new life. The couple made their way to Sydney, found an inner-city boarding house, and began to make some money from their music.
An article in the Sydney Morning Herald of April 9, 1945 provides a brief story from the camp:
Theatricals interned in the camp put on simple concerts, mostly song and dance, but the Japanese did not grin at the concerts. According to Mario and Dorothy Bakerini-Booth, the Japanese man lacked completely a sense of humor and an understanding of satire. “Perhaps it was just as well,” said Mario, “as in the Jingles we sang there was a jeer and a sneer in every line. We had quite a good time until one day an American-educated Japanese arrived with a new batch of guards. He saw through our satire and concerts were stopped.“
Using a map, some post cards, and items found on eBay, Steve illustrated the above story arc of one couple’s experience. The experiences of a few others were covered in shorter arcs, to fill in details. While no distinct currency is known from Santo Tomas, monthly meal tickets have survived from February, 1942 to January, 1944. Steve showed a December, 1942 meal ticket for Dorothy, good at the Central Kitchen, as well as her health certificate from the Public Health Department of the Shanghai Municipal Council, dated 29 November 1941. Also acquired on eBay was an accumulation of paper items, including named meal tickets and ration cards, kept by Thomas Fenstermacher who was a room monitor in the camp; other items included a filled-in room call-call form for November, an awarded weekly certificate for the cleanest room in the camp, notices to internees, notices to room monitors, and blank forms to be used by room monitors. A careful reading of these last few items yield prices and item availabilities. The online newspaper accumulations are a great source of information – Steve showed a clipping with the part of the tenth and eleventh War Department lists of liberated internees which shows “Fenstermacher, Thomas Harvey, Reading Pa.” and then Steve matched a picture of five emaciated seated internees with its use in The Evening Star of Washington, DC on February 24, 1945.
The money used in the Philippine camps was not specific to a camp – it was the now-common Japanese Invasion Money (JIM), officially known as Southern Development Bank Notes, with all writing in English: THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT and the denomination as Centavos or Pesos. Steve showed pictures of a range of denominations, and then showed images, from soon after liberation, of US personnel with piles and crates of it – in one, a bulldozer is moving stacks of crates prior to their burning. Examples of JIM are readily available on eBay; Santo Tomas meal tickets are offered at high prices, so know what an genuine one looks like; and now and then an estate sale might have an accumulation of items.
CSNS Convention | Chicago Coin Company |
Harlan J. Berk, Ltd. | Kedzie Koins Inc. |
Items shown at our February 10, 2021 meeting,
reported by Melissa Gumm.
Reminder: 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.
January 28, 2021
The Second meeting of the Chicago 2021 ANA Convention Committee held an online meeting on Thursday, January 28, 2021. Elliott Krieter, Host Chairman, called the meeting to order at 7 PM (CST). Over 12 people logged into the meeting.
Attending: Jeff Amelse, Bob Feiler, Mike Gasvoda, Paul Hybert, Deven Kane, John Kent, Denise Kitchen, Elliott Krieter, Jim Ray, Marc Charles Ricard, John Riley, Mark Wieclaw, and Steve Zitowsky.
Per the ANA Web Site, the ANA Convention Dates are August 10-14, 2021, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois.
Elliott welcomed all meeting attendees to the second official meeting of the Host Club Committee for planning the ANA 2021 World’s Fair of Money. Chairman Krieter announced, for the benefit of anyone who was new to this committee, that many members of this committee have done this more than a few times and all will work out well, even though we still have the pandemic to deal with. Tentative future meeting dates were announced: March 18, May 20, and July 15.
Volunteer Committee: Chaired by Scott McGowan with Jeff Amelse as Asst. Chair.
Money Talks: Chaired by Mark Wieclaw with Asst. Chairs Rich Lipman and Bob Feiler. A discussion was held with concerns that there were no applications available on the ANA website. We will contact the ANA and find out the status of applications.
Pages: Chaired by John Riley with John Kent Asst. Chair.
Collector and Gallery Exhibits: Chaired by Marc Ricard with Paul Hybert Asst. Chair. A discussion was held with concerns that there were no applications for exhibits available on the ANA website. We will contact the ANA and find out the status of applications.
Scouts: Chaired by Jim Ray.
Meeting discussions shifted to the volunteer shirts. Mike Gasvoda (CNG) offered to do shirt sponsorship if no local dealer could be found. Chairman Krieter stated that he will review what we did in the past and contact local dealers to see if there is interest.
Honorary Chairman still needs to be determined.
The meeting was ended at 7:45. The next meeting will be on March 18, 2021 at 7 PM.
Elliott Krieter,
Host Club Chairman
Chicago Coin Club
February 17, 2021
The Chicago Coin Club Board met February 17, 2021 via web hosted video conference. President Lyle Daly called the meeting to order at 6:02 PM with all Board members present except Jeff Rosinia.
Carl Wolf reported on the status of Speaker’s medals for 2020. They are ready to go. The accompanying certificates need signatures, which was recommended to be Lyle Daly as past First VP in charge of 2020 Speakers. The 2020 Cabeen medals are also ready. Board members Mark, Steve, Lyle, and Bill will meet at Chicago Coin Company Thursday February 25, 2021 at 10:00 AM to mail out last year’s awards. Carl also reported that the additional purchase of Speaker medals are in with ribbons attached.
The ANA 2021 convention committee reported the 2021 convention is scheduled for August 10-14, 2021. Harlan J. Berk has agreed to sponsor the Volunteer shirts and offered his office space for committee meetings when in person meetings are deemed safe. The question of ANA convention cancellation is unknown, but experience has shown it usually happens 45 days prior, to coincide with travel cancellations. Mark Wieclaw emailed Sam Gelberd, ANA Numismatic Educator, about speakers and found speaker presentations will take place on Thursday and Friday. Carl Wolf indicated we have 43 blank speaker medals in stock with no name or date, ready to go. The committee should investigate options for a joint banquet again with the New York club.
It was decided that the 2020 November Auction will be combined with the November 2021 Auction.
A discussion about the December CCC banquet indicated that Sharon Blocker usually handled the coordination and Bob Feiler worked with her. We will establish a committee to research and plan a December 2021 CCC Banquet, without making commitments until closer to the date to gauge Pandemic impact. A call for committee volunteers will be made at the March club meeting to begin work in June.
In-person meetings discussion indicated that it is still dependent on the Pandemic, local orders for gatherings, availability of the Chicago Bar Association space, and the comfort of members to attend. All the mentioned factors will be monitored for future decision. Rich Lipman offered to serve as a medical advisor for the appropriateness of return to in-person meetings. The Chicago Bar Association is expected to reopen in une/July – Scott will monitor. Security in the downtown area was also discussed, however no resolution was made. Mark Wieclaw suggested a poll of the membership to determine who and how many members would be comfortable returning to in-person meetings. It was generally decided that this would be appropriate, however we should wait until vaccinations have progressed significantly further.
A discussion of maintaining online meetings as part of future in-person meetings lead to formation of a committee to explore the options. The Board approved a committee of Carl Wolf, Steve Zitowsky, and Deven Kane.
The Chicago Coin Club bank account requires signatures be changed to current officers, namely Elliott Krieter, Lyle Daly, and Scott McGowan. Current treasurer Elliott to research process with Chase Bank.
Discussion of the Annual Audit of the Chicago Coin Club as per the by-laws established a committee of Mark Wieclaw, Bill Burd, and Steve Zitowsky with assistance from Elliott Krieter. The committee will meet at the Chicago Coin Company offices to complete audit before the March Club meeting deadline.
A proposal to publish the monthly Treasurer’s report in the Chatter. This is not required of 501 C(7) fraternal organizations. It was decided that rather than publish in the Chatter, the Treasurer’s report would be sent with the Club’s online meeting invite each month. The discussion to publish the year-end financial report in the Chatter indicated the publication of all annual Income and Expenses and account balances.
Discussion of a centralized membership list, to which authorized Board members have access, would benefit the Treasurer, Secretary, and Chatter Publisher with the most up-to-date member list for emails and mailings. The board decided this would be established by the Treasurer and held on the Treasurer’s shareable GOOGLE Drive.
Discussion whether 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 availability. Carl to call for quotes and cost savings on 5-6 unengraved M.o.M. for stock. Mark Wieclaw mentioned he was working on ideas for a 1300th club meeting despite it being 6+ years away.
A proposal was made to set up a GOOGLE VOICE phone number for the club, to be used for publication listings. This number could then stay consistent as Board officers change. The number would forward and text to the Club Secretary to handle or bring to the Board, based on the nature of the call.
Discussion of the Chicago Coin Club History interviews of past members and if/how to publish. Discussion on whether to edit and place on website or CDs. Where do we see these winding up, and who is our audience? Publishing to the NNP would give a broader audience. Lyle Daly to contact David Lisot as a possible source for a quote on editing the histories. Further discussion on moving forward with new histories indicated we should. Carl indicated that, when he started, he started with a common list of questions for all interviews. We should establish a History committee to formulate who to interview and create the question list. Lyle Daly indicated this should start with the Hall of Fame Committee taking on the continuation of interviews.
A proposal was made to create an online chat forum for Chicago Coin Club members to continue engaging on all topics Numismatic using a service like Discord or Slack. The board approved moving forward with research, with attention to security, cost, and rules of engagement. The Forum would be called Chicago Coin Club Chat.
Discussion of the Order of Business in by-laws should be reorganized. Lyle Daly to redraft the Order of Business review at the March Club meeting, publish in the April Chatter, and hold the Club vote at the April meeting.
The request for Chicago Coin Club nomination of member Joseph Boling for ANA Vice President was made and approved.
Discussion about publication of the Club by-laws on the Club website resulted in the decision not to publish, but to make the document available by email, upon written request to the Club Secretary. This discussion also noted that the last by-laws update, prior to the recent change to the Life membership, was in 2012.
The Board discussed publication of the Cabeen Award points policy on the website. It was decided that both the points policy and award history should be published on the website, and more communication about the award was needed to all club members. John Riley to review points policy for publication, and Carl Wolf will provide Cabeen history for publication. Board also decided we should display the Cabeen medal image and rules on the screen at online meetings before monthly presentations.
A summary of the Chatter publication numbers was presented: 54% are mailed and 46% are sent by email link. Each emailed link saves the Club $0.55 - $0.75 mailing cost plus the $0.50 - $0.70 print cost. We mail five complementary copies (Elgin CC, Coin World, ANA, ANS, and Active Interest Media [Previously Krause]). An email link is also sent to ILNA. CSNS was sent in the past but emails were returned; we will change the CSNS email to CSNS editor. Currently, we do not mail Chatter to the Newman Numismatic Portal – past Chatter issues are supplied to the NNP for scanning by the Club archivist.
Discussion on annual advertising contracts for the Chatter. We have 4 full page ads that are the same in each issue except for CSNS which has convention related dates. Annual contracts run from the June issue to the following May issue. Members receiving an emailed link to the online Chatter see the advertisers’ names as links to the business sites. Carl to follow up on recent contracts before passing to new Secretary.
Mark Wieclaw shared the actual Medal of Merit on the screen, to lots of oohs and aahs.
The motion to Adjourn was made by Carl Wolf, and Lyle Daly adjourned the meeting at 8:31PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Scott A. McGowan
Date: | March 10, 2021 |
Time: | 6:45 PM CST (UTC-06:00) |
Location: | Online Only!
Visit our Online Meeting webpage, at www.chicagocoinclub.org/meetings/online_meeting.html, for all the details on participating in an online club meeting. Participation in an online meeting requires some advance work by both our meeting coordinator and attendees, especially first-time participants. Please plan ahead; read the latest instructions on the day before the meeting! |
Featured Program: | Deven Kane —
National Women’s Month: “Liberty Marches Forth”
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. |
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.
March | 10 | CCC Meeting - Featured Speaker - Deven Kane on National Women’s Month: Liberty Marches Forth |
April | 14 | CCC Meeting - Featured Speaker - Bob VanRyzen on The Chicago Coin Club’s Connection to the 1913 Liberty Nickel |
April | 22-24 | 82nd Anniversary Convention of the Central States Numismatic Society at the Schaumburg Renaissance Hotel & Convention Center, 1551 North Thoreau Drive, Schaumburg, IL. There is a $5 per day admission charge, but admission is free for CSNS Life Members. For details, refer to their website, http://www.centralstatesnumismaticsociety.org/convention. |
April | 24 | CCC Meeting - 1pm at the CSNS Convention,
which is held at the Schaumburg Convention Center.
No admission charge for our meeting.
Featured Speaker - to be announced |
May | 12 | CCC Meeting - Featured Speaker - Madeline Rodriguez on Observations Around the Composition and Changes to the U.S. 10- and 25-cent Coins, 1793 to Present |
June | 9 | CCC Meeting - Featured Speaker - to be announced |
July | 14 | CCC Meeting - Featured Speaker - to be announced |
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should be addressed to the Secretary and mailed to:
CHICAGO COIN CLUB
P.O. Box 2301
CHICAGO, IL 60690
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