• Contents of this Issue
  • Minutes of the 1238th Meeting
  • How Numismatics Helped Rediscover a Forgotten Empire
  • Exhibits
  • Annual Member Auction
  • Minutes of the Chicago 2022 ANA Convention Committee
  • Upcoming Meeting
  • Important Dates
  • Chatter Matter
  • Share This Issue!
• Other Chatter Issues
  • Prior Issue
  • Next Issue
  • All Past Issues
• Contact Editor

Chatter

Minutes of the 1238th Meeting

The 1238th meeting of the Chicago Coin Club was called to order by President Lyle Daly at 6:46 PM CST, Wednesday March 9, 2022. This was a Hybrid in-person and online meeting, which was hosted by Deven Kane using the WebEx platform. Attendance at the meeting was 9 in person and 22 online for a total of 31 attendees.

President Lyle Daly opened the meeting with a statement of Hybrid Meeting Protocols.

The following points are an extract from the script we are using to improve our hybrid meeting experience. Please note the following minor changes that we will be making in how we conduct our meeting.

1. To avoid audio feedback, in-person attendees are asked to turn off their cell phones prior to entering the meeting room.
2. Just before the meeting is called to order, all remote attendees will be placed on mute. During the meeting, you must unmute yourself to comment or ask a question. You may also use the chat function online.
3. All in-person attendees making reports, such as treasurer, secretary, and committee chairs, are to come to the podium to make their statement.
4. All questions and comments from the in-person attendees must be repeated by the person at the podium.
5. Show and Tell will be categorized by in person and online exhibits.
   1. The individuals physically present, especially those commuting by train, should exhibit first and come to the podium.
   2. Remote exhibitors follow.

Club Meeting Minutes and Treasurer’s Report

The February 2022 meeting minutes were approved as published in the Chatter, both the printed version and the online version located on the CCC website.

Treasurer Elliott Krieter presented Treasurer’s report for the February period. Period Income $830.00 (Dues, Life membership); Expenses $2,647.00 (Medals, Webex software and Print and Postage expense); for a period total of $-1,817.00. The report was approved.

New Members and Communications

Secretary Scott McGowan introduced one guest, Mr. Tim Carollo, who was invited by Lyle Daly. No new member applications were received, and there were no communications by phone or email to the club.

Old Business

1. Lyle Daly repeated the reminder that CCC Annual Membership dues are due by March 1. Non-payment by March 1 means members are considered delinquent and subject to suspension per club by-laws.
2. Mention of our local ANA World’s Fair of Money committee meeting for March 16, 2022 at 7pm. Contact Steve Zitowsky or Dale Lukanich to join the meeting or committee.
3. Lyle Daly announced that the CCC February Board Meeting minutes are published in the March Chatter. Please review; the next Board meeting is in May. Key points from the meeting were secure online depository for CCC Documents, Annual banquet location, and date change for August Board meeting due to conflict with ANA WFoM.
4. President Lyle Daly discussed the importance of “Appropriate correspondence” by reading the statement he made in January, 2021.

On January 13th, 2021, my first meeting as president of the Chicago Coin Club (CCC), I cautioned members who are high profile, officers, and board members (both past and present) to carefully consider their communications and actions as they may reflect upon the Chicago Coin Club. That was captured in our minutes published in the February, 2021 Chatter.

The issue was recently highlighted in an email exchange with the Central States Numismatic Society (CSNS) regarding their advertisement in our Chatter for the upcoming convention. The relationship with the Central States organization is one that the Chicago Coin Club values, along with the ANA, ANS, ILNA, and all related numismatic organizations.

Board members, officers, and appointees are the only entities who can formally communicate with other organizations on behalf of the CCC. These individuals are aware that any communication that could be deemed confrontational should be routed through the office of the president and, if necessary, reviewed by the board prior to communicating.

CCC members who are members of other numismatic organizations, and are communicating with those organizations, are asked to clearly indicate they are members of that organization.

Obviously, this does not apply to inquiries about, or applications for, membership in other numismatic organizations.

I acknowledge we have freedom of speech but, what you say and do can negatively impact the club and its members. As a club, we support all efforts to promote numismatics through conventions, publications, and educational programs.

New Business

1. Club President Lyle Daly announced Chicago Coin Club has a new Life Member, past club president Dr. Richard Lipman.
2. Lyle Daly called for volunteers to staff the CCC table at the upcoming Central States Numismatic Society anniversary convention. Those interested in assisting should email the Club president or secretary.
3. A call for volunteers was made for the CCC Hall of Fame committee.

General Announcements

• ANA National Money Show on March 10-12, 2022 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
• ANA WFoM Host Club Committee meeting on March 16, 2022 at 7pm CDT.
• CSNS Annual Convention April 28-30, 2022 in Schaumburg, Illinois at the Renaissance Convention Center.

First V.P. John Riley introduced the Featured Program, Deven Kane on How Numismatics Helped Rediscover a Forgotten Empire. Afterwards, Second V.P Melissa Gumm announced the evening’s five exhibitors.

The next meeting, which will be the club’s annual auction, will be on April 13, 2022. Auction lots are settled, no more personal items will be accepted unless they are donated to benefit the club. All bidding will be in-person only, and members must pay and take won items that night.

Lyle Daly adjourned the meeting at 8:12pm CST.

Respectfully Submitted,
Scott A. McGowan, Secretary

Speaker’s Wor[l]d
How Numismatics Helped Rediscover a Forgotten Empire

a presentation by Deven Kane,
to our March 9, 2022 meeting.

By 1835 most of India had been conquered by the British East India company, a conquest that would be completed by 1849. East India Company officials and scholars started discovering strange inscriptions around the country that nobody could read as it was different from the Devanagari script used by many Indian languages. They were also discovering a wide corpus of coins – some with no text and punches, some with multiple local scripts, and some with Greek and other scripts.

While there were many scholars who assisted in the discovery of these mysterious scripts, James Prinsep (1799-1840), an official of the East India Company, and Christian Lassen (1800-1876), a professor of Indian languages and literature at the University of Bonn, took the lead in cracking the code.

In 1834, Prinsep visited an ancient column in Allahabad that contained an undeciphered inscription in what he called Script No. 1. While Prinsep was able to make deductions of the characteristics of the script as consonants with vocalic inscriptions, they were stumped at identifying the consonants. The breakthrough came in 1836 when Lassen deciphered a bilingual coin of the Baktrian King Agathokles. The King’s name was rendered in the singular genitive in both Greek and Prakrit (the ancient Indian vernacular) Agathuklayesa (in Script No 1: 𑀅𑀕𑀣𑀲) and Agathokles (Greek: ΑΓΑΘΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ i.e. of King Agathokles). The sya 𑀲 played a critical role in the next Eureka moment. After adding a few more letters from other Greek coins in 1837, Prinsep was able to use this knowledge to decipher the inscriptions at Sanchi.

Noticing two letters at the end of each inscription were always preceded on the left by the letter 𑀲 which the decipherment of coins had shown was the genitive singular – ssa in Pali and sya in Sanskrit – he postulated that this symbolized an offering. In Pali and Sanskrit the verb dana means to give. The noun form is danam. This shares the same Indo-European root as in latin – donare (to give) and donus (gift). With the clues adding up, Prinsep was able to decipher the rest of this script which he discovered was the script referred to in ancient texts as Brahmi. Simultaneously Princep, Carl Ludwig Grotefend, and Lassen in a series of papers between 1835 and 1838 deciphered the other script on Indo-Greek coins – Kharosti.

Prinsep discovered that almost every inscription at Sanchi and the other mysterious inscriptions began with the phrase Devenampiya Piyadasi spake thus. (The presentation then discussed how scholars went about identifying King Piyadasi.) Based on a variety of clues, including Sri Lankan sources, the ruler was identified as the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka – whose name appeared on regnal lists with little information about him. (The presentation then discussed the rise of the Mauryan Empire in the aftermath of Alexander’s invasion of Northwest India, the Mauryan conquest of most of India, Ashoka’s conversion to Buddhism following his brutal conquest of Kalinga, and how references to contemporaneous Greek Kings helped date the reign of Ashoka.) (The presentation then discussed the text on some of the edicts which contain exhortations from Ashoka to follow the Buddhist Dharma, and the location of the edicts all over India.) Interestingly for a monarch who had largely been forgotten until his rediscovery in the aftermath of the decipherment of Brahmi, Ashokan symbols are found in the wheel on the Indian flag and the official seal of modern India.

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Show and Tell

Items shown at our March 9, 2022 meeting,
reported by Melissa Gumm.

1. As collectors, many of us like to find tangible ways to link the past to the present while cross connecting it with mementos of our lives. Lyle Daly did just that with exonumia linking a hobby, a profession, and a family heirloom.
   1. A token from the Sylvania (Ohio) Savings Bank featuring an encased 1969-D Lincoln Cent, the obverse saying “Keep me and never go broke” and the reverse having the slogan “Who says we don’t give samples?” This token provides a reminder of weekends spent collecting fossils.
   2. A medal awarded to William J. Tobin, Lyle’s great-grandfather, by Winslow Brothers foundry. Winslow Brothers had been makers of architectural ornamental brass and iron until transitioning to munitions for the efforts of WWII. Several of Lyle’s family members were WWII veterans, leading him to believe that the umbrella stand of his childhood had been a souvenir brought home by one of them – until he saw the same object on the medal. The umbrella stand is actually from a 155-millimeter artillery shell that has had quite the travels.
2. Deven Kane showed two items.
   1. First an Islamic coin with “God is our Lord, Muhammed our Messenger, al-Abbas is our imam” inscribed on it. This is the only Islamic coin to refer to any part of Portugal by name and is presumed to have originated from a mint located at Niebla near the city of Huelva in Spain.
   2. From the Roman Republic, a Denarius of Rome, featuring a female draped bust facing right and wearing a poppy-head diadem and on the reverse a winged caduceus. The coin shows wear at the high points and is colorfully toned, a pleasing very fine.
3. Denise Kitchen showed her eclectic thrift store find. While visiting one of her regular haunts she found an old box which had gotten a price mark down intriguing her. Upon opening the box she discovered a bag of cowrie shells and a note – from the note it is thought the contents originated in India. The note goes on to explain that cowrie shells were the money of the poor classes – a value of 1/100 of a cent in our money at the time the note was written.
4. As we emerge from year 2 of the Covid pandemic, Mark Wieclaw found just the item to show how lucky we are not having had epidemic emergency money issued. Mark showed a silver emergency issue coin of Spain featuring, on the obverse, the coat of arms of Palma de Mallorca above the inscription “Health to the People” which was issued during the yellow fever epidemic of 1821. The reverse including the date and value, as well as four hand-done stamps. There is no good where or why to the issuance of this money.
5. Dale Lukanich showed a medal, obtained from the collection of a fellow club member, done in celebration of C.D. Peacock’s 100th anniversary, 1837-1937. This medal a 32mm brass round, produced in two sizes, features a small bit of steel from the store safe that survived the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

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.

Annual Member Auction

Here are the lots in our much-delayed member auction, postponed due to the Covid-19 shutdowns. The auction will be held near the start of the meeting, after a short time for lot examination. We might accept a few more lots at the meeting, but only for club-benefit lots.

The auction will be called from our in-person meeting room, and all lots must be picked up when the auction ends – that is when all accounts must be settled, too. If you wish to bid but will not attend in person, please make arrangements with a fellow member to bid for you, to pick up your won lots, and to pay for you. We do not know how well the remote-support capabilities of our meeting room will support remote bidders.

Estate of Nick Weiss

1. CCC 100th Anniversary (2019) banquet medal #83 of 150.
2. CCC 100th Anniversary 2020 Red Book – limited edition.
3. CCC 1000th meeting 5 oz. silver medal (#032 of 100) With booklet and elongated cent.
4. 500th meeting Barrel medal in copper.
5. 100th Anniversary Numismatic Treasure Bag with numerous items from the anniversary celebration including 1919 slabbed buffalo nickel and other treasures.
6. 90th Anniv. Standing Lincoln medal in copper (#033 of 100)
7. 90th Anniversary elongates, encased postage, and etched placard of 2009 Lincoln cents.
8. 2015 Standing Lincoln ANA medal in bronze - 47 grams - digitized color. Mintage 150.
9. Complete set of the Club’s Odd & Curious Souvenir Sheets 23 pieces. Scarce as a set.

Richard Hamilton Consignment

10. American Bank Note Company Archives series 1987 – 12 folio sheets with 96 vignettes – intaglio print.
11. ABNC 1989 – 12 folio sheets with 79 vignettes – intaglio.
12. ABNC 1990 – 12 folio sheets with 82 vignettes – intaglio.
13. ABNC 1991 – 12 folio sheets with 83 vignettes – intaglio.
14. CCC Perspectives in Numismatics 1985 - hard cover. Autographed by Saul Needleman.

Estate of Phil Carrigan

15. 500th Meeting Barrel medal in .950 silver. 99 grams.
16. 1962 Detroit ANA Convention 2 medal set.
17. 1998 Portland ANA Convention 2 medal set.
18. 1999 Chicago ANA Convention 2 medal set plus a sterling silver medal. 3 pcs total.
19. 2003 Baltimore ANA Convention 2 medal set.
20. 2007 Milwaukee ANA Convention 2 medal set.
21. Chicago Numismatic Society Nashville medal in silver. Includes damaged box. Scarce!
22. CNS Nashville medal in copper – from Virgil Brand estate.
23. 2008 Baltimore ANA Convention 2 medal set.
24. 2009 Los Angeles ANA Convention 2 medal set.
25. CNS Aviation medal in silver. Rare!
26. 800th meeting “Janus” medal.
27. S.D. Childs Souvenir medal – 1891 R-CHI-30. NGC AU55
28. Chicago Numismatic Roundtable – 1949 – 15th Anniversary “Good For” wooden token signed by 6 members.
29. 1948 Boston ANA convention medal w/ribbon.
30. 1942 Cincinnati ANA convention medal w/ribbon.
31. 1956 Chicago ANA convention medal w/ribbon.
32. 1999 Chicago ANA convention medal w/ribbon.
33. 2005 San Francisco ANA convention two coin set #15/150.
34. 3 different elongates – CCC Fall Festival 1961 plus one aluminum advertisement elongate for Leonard Stark.
35. 2001 Atlanta ANA convention silver medal.
36. 5 CCC Lincoln medals: 2011, 2013, 2015, plus a 2011 featured speaker medal, and a 2011 committee chairman.
37. 4 ANA and 3 CSNS convention medals assigned to famous Canadian numismatic author James Charlton and his wife.
38. 9 miscellaneous ANA convention medals w/ribbons – 1962, 64, 66, 70, 71, 72, 94.
39. 1944 CCC 25th anniversary Lincoln medal – silver.
40. Large group of elongates – various numismatic subjects.
41. 1965 CSNS convention 3 piece Lincoln medal set w/box.
42. 8 copper tokens – EAC and ANA.
43. 3 CCC Fall Festival tokens – 1959, 1961, 1962.
44. 3 CCC tokens – 1952 National Coin Week, 1952 – 400th Meeting, 1969 – 600th Meeting.
45. ANA membership medal in .999 silver – 11.9 dwt.
46. Detroit Coin Club – 1941 – 400th meeting sterling silver medal – 13.8 dwt
47. Two CCC 750th meeting elongates. One struck on a 1919 Walking Liberty half dollar and one on a 1981 Kennedy half.
48. 5 tokens – CCC 1959 Fall Festival, 1969 600th Mtg, 75th Anniversary pin, 900th mtg elongate, and CSNS 1965 conv.
49. 8 miscellaneous items associated with the ANA.
50. Various CCC 90th Anniversary souvenirs.
51. 8 miscellaneous items – ANA/CSNS/Etc.

Robert Feiler Consignment

52. 1965 CSNS convention 3 piece Lincoln set w/box.
53. Albert Einstein copper medal – ex. Harry Flower collection.
54. CCC 95th Anniversary Ferris Wheel Medal 6 piece Process set - Only 8 sets were produced.

Estate of Phil Carrigan - Books

55. The Ultimate Guide to Attributing Bust Half Dollars, 2001 by Glen R. Peterson,
    and Bust Half Fever 1807-1836, first edition 1995, Edgar E. Sounders.
56. Private Gold Coins & Patterns of the United States, by Donald H. Kagin, PhD, 1981.
57. United States Gold Patterns, by David W. Akers,
    and United States Patterns & Related Issues, by Andrew W. Pollock III, 1994.
58. Flying Eagle & Indian Cent Attribution Guide 1856-1858, 2001,
    and Indian Cent Attribution Guide 1900-1909, 2000, both by Richard Snow.
59. The Early Coins of America, Sylvester Crosby, Quarterman Publications, 1974,
    and U.S. Silver Dollars 1794-1803, by Jules Reiver, 1999.
60. Early Paper Money of America, by Eric P. Newman, 1976.

Minutes of the 2022 WFoM Host Club Planning Meeting

March 16, 2022

Attending: Steve Zitowsky (Chair), Dale Lukanich (Asst Chair), Lyle Daly, Greg Gajda, Carl Wolf, Dale Carlson, Mark Wieclaw, John Riley, Rich Lipman, Mike Gasvoda, and Scott McGowan.

Committee Chair Steve Zitowsky called the meeting to order at 7:01PM. Club President Lyle Daly read a statement about public comments and asked individuals to read the statement as published in the Chatter.

Steve Zitowsky reported on the ANA National Money Show in Colorado and that the promotion of the 2022 ANA World’s Fair of Money® (WFoM) at this show went well. CCC members distributed 125 printed copies of a 2-page list of “Chicagoland Things To-Do (not involving coins) in August” during the WFoM. 2,500 printed fiber coasters advertising the ANA WFoM were created and 500 were distributed at the Money Show. Discussions with the ANA indicated details about club meeting rooms during the WFoM are now posted to the ANA website; Parking Passes for Ambassador volunteers and the host club stipend should be about the same as 2021.

Zitowsky mentioned that at the NMS, he and another CCC member were approached by ANA management, regarding a comment to ANA management, by an unknown person, that the CCC host club responsibilities are stressful, and that the Club was “Burnt Out.” Both CCC members indicated that we are an interested and dedicated Club, looking forward to the August WFoM. At this Host Committee meeting, comments were made that we are excited, ready, and raring to go, and as such this should be expressed to WFoM ANA show committee.

Committee Reports:

Money Talks: Mark Wieclaw reported the April 30th deadline for proposals. Sessions will be Thursday and Friday August 18-19. Sundman Lecture Symposium speakers are still being sought with the theme of “Numismatic Art through the Ages.”

Collector Exhibits: No report, no committee members in attendance.

Ambassadors: Scott McGowan reported the Ambassadors list is the same as at the February meeting, and would be doing another call for Ambassadors soon.

Pages: John Riley reported that signed-up pages are ahead of this time last year and John Kent has been successful at several recruitments.

YN/Scouts Workshop: No report.

Members-at-Large: Mark Wieclaw volunteered to work on a souvenir card for the CCC meeting during the WFoM. Ideas could be CCC at the ANA, CCC 2022 Meeting, or CCC-NYNC Sheet for Short Snorter.

Further comments from the ANA’s Kim Kiick and Jennifer Ackerman indicated that now that the National Money Show is complete, they will ramp up specifics for the 2022 World’s Fair of Money.

No discussion on a joint club dinner with CCC and NYNC at this meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 7:33PM.

Future Meetings:

WFoM Dates:
Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, IL
August 15-20, 2022 (Monday-Saturday)
Note: Sunday, August 14 may be a workday for some!!

Respectfully Submitted,
Scott A. McGowan
Secretary, Chicago Coin Club

The “Chicagoland Things To-Do (not involving coins) in August” list is available online at http://www.chicagocoinclub.org/ANA2022TTD, or scan the QR code below.

Our 1239th Meeting

Important Dates

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

ANA Convention: Host Club Committee Meetings

Unless stated otherwise, these meetings will be online only.

Chatter Matter

http://www.ChicagoCoinClub.org/

Contacting Your Editor / Chatter Delivery Option

chatter_editor@yahoo.com

The print version of the Chatter is simply a printout of the Chatter webpage, with a little cutting and pasting to fill out each print page. The webpage 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.

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
Or email the Secretary at Secretary.ChicagoCoinClub@GMail.com
Payments to the Club, including membership dues, can be addressed to the Treasurer at the above street 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 2022”; or “Dues 2022 & 2023” to pay for two years
• 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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