• Contents of this Issue
  • Minutes of the 1253rd Meeting
  • Jeffrey Paunicka (1954-2023)
  • The Two Sides of a Bosnian Bill: The Story of a Divided Country
  • Exhibits
  • Upcoming Meeting
  • Important Dates
  • Chatter Matter
  • Share This Issue!
• Other Chatter Issues
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Chatter

Minutes of the 1253rd Meeting

The 1253rd meeting of the Chicago Coin Club was called to order by President John Riley at 6:45 PM CDT, Wednesday June 14, 2023. This was a hybrid in-person and online meeting. Attendance at the meeting was 14 members and 23 online, for a total of 37.

Club Meeting Minutes and Treasurer’s Report

The May 2023 meeting minutes were approved as published in the Chatter, both in print and on the CCC website. Elliott Krieter gave the May period treasurer’s report, detailing $20.00 revenue (dues) and $297.00 expenses (Chatter expense, CBA room rent) for a period total of -$277.00. The May report was approved by the club membership.

New Members

Scott McGowan did the second membership application reading for Richard Hathaway, and the club voted to approve membership.

Old Business

1. President John Riley announced the committee for “Future Projects” is established with Mark Wieclaw as chair. The committee has several CCC board members but is looking for other non-board club members to join. The “special projects” committee will work with the board for creative ways to use the club treasury for the betterment of the club membership. Any club member with ideas on how to use the club treasury for projects should discuss them with Mark.
2. John Riley announced the CCC board has received 3 quotes for Directors and Officers (D&O) insurance for the club board. This type of insurance covers board members acting in the capacity of the club at events and in other situations. John indicated that the board will make a decision by the August board meeting. Member Noah Graf inquired about the policy’s coverage value, and added some legal information. Member Rick Ewing added that he is involved with two other numismatic organizations that both have D&O policies and he definitely recommends it.
3. Legacy Project committee: Lyle Daly reported the committee was working with raw video footage from past interviews. He praised Leonard Augsburger and Lianna Spurrier from the Newman Numismatic Portal (NNP) for their work on finalizing for publication the interview with Mark Wieclaw. The Wieclaw video can be seen on the NNP at https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/628116
4. A Virtual Symposium between the CCC and the NYNC is still in the works. The symposium would include 30-minute presentations, one from each club and would be online. Any club member interested in doing a presentation should contact John Riley or Scott McGowan. Target date for the first symposium is Fall, 2023.

New Business

1. A moment of silence was observed for CCC member Jeffrey Paunicka who passed May 18, 2023. A moment of silence also observed for Stephen Bobbitt who passed May 28, 2023. Stephen was past PR director for the ANA and husband of past ANA Numismatist Editor Barbara Gregory. Carl Wolf circulated CCC sympathy cards for members to sign to send the families.
2. The club celebrated the announcement that CCC member Joe Boling has been selected for the ANA Hall of Fame.
3. John Riley announced that the CCC, as a club member of the ANA, has received the official ballot to vote for new ANA officers. The recommendation was to cast the club’s votes for CCC members running for offices.
4. 2024 World’s Fair of Money: Dale Lukanich, host chairperson, reported that committee chairs had been set but the committee was still looking for assistant chairs for the Pages and the Young Numismatists committees. Anyone wishing to volunteer would contact Dale at wxpro15@outlook.com
5. Annual holiday banquet held in December on the club’s regular monthly meeting date requires a planning committee. Committee members research location options, then menu details after the club approves the venue. The club needs three to four volunteers for the banquet committee. Please contact John Riley or Scott McGowan if you are interested.

Featured Program

Tyler Rossi on The Two Sides of a Bosnian Bill: The Story of a Divided Country.

Show and Tell

Second Vice President Deven Kane announced there were seven Show and Tell presentations.

Announcements

ANA World’s Fair of Money at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on August 8-12, 2023.

The next meeting will be July 12, 2023 at 6:45pm CDT, at the Chicago Bar Association.

John Riley adjourned the meeting at 8:35pm CDT

Respectfully Submitted,
Scott A. McGowan, Secretary

Jeffrey Paunicka (1954-2023)

Jeffrey Paunicka of Ogden Dunes Indiana passed on May 18, 2023; he was 69 years of age. Jeffrey became member number 1243 when he joined the Chicago Coin Club in November 2014.

Jeffrey was a member, current or past, of many numismatic organizations including the American Numismatic Association (ANA), Illinois Numismatic Association (ILNA) life member and past governor, Central States Numismatic Society (CSNS), Professional Currency Dealers Association (PCDA), Indiana State Numismatic Association (ISNA) current governor, International Bank Note Society (IBNS), and The Society of Paper Money Collectors (SPMC) all as noted on his Chicago Coin Club Application.

Additionally, he was a member of the Michigan State Numismatic Society (MSNS), Missouri Numismatic Society (MNS), Florida United Numismatists (FUN), Indianapolis Coin Club (ICC), Calumet Numismatic Club (CNC), Good Fellow Coin Club (GCC), and Marion Coin Club (MCC).

Jeffrey was a well-known coin dealer with Insight3 Professional Numismatic Services in Portage, Indiana. He also had a great interest in fostering numismatic interest with the youth. The announcement of Jeffrey’s passing in the E-Sylum used a photo which Jeffrey had forwarded in March 2023, a photo showing a very successful Youth Night with 17 new YNs at the Calumet Numismatic Club.

At the time of joining the CCC, Jeffrey collected US Currency, Bullion, Coins, and Bahamas currency. Jeffrey attended John Carroll University, graduating in 1976 (BS, Chemistry/Mathematics), and received his masters from the University of Notre Dame in 1987 (MBA, Business Administration). In addition to his numismatic passions Jeffrey enjoyed deep sea fishing, snorkeling, flying planes, pocket watches, John Deere, investing, car restoration, and making model planes and boats.

He is survived by his wife, Cathy Menclewicz-Paunicka; children: Jackie (Benjamin) Paunicka-Ferguson, Julie (Chris) Paunicka-White, John Paunicka, Jennifer Paunicka and his beloved, best friend and last child Keno; brother, Joseph (Nancy) Paunicka; step children: Douglas (Jennifer) Menclewicz, Ross (Stacia) Menclewicz; and numerous grandchildren, nieces, nephews and other relatives.

Services were held in May. Expressions of sympathy can be directed through the Burns funeral home at www.burnsfuneral.com

Speaker’s Wor[l]d
The Two Sides of a Bosnian Bill: The Story of a Divided Country

by Tyler Rossi,
presented to our June 14, 2023 meeting

While in Bosnia some years ago, Tyler noticed tht the paper money came in two styles – this presentation told their story. Bosnia is one of the countries formed as the parts of Jugoslavia split off, so Tyler first showed some Jugoslavian notes from the 1990s.

Until his death in the late 1980s, Josef Tito had held Jugoslavia together; his successors failed to continue that tradition. The second-longest preiod of hyperinflation in history soon engulfed Jugoslavia, peaking at an official monthly inflation rate of 313,000,000%. Tyler showed a 10,000,000,000 dinar note from the 1992-’93 series, which had ten denominations from 100,000 to 10,000,000,000 dinars – he also passed around a 5,000,000,000 dinar note of that series.

At the time, Jugoslavia had the eighth largest army in the world, with more than 80% of its budget going for the military and police. There also was massive corruption, with one example being the nearly 1.4 billion dinars of credit which Slobodan Milosevic had secretly ordered the Serbian National Bank (a regional central bank) to issue – this went to political cronies, and then just vanished. That was more than 50% of the total amount the National Bank was planning to print in 1991; such activities only encouraged the efforts of Croatia and Slovenia to break away. By December of 1993, 95% of all spending was fimamced with newly printed bills. Between January 1991 and April 1998, the dinar was devalued 18 times (22 zeroes were removed all together).

A 1994 Series of notes, also known as the October Dinar, consisted of seven denominations from 10 to 10,000,000 – it lasted only weeks. In another move, the dinar was devalued in 1994 with the new series called the “First Currency Reform Series” or “Novi Dinar.”

After that background information, Tyler turned his attention to Bosnia. The official name of the country is Bosnia and Herzegovina; the country consists of two entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (mostly ethnic Croats and Bosniaks) and Republika Srpska (mostly ethnic Serbians).

From 1992 until 1998 the Bosnian Dinar was Bosnia’s official currency. Banknotes of various denominations all featured the same design element, the Bridge at Mostar. Coins were introduced in 1998, and the circulating money consisted of Bosnian Dinars, Jugoslavian Dinars, Croatian Kunas, and German Marks.

In places experiencing cash shortages, local provisional emergency money was issued. The same basic note was used, but it was rubber stamped for each city where it was issued. Some notes were redenominated, either by adding trailing zeroes, or stamping a complete value. Groups known as SDK (“payment bureaus” or “social bookkeeping agencies”) were involved; stamps on the notes indicate the branches of the SDK that were involved issuing the emergency money.

In 1998, notes were introduced in denominations of 50 fenings, KM 1, KM 5, KM 10, KM 20, KM 50, and KM 100. A KM 200 denomination was introduced in 2002, and the three smallest denominations were withdrawn later. A neutral name, the Bosnian Convertible Mark, was the basis — it is abbreviated BAM internationally and KM internally. The issued currency was to be backed by an equal hard currency deposit in German Marks; it was pegged to the Euro in 2002, using the German mark’ exchange rate to the Euro at the euro’s introduction.

According to Warren Coats, a U.N. official, the design process had controversy – the Federation proposed an unobjectionable design, while the Republika submitted a more imflammatory design; the Republika returned with a series depicting the faces of writers on one side and art objects on the other, and the Federation suggested a strident one (a scene of the Battle of Kosovo, with Serbs fleeing from Turks). A French company was contracted to design a bank note that would look a bit like a German mark and to leave blanks for faces and objects on each side.

The result is a split set (with same colors, fonts, and design) where the Federation notes mostly use Croat figures and place latin legends above the corresponding cyrillic legends, while the Republika notes mostly use Serbian figures and place cyrillic legends above the corresponding latin legends. These notes are spent interchangeably. Tyler said the KM 200 piece has a unified design.

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Show and Tell

Items shown at our June 14, 2023 meeting,
reported by Deven Kane.

1. Melissa Gumm showed two pieces from The Merchants & Planters Bank of Savannah, Georgia. Chartered in 1854, as of 1857 it had capital of $521,000 and real estate of $12,309. The first president was Hiram Roberts and the first cashier was Augustus Barie. There was an additional branch in Americus, Georgia as well as an earlier unrelated branch in Augusta, Georgia. The designs offer a variety of brightly colored, attractive notes – one of the things that drew me to them.
   1. A $1 note with a red “ONE” overprint, from Danforth Wright & Co. Vignettes include Benjamin Franklin in the lower left corner; horses and wagons, looks like a wagon train, in the center; and a train in the right corner. There are four varieties of this $1 note, each with subtle differences.
   2. A $5 note with red-orange “V” and highlights of certain features, from American Bank Note Company. A steam ship on the top left; Justice and Liberty, flanking a shield with an eagle, on the top center; and a train on the right. There are three varieties of this $5 note.
2. Tyler Rossi showed items from Jugoslavia.
   1. A keychain purchased at the House of Flowers, Tito’s presidential residence and tomb in Beograd, in 2020. Its fob appears to be a 50 dinar coin, but it is a cast piece, based on a real coin.
   2. The real coin is a silver 50 dinar coin, issued in 1968, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Socialist Republic of Jugoslavia. The emblem of Jugoslavia is centered on the obverse, while a bust of Tito is centered on the reverse. This coin and a 20 dinar coin were issued in a red vinyl pack.
   3. A silver 20 dinar coin, issued in 1968, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Socialist Republic of Jugoslavia. The emblem of Jugoslavia is centered on the obverse, while a group of partisans waving flags is centered on the reverse.
3. Deven Kane showed three coins on a range of themes.
   1. A very rare bronze follis from Antiochia, July of 326. A draped bust of Fausta, Augusta (324-326) wearing a single pendant earring and pearl necklace appears on the obverse, while the reverse has FLAV MAX / FAVSTA / AVG / SMANTA in four lines. Light deposits and with minor roughness on the obverse; otherwise, very fine. From the collection of Dr. L. Ramskold, ex Roma E-Auction 44, 3 March 2018; lot 807 (the lacquer coating and some deposits removed since). Examples for Fausta are the rarest of all Antiochene dynastic bronzes. Evidence from other mints and emissions indicate that an equal number of coins were struck at the time for Helena and Fausta, but that more examples for Helena have been preserved. Based on material from the mint of Constantinopolis, Ramskold (aborted production (2020b), p. 239 and Table 5) proposed that the imbalance was due to withdrawal of coins for Fausta after her death and damnatio memoriae. The same imbalance is seen in the dynastic bronzes, with 36 examples known for Helena versus 25 for Fausta.
   2. A lead seal, from when seals imitated coins, of Romanus IV Diogenes, with Eudocia, Michael VII, Constantius, and Andronicus (1068-1071). This seal is 31 mm in diameter, and weighs 30.66grams. The obverse shows Christ, nimbate, standing facing on a square dais, crowning Romanus IV and Eudocia, who both hold a globus cruciger. On the reverse, Constantius, Michael VII, and Andronicus stand facing on dais, Constantius holding a military standard, Andronicus and Michael holding a globus cruciger and akakia. Romanus IV was the unfortunate emperor at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071; he was deposed and blinded by his enemeies in the aftermath, and Eudoxia was packed off to a nunnery.
   3. From Prussia, Germany, a silver 1910 medal for Queen Luise by Carl Goetz; it is 35.7mm in diameter, and weighs 19.44grams. Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Luise Auguste Wilhelmine Amalie; 10 March 1776 - 19 July 1810) was Queen of Prussia as the wife of King Frederick William III. The couple’s happy, though short-lived, marriage produced nine children, including the future monarchs Frederick William IV of Prussia and Wilhelm I, German Emperor. Her legacy became cemented after her extraordinary 1807 meeting with French Emperor Napoleon I at Tilsit – she met with the emperor to plead unsuccessfully for favorable terms after Prussia’s disastrous losses in the Napoleonic Wars. She was already well loved by her subjects, but her meeting with Napoleon led Louise to become revered as “the soul of national virtue.” Her early death at the age of thirty-four “preserved her youth in the memory of posterity,” and caused Napoleon to reportedly remark that the king “has lost his best minister.” The Order of Louise was founded by her grieving husband four years later as a female counterpart to the Iron Cross. In the 1920s, conservative German women founded the Queen Louise League. This medal is clearly inspired by the 1802 portrait by Austrian painter Josef Grassi. This is a piece Deven has wanted for a while; he actually won one a few years ago but the auctioneer somehow lost it before shipment.
4. John Kent summarized the French Republican Calendar, used from 1793 to 1805 and meant to replace the Gregorian calendar; it started on the autumnal equinox. The revolutionary system was designed in part to remove all religious and royalist influences from the calendar, and was part of a larger attempt at decimalization in France (which also included decimal time of day, decimalization of currency, and metrication). Eight coins were shown, including 1 centime, 5 centimes, and 10 centimes of various years.
5. Larry Edwards gave a short survey of coins relating to Jews and Judaism, issued post-World War II by countries other than Israel, including:
   1. Switzerland 1979, Albert Einstein Centennial.
   2. Turkiye (Turkey) 1992, commemorating 500 years since Jews fleeing Spain were welcomed into the Ottoman Empire.
   3. Poland 2008, commemorating the 65th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
   4. Ukraine 2009, honoring Yiddish writer Sholom Aleichem.
   5. Belarus 2010, commemorating the great Yeshiva of Volozhin.
   6. USA 2015, honoring the March of Dimes and Dr. Jonas Salk.
   7. A rebel group in Angola called the Democratic Front of Cabinda issued 2017 coins honoring L.L. Zamenhof, creator of Esperanto.
   8. Germany 2020, a 2 Euro coin remembering Chancellor Willi Brandt’s 1970 visit to Warsaw, where he knelt before the Warsaw Ghetto Memorial “Kniefall.”
   9. An undated souvenir keychain from the Statue of Liberty, citing the famous poem by Emma Lazarus.
6. Dale Lukanich tried to show atypical examples of a half cent, cent, half dime, dime, and quarter – from when coins were considered a commodity, having an intrinsic value close to their face value. As such, half of a coin would still be worth half its face value. It was not uncommon to cut coinage to make change, or to make the transaction as equal as possible. However, Dale’s submitted PowerPoint file was corrupted, so we saw only the leading page with a full Large Cent and an empty spot for Dale’s cut-down 1848 Large Cent serving as a half cent.
7. Mark Wieclaw showed two items.
   1. A 1963 Series A $1 Federal Reserve Note, circulated, folded, and with some inked writing. The serial number is K19620410A – the eight digits can correspond to the date of “1962 April 10,” so Mark checked if anything important happened on that day. He found that Stuart Sutcliffe, born on June 23, 1940, had died of a brain hemmorage on April 10, 1962. Stuart was the first bass player for the Beatles.
   2. A small bronze coin of Roman Emperor Marcian (450-457AD), a great leader who maintained peace throughout the eastern part of the Empire. His bust appears on the obverse of this piece, with his monogram on the reverse, just above the CON mintmark for Constantinople. It is not always easy to get the entire obverse inscription on the flan, but this porous piece has it all! Mark called this a small coin – at 11mm diameter and weighing 1.24grams – and emphasized its diminutive size by picturing it next to a US dime, which has diameter of almost twice as much.

Reminders:

• You can email to Deven a description of what you will show at a meeting, to give him a start on this write-up.
• Send it to cccshowandtell@gmail.com
• After a meeting, all members who viewed the meeting should email him their scoring sheet – a listing of each exhibit number followed by a score (from a low of 1 to a high of 10) is all that is needed.

Our 1254th 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.

Chatter Matter

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All correspondence pertaining to Club matters should be addressed to the Secretary and mailed to:
CHICAGO COIN CLUB
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