Chatter

Volume 70 No. 4 April, 2024

Editor’s Notes

My trip to the ANA’s NMS kept me busy for most of the time, so I was able to collect CCC membership dues during only a short time. Sorry if I missed you. Check your printed December Chatter (or your email to the online December issue) to see if you owed dues for 2024. I believe 2024 dues are due by March 31, 2024.

We have one report, so far, on the recent numismatic program at the Latin School of Chicago. Perhaps we will have more about that program in the May Chatter.

Paul Hybert, editor

Minutes of the 1262nd Meeting

The 1262nd meeting of the Chicago Coin Club was called to order by First Vice President Melissa Gumm at 6:55 PM CDT, Wednesday, March 13, 2024. This was an in-person and online meeting. The in-person portion was held at Shanna Schmidt Numismatics, Inc., 8 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago. Attendance at the meeting was 21 members plus 1 guest applying for membership in person and 24 online, including 10 invited guests from the Latin School of Chicago, for a total of 46.

Club Meeting Minutes and Treasurer’s Report

The February 2024 meeting minutes were approved as published in the Chatter, both in print and on the CCC website.

Treasurer Elliott Krieter presented the February period treasurer’s report detailing revenue of $1,205.00 (Dues, Cancelled Check, Medal Sales, Donation) and expenses of $1,124.00 (Chatter Expense, Webex fee, Reissue Check) for a period total of $81.00. The report was approved by the membership.

New Members and Correspondence

Secretary Scott McGowan did the first reading of an application for membership. Joshua Benevento of Saline, Michigan applied for club membership. Joshua collects ancient coins, specializing in Ptolemaic Kingdom. He is a member of ANA, ANS, and Michigan Numismatic Society, and was referred to the club by Deven Kane and Aaron Berk.

Scott also announced that students of a one-week class on numismatics and their teacher Matthew June from the Latin School of Chicago were attending the meeting online, and we welcomed them and encourage their interests in Numismatics.

Old Business

  1. Melissa Gumm indicated that space is still available for featured speakers for meetings in June, August, September, and December. Members are encouraged to pick a numismatic topic and craft a presentation to be a featured speaker.
  2. Club members were reminded that dues for 2024 are due. Unpaid members would be dropped from the club rolls after March 31, 2024.

New Business

  1. Deven Kane called on club members to reflect on recommendations for the 2024 CCC Hall of Fame and contact him with candidate names.
  2. Scott McGowan announced and welcomed new advertiser CNG Classic Numismatic Group LLC for the Chatter newsletter and website.
  3. Scott McGowan reported on highlights from the February 21, 2024 CCC board meeting. Mentioned were an audit committee will do an annual financials audit as per the bylaws; CCC is registered with a club booth at the CSNS convention in May, which includes a club meeting on Saturday May 4, 2024 at 12:00pm CDT in room Utopia A; the CCC November auction has room for about 35 donated items; Committee members are being sought to help plan the December club banquet.

Featured Program

Shanna Schmidt on S&S Library: The Formation of a Numismatic Library. Shanna gave an amazing presentation into Numismatic literature after some pre-meeting time browsing the amazing books and catalogs in the beautiful rooftop offices of Shanna Schmidt Numismatics. The office space overlooking Chicago’s Millennium Park provided a fine meeting place for the club members who were able to touch and feel many of the presentations books that were passed around the room. Attendees were also treated to sandwiches, cookies, and beverages as they basked in the library and the presentation. Following the program, First VP Melissa Gumm presented a CCC speaker’s medal and ANA educational certificate to Shanna.

Show and Tell

Deven Kane announced the evening’s eight Show & Tell exhibitors.

Melissa Gumm adjourned the meeting at 9:04pm CDT.

Respectfully Submitted,
Scott A. McGowan, Secretary

Speaker’s Wor[l]d
S&S Library: The Formation of a Numismatic Library

a presentation by Shanna Schmidt,
to our March 13, 2024 meeting
(reported by Scott A. McGowan and Tyler M. Rossi)

The favorite companion to any coin collection is owning books that provide a solid understanding of the collection. Any great numismatist over time had some semblance of a library to reference coins, find pedigrees, or simply learn more about their origin. The S&S Library is the result of eight years of cooperation. In this short talk, I will lay out the assembling of the library, why it was created, and future ideas for its use.

On Wednesday March 13th, 2024, Shanna Schmidt welcomed the Chicago Coin Club to her downtown Chicago offices for a talk on the importance of a numismatic library and the evolution of the S&S library. While officially announced in 2023, the S&S library started in 2016 with a partnership between Shanna and a US-based collector. Through participating in all major numismatic literature auctions, in addition to a large number of private purchases, the library now contains 8,776 individual books with a value of about $1.3M! This does not include the recent BCD auction catalogue collection, which Shanna discussed in depth. Shanna also talked briefly about the library’s partnership with the Newman Numismatic Portal, in a large-scale scanning project which will result in all volumes (that are out of copyright) being made publicly available for FREE to the public.

According to the saying, “Buy the book before the coin,” the best companion to any coin collector is books that provide a solid understanding of the collection. Most numismatists over time had some semblance of a library to reference coins, find pedigrees, or simply learn more about their origin. Shanna feels that coin research is most effective with a book, rather than surfing the web. However, considerations of space and cost can be a major factor.

Shanna discussed which specific volumes a numismatic library should have for each major area of ancient numismatics (i.e. Greek, Roman, and Byzantine). She also gave a brief overview of the major private collections used as references, and what free and/or public resources are available for those who are more budget conscious. Examples for general reading on coins and collecting included the ANS, ANA, Numismatic News, Numismatic Chronicle (RNS), Coin World, and Celator. The mentioned popular options included CoinArchives (for free) or the Pro-Version (for an annual fee, but with auction prices), AC Search (image search), Newman Numismatic Portal, Academia.edu, Wikipedia.org, HathiTrust.org, JStor, and Ebsco.org (for humanities).

During the presentation, a number of representative volumes were discussed and passed around. Included were:

Shanna discussed the importance of auction catalogs, and how their use in uncovering past sales listings and coin pedigrees assist collectors in their pursuits. The presentation concluded with discussion and examples of such private collections as the Bunker Hunt Collection, Samuel Pozzi collection and Garrett Collection.

The members who attended this meeting in person are sure to fondly remember this fabulous meeting.

Current Advertisers

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Harlan J. Berk, Ltd.
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Classical Numismatic Group

Show and Tell

Items shown at our March 13, 2024 meeting,
reported by Deven Kane.

  1. Larry Edwards connected a British token and the Art Institute of Chicago. A 1794 Newgate halfpenny token (D&H 393) has a front view of Newgate Prison (once the most notorious prison in London) on one side while the other side says it is payable at the residence of Symonds, Winterbotham, Ridgway, & Holt. Whoever issued this token, it is apparently a protest against the harsh conditions in the ancient prison and/or the incarceration of political prisoners. James Ridgway and Henry Delahay Symonds had published works of Thomas Paine and were sentenced in May 1793. Daniel Holt, printer of the Newark Herald, was tried and found guilty (November 1793) of selling a Thomas Paine work and publishing a speech on parliamentary reform. Rev. William Winterbotham (1763-1829) was the only minister in the 1790s to be prosecuted for preaching sedition from the pulpit in England.
    John Winterbotham, born in 1765, was the Rev. William’s younger brother. John was a producer of high-end woolens who was smuggled out of England (which did not want to lose its artisans) in 1810. He and his wife went into business in Connecticut, where their son, John Humphrey Winterbotham, was born two years later. Later, the family moved to an Ohio farm. John Humphrey Winterbotham moved several times in the Midwest. Two of his sons became prominent in Chicago, including founding Continental National Bank. One son, Joseph Humphrey Winterbotham, is best remembered for his 1921 Winterbotham Plan – a $50,000 gift to be invested, and the interest used to buy paintings by European artists over a 25- to 35-year period. According to the plan, when 35 paintings had been purchased, “any work could be sold or exchanged for a work of superior quality and significance to the collection.” Larry concluded by showing images of three items in the Joseph Winterbotham Collection.
  2. Deven Kane showed three coins from Roman Egypt, tied to four peope who ended badly.
    1. A billon (25% silver) tetradrachm oc Claudius and Antonia, minted in Alexandria. The obverse features the laurel head of Claudius, while the reverse features a draped bust of Antonia; a depiction of Antonia on colonial coinage is rare. Claudius, the fourth Roman emperor, ruled from AD 41 to 54. He was declared emperor by the Praetorian Guard after Caligula’s assassination, at which point he was the last adult male of the Julio-Claudian family. Claudius was an able and efficient administrator, and the Empire started its successful conquest of Britain during his reign. After his death at the age of 63, his grandnephew and legally adopted step-son, Nero, succeeded him as emperor. Claudia Antonia (circa AD 30-66) was the daughter and oldest surviving child of the Roman Emperor Claudius. After the death of Nero’s second wife, Nero asked Antonia to marry him. When Antonia refused, Nero had her charged with an attempt of rebellion and executed.
    2. A billon hemidrachm of Nero, minted in Alexandria. The obverse features the radiate head of Nero while the reverse features an advancing Nike, holding a crown and palm. Nero was the last of the Julio Claudians, and infamous for the murder of his mother and most of his remaining relatives. He was very popular in the Greek East but committed suicide when the Senate sided with Galba’s rebellion.
    3. A copper obole honoring Antinous, minted in Alexandria about 134-135. The obverse features a draped bust of Antinous, while the reverse features Antinous on horseback, as Mercury, holding a caduceus. Antinous was a Greek youth from Bithynia, and a favourite and lover of the Roman emperor Hadrian. Following his premature death before his 20th birthday, Antinous was deified on Hadrian’s orders, being worshipped in both the Greek East and Latin West, sometimes as a god and sometimes merely as a hero.
  3. Shanna Schmidt showed an Aes Signatum (Latin for stamped bronze), one of the earliest forms of currency in the Roman Republic. Early Roman coinage was well behind their Greek counterparts in terms of style, size, and artistry. The Aes Signatum was used after the Aes Rude (literally a clump of bronze medal) from the 5th century BC until around the mid 3rd century BC when Aes Grave became the primary coinage. These fascinating large bronze pieces are difficult to find whole; normally, only fractions can be found and they are rarely on the auction market.
  4. Mark Wieclaw showed three items.
    1. A denarius brockage of Julius Caesar – the legend proclaims him to be dictator for life. This was issued in early to mid February of 44 BC, just a few weeks prior to his assassination. Caesar was the first living Roman to appear on a coin.
    2. A massive roll of Ike dollars. In Mark’s experience, rolls of the large dollar coins (Morgan, Peace, and Eisenhower) contain 20 coins. But this roll has 50 coins, and the paper wrapper has $50 printed on it. He googled every way that he could think of, and could not find any coin wrappers of this size.
    3. A gold-color key with raised lettering: FT. KNOX, SIDE DOOR. It was a part of Harry Flowers collection of all things gold related. [For those unaware, the U.S. government’s gold depository is on the Fort Knox Army base, in Kentucky.]
  5. Melissa Gumm showed two notes from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
    1. A $5 features a portrait of Sir Edmund Hillary who summited Everest for the first time in 1953. In the center of the note is Mt Cook, the highest mountain in the country. The background of the note features the Kaokao pattern, a Maori pattern for strength and shelter. The back of the note highlights the Hoiho, a Yellow eyed penguin, the world’s rarest type. At the center is Campbell Island, the southern most subantarctic island. This note also features two flowers native to New Zealand: the Ross lily and the Campbell Island Daisy.
    2. A $10 note with a portrait of Kate Sheppard, the most prominent member of New Zealand’s women’s suffrage movement, who was the first president of the National Council of Women in 1896. In 1893 New Zealand became the first country to allow all adults to vote. Also featured is a White Camellia, a symbol of the fight for the vote, which had been given to all members of parliament who supported the bill to give New Zealand universal suffrage. On the back is a Whio, a blue duck that is endangered. This note also features 2 types of plant life: the Kiokio, or common fern, which has red tinged leaves when young, and the Pineapple Scrub whose leaves resemble a pineapple.
    These notes from New Zealnd are said to be the most secure currency in the world. The recently added sophisticated security features, along with overall enhancements to the design, include: the large window with a map, fern, and the denomination in it; the denomination number uses a repeat of the bank initials, RBNZ; and raised ink.
  6. Tyler Rossi showed an election propaganda note based upon a real Bosnian note. The front is copied from the front of the P-70 note. Dark brown on yellow and multicolored underprint. P. Kocic at right. Pen, glasses, and book at left center on back. With alternating texts of bank name and denomination. Watermark: Central bank monogram repeated vertically. Printer: F-CO (without imprint). The translation is:
        They didn’t provide you with a job?
        WE WILL!
        We will work until you are employed - 100 KM per month!
        For betterment
        People’s Party working for betterment
  7. Bob Feiler showed a Chicago Numismatic Society token he acquired at a suburban pawn shop. It is the token from the May 3, 1907 CNS meeting, which was the first meeting held at their rooms at the Masonic Temple. Then he showed page 6 of Medals and Tokens of the Chicago Coin Club by William A. Burd, where the token is shown.
  8. John Riley showed a counterfeit 1859 Seated Liberty 25¢ coin, acquired at the December Louisville, Kentucky antique show – the seller had no coin info and was selling it as a regular coin. John discussed this with member Winston Zack who has written on similar pieces – the general agreement is that this was made during the U.S. Civil War.

Reminders:

Numismatic Presentation at the Latin School of Chicago

by John Kent

A big thank you to Matthew June for inviting me into his classroom last Friday, March 15th. We got an early start at 9am with 10 students attending. We started our discussion by handing out educational offerings from the American Numismatic Association, inviting the students to participate in several projects available to young numismatist. We also gave each student a copy of the Illinois Numismatic Digest and invited them to the several upcoming coin club shows and conventions. A couple of students expressed interest in attending or volunteering as pages at upcoming numismatic events.

After introductions, we jumped right into coin grading 101, with 1921 Morgan dollars. Each student, and the 2 teachers, received 4 Morgan silver dollars to grade using their Red Books and the CDN Price guide, as well as uploading the PCGS Photograde app onto their smartphones. As we began to look at the details on each coin and started to form an opinion of the grade, each student took notes about the coin’s mint luster and overall appearance. Next we looked for bag marks, scuffs, and wear on the high points of the design. Once we figured out which of the 4 coins was the best example, we stapled the silver dollar into a 2x2 flip, and correctly labeled the coin – the grading process was complete!

After taking a 10 minute break, we repeated the process with buffalo nickels, all with full dates and discernible details. Now we used our loupes to get a better idea of the details of the buffalo’s horn and tail, while looking for errors and varieties, like the 3-legged variety. The students were excited to put all the better examples into 2x2 flips and wrote their grades and Red Book values onto the 2x2 flips.

I was not really watching as the clock went by – our time together went by pretty quickly but we still had time for one more exercise. I brought out a large collection of counterfeit coins and copies of coins. Some of the fakes looked very real so we weighed them and they were underweight, demonstrating that looks can be deceiving, especially when the coin is worn. To wrap up the morning, we passed around a goody bag of coins that were donated by the Illinois Numismatic Association – each student got to take a couple coins home. Among the freebies were elongated coins, encased cents, tokens, medals, painted quarters, and world coins from faraway places. After class, as the students were leaving, some of the students held back and were asking about careers at coin grading facilities like PCGS and NGC, and of course we encouraged them to come to an upcoming show to get better acquainted with the grading industry. Another student commented that her favorite coin was an American Silver Eagle that had been painted red, white, and blue.

Numismatics connects students to history, geography, and culture, giving new perspectives on the importance of trade and commerce among people near and far. There are many events and technological discoveries that have caused money to evolve and change in different times and places.

Our 1263rd Meeting

Date: April 10, 2024
Time: 6:45PM CDT (UTC-05:00)
Location: Downtown Chicago
At the Chicago Bar Association, 321 S. Plymouth Court, 3rd or 4th floor meeting room. Please remember the security measures at our meeting building: everyone must be prepared to show their photo-ID and register at the guard’s desk.
Because things can change between when this is written and we meet, please bring your face covering to the meeting – all attendees must follow the city’s and building’s rules.
This will be another attempt at a regular in-person meeting in the post-Covid-19 era. We will try for a better experience than in the past, but please be prepared for possible diifficulties.
Online: For all the details on participating online in one of our club meetings, visit our Online Meeting webpage at www.chicagocoinclub.org/meetings/online_meeting.html. 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 — Travels of the Lily
The story of how a coin issued in Southern Italy inspired imitations and became a trade coin in the Eastern Mediterranean. In 1303, King Charles II the Lame of Naples issued a new heavy silver coin, the Carlino, to stabilize the coinage system of his realm. The new coin acquired another name from the French coat of arms on the reverse. A combination of Italian politics, the spread of the domains ruled by the House of Anjou, and the actions of a native of Provence heading a military order saw this coin become a trade coin across the Eastern Mediterranean. Join us as Deven Kane discusses the unexpected travels of the Gigliato.

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.

April 3 Meeting of the 2024 WFoM Local Host Committee – 7pm CDT start – online only. Email Host Chair Dale Lukanich at ancient0615@gmail.com for details on joining this committee or meeting.
April 10 CCC Meeting - Featured Speaker - Deven Kane on Travels of the Lily
May 2-4 85th Anniversary Convention of the Central States Numismatic Society at the Schaumburg Renaissance Hotel & Convention Center, 1551 North Thoreau Drive, Schaumburg, IL. There is a $15 per day admission charge, a 3-day pass for $30, free for youth (17 and under), and free for CSNS Members. For details, refer to their website, https://www.csns.org/
May 4 CCC Meeting - 12pm at the CSNS Convention, which is held at the Schaumburg Convention Center. No admission charge for our meeting.
Featured Speaker - to be determined
May 8 CCC Meeting - Featured Speaker - Laurence Edwards on The Soho Mint: Matthew Boulton, James Watt, and the Age of Revolution
June 12 CCC Meeting - Featured Speaker - to be determined
July 10 CCC Meeting - Featured Speaker - to be determined

Chatter Matter

http://www.ChicagoCoinClub.org/

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Club Officers

Elected positions:
John Riley- President
Melissa Gumm- First V.P.
Deven Kane- Second V.P.
William Burd- Archivist
Directors:Ray Dagenais
Mark Wieclaw
Carl Wolf
Steve Zitowsky
Appointed positions:
Richard Lipman- Immediate Past President
Scott McGowan- Secretary
Elliott Krieter- Treasurer
Paul Hybert- Chatter Editor, webmaster
Jeffrey Rosinia- ANA Club Representative

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.

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