• Contents of this Issue
  • Notes
  • Minutes of the 1284th Meeting
  • Referencing Columbiana
  • Exhibits
  • Upcoming Meeting
  • Important Dates
  • Chatter Matter
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Chatter

Editor’s Notes

The March Chatter will be sent either earlier or later than usual. I will build a long trip around the ANA’s NMS in Savannah, Georgia in late February. If I complete most parts by Sunday, February 15, the issue will go out early – otherwise, it should be mailed by Friday, March 6, which is very close to our regular meeting on March 11.

Paul Hybert, editor

Minutes of the 1284th Meeting

The 1284th meeting of the Chicago Coin Club was called to order by President Melissa Gumm at 6:45pm CST on Wednesday, January 14, 2026. This was an in-person and online meeting, with 11 members and one guest present at the CBA and 20 members and one guest online for a total of 33.

Club Meeting Minutes

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

New Memberships

Secretary Scott McGowan reported no membership application readings.

Treasurer’s Report

Treasurer reports for November and December were not available for review, so tabled until February.

Old Business

1. Committee Reports:
   1. Special Projects Committee: Lyle Daly reported that he has consultant Mike Bruno attending the meeting tonight, looking at how our AV connections work and how we can improve them with muting, screen sharing, and the overall experience.
   2. Hall of Fame Committee: Deven Kane reported the committee is looking for recommendations for individuals to be nominated for the CCC Hall of Fame. Priority is for former members from our 107-year history who have passed away.
   3. Legacy Project: No Report.
2. Banquet Report: Secretary Scott McGowan reported that 45 people attended the banquet at the DesPlaines, Illinois Elks Club. Member feedback indicates it was an enjoyable evening. Mentions have been made to consider returning to the Elks Club in December 2026 and have a restaurant style meal.

New Business

1. CCC quarterly board meetings have been moved from the third Wednesday of the month to the first Wednesday of the month. The next board meeting will be February 4, 2026. Reasoning for the change is to report to the club the following week any issues from the board meeting.
2. NCIC: Secretary Scott McGowan reported on the Numismatic Crime Information Center (NCIC) which sent an email appeal for donations to help continue their work in fighting Numismatic Crime. The NCIC was founded in 1986 by Doug Davis, a Texas police officer, to help educate police and law enforcement in helping fight Numismatic crimes. Scott recommended we make a donation to the not-for-profit NCIC. CCC had donated to NCIC in 2019, and Doug was a featured speaker for the CCC in November 2014.
3. Online visitor Mark Benvenuto spoke about The American Medallic Sculpture Association (AMSA) collaboration with the American Chemical Society on Chemistry of Medals, Volume 2, published online in November 2025. It is a collection of papers exploring the intersection of chemistry and the art of medals, from design to production and care.
4. First VP Deven Kane announced the opportunity for featured speakers in 2026. If you have a topic you would like to present to the club, contact Deven.

Featured Program

Steve Starlust on Referencing Columbiana. Following the presentation, First Vice President Deven Kane informed Steve he will receive the CCC Speaker’s medal and an ANA Educational Certificate.

Show and Tell

Second Vice President Ray Dagenais announced the seven Show and Tell presentations for the evening.

Upcoming Events

President Melissa Gumm reviewed upcoming numismatic events, with two more mentioned by club members: Will County Coin Club Annual Coin Show on February 22, 2026, from 9:00am - 3:00pm at Joliet Junior College; Early American Coppers (EAC) Convention on April 29 to May 03, 2026, at the Sheraton Charlotte Airport Hotel,Charlotte, North Carolina.

CCC member Drew Michyeta distributed copies of his 3rd edition annual calendar featuring Numismatic images. The 2026 calendar, titled “The Birth of American Liberty as Envisioned by the Medalists,” features 12 months of beautiful obverse and reverse images of medals featuring George Washington, Ben Franklin, and many others. Copies are available at club meetings in person at the CBA while supplies last.

CCC member Larry Edwards offered copies of a publication on Colonial issues, also called pre-federal coinage. Those interested in a copy can email the club secretary to be put in touch with Larry.

President Melissa Gumm adjourned the meeting at 8:39pm CST.

Respectfully Submitted,
Scott McGowan, Secretary

Speaker’s Wor[l]d
Referencing Columbiana

presented by Steve A. Starlust
to our January 14, 2026 meeting

The evening’s speaker was the author of the recently published Referencing Columbiana, which won the Numismatic Literary Guild’s 2025 award for best Tokens and Medals Reference Book. This book serves as an update to both Eglit’s Columbiana; The Medallic History of Christopher Columbus and the Columbian Exposition of 1893 (1965) and 1963’s So-Called Dollars by Hibler and Kappen.

The Columbian Exposition was the scene of many “firsts.” Steve mentioned many of them, including the Ferris Wheel, Cracker Jack, Hot Dogs, and Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. A 50¢ ride on the Ferris Wheel consisted of two revolutions lasting a total of 20 minutes – each of the 36 passenger cars weighed 19 tons and could carry 60 passengers. Numismatic firsts included Elongated Coins and the first two US Commemorative Coins, a quarter and a half dollar.

Under the main theme of “The Many Medallic Faces of Columbus,” Steve showed many medals depicting Columbus. A wide range of motifs were shown: whether a bust to a full figure, whether stationary or moving, the pieces show a wide range of people. We do not know what Columbus looked like because there are no known life-time paintings or drawings of him! Was he stout or lean? Clean shaven, or bearded and mustached? Was his hair straight or curly, long or short? We do not know for certain, but we likely are familiar with a few of his “classic” renditions. Some artists felt free to use other inspirations for their figures.

On the shown pieces, Columbus is on one side (usually alone, but sometimes with another important figure) while the other side features either an historical scene, a scene from the Expo, or mentions the issuing company or group. The first shown medal features a classic view of Columbus: a fit (maybe stout) man of 40 years, wearing a shirt and cloak over his shoulders, clean shaven, his hair with some waves just reaches his collar, and he wears a cloth hat with raised brim in front and on sides. His name, rendered as CHRISTOPHUS COLOMBUS, provides a clue to its origin (by the French medalist Francois Massonet). The reverse features an aerial view of the Expo grounds.

Another piece of French origin shows a huskier bust in profile, but bare headed, with curly hair, with the name as CHRISTPHORUS COLOMB; the reverse has a legend (in French?) on multiple horizontal lines. A piece by engraver H. Zearing of Chicago features a profiled bust of Columbus somewhat similar to Massonet’s, with the name as CHRISTPHER COLVMBVS; the reverse shows a tri-masted sailing ship riding stylized waves, with the legends in English.

The above medals have diameters from 41 to 50 millimeters. At 102 mm, the Expo’s bronze Recognition Award Medal, designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens is impressive. The shown piece is special because it uses the Rejected Reverse design – the central male figure features full frontal nudity. The obverse features Columbus stepping onto the rocky shore of the New World, head up and arms spread to the sides as if the winner crossing a finsh line. After the original reverse design and four altered versions were rejected by the US Government, Mint engraver Charles Barber was assigned to design the reverse. That is how the official Recognition Award Medal came to be designed by two rivals. Plaster casts for this medal now are known only in museums, and this medal is believed to be unique.

Some designs seem quirky today. Who thinks of Columbus with a ruffled collar, short hair, and a goatee? Wilhelm Mayer’s pieces feature NATO 1456 and MORTO 1506 (for birth and death years) flanking a youthful half-length image which Steve called elf-like due to the long narrow flaps sticking up from the hat.

More pieces for the Expo were shown, from around the world, in various metals, and with legends in various languages – too many to fit in this article – but Steve’s book shows them and more. Because his book is not an auction catalog, he is free to enhance each image to show the piece as it was when new. The book has sections for special material, as well as stories about merchants that made tokens, and the badges and pins made for specific exhibits and items.

Use of Columbus on medals, tokens, and coins did not end with the Expo in 1893. Starting in 1896, Costa Rica introduced the colón denomination (replacing the one peso denomination). That name is derived from Cristóbal Colón, which is the Spanish rendering of Christopher Columbus. We saw a gold 20 colónes piece; other gold denominations were struck, too. Concluding this presentation was a fob for the Tenth International Congress of Navigation (1905 Milan, Italy) featuring conjoined busts of LEONARDO DA VINCI (background) and CRISTOFORO COLOMBO (foreground).

Steve Starlust can be contacted at stevestarlust@gmail.com to order your own copy of his book, ask a question, or tell of an unlisted piece.

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Show and Tell

Items shown at our January 14, 2026 meeting,
reported by Ray Dagenais.

1. With the last cents being minted in 2025, Robert Leonard brought in some of the earliest U.S. cents, and also provided a handout explaining why the cent is called a penny – when that is not its name. This required three additional coins.
   1. A Massachusetts cent of 1788; the same type as issued in 1787, the first year that this type was struck. The word CENT first appeared on this coin type.
   2. A Fugio cent dated 1787, but actually struck in 1788.
   3. A U.S. cent of 1794, the second year of that denomination’s production, with lettered edge ONE HUNDRED FOR A DOLLAR.
   4. A Mexican 8 reales (Spanish “dollar”) dated 1808 and minted in Mexico City, as indicated by the Mo mintmark. It was rated at 4 shillings 6 pence in Britain but 8 shillings in New York, beginning in 1708, to keep it in circulation.
   5. An English shilling of Queen Anne, dated 1711. This is about the diameter of a US quarter, but thinner, showing the true metal value of a Spanish dollar in shillings.
   6. A Mexican 1 real dated 1801 with an Mo mintmark – worth ⅛ of an 8 reales dollar and thus called a “York shilling” by some.
   The handout related that with 12 pence to the shilling in New York, there were 96 pence to a dollar of 8 reales. Because one US cent was valued near one New York penny, a one cent coin was commonly called a penny in New York. And then it spread.
2. Noah Graf said sometimes we come across coins from areas we do not collect, but we find ourselves unable to walk away. For him it was this coin, purchased in September, 2025 from Allen Berman – a Scottish 12 shilling piece of the executed King Charles I of England and Scotland. After Charles’ father, James VI of Scotland, became James I of England, he reformed and revalued the Scottish silver currency to be modelled on English sizes and weights, denominated at 12 Scottish pounds to 1 English pound. Since there were also 12 pence to a shilling, this resulted in the English 1 shilling and the Scottish 12 shilling both appearing very alike, having the same weight and size, and also both having the denomination XII positioned behind the King’s portrait. The primary differentiating mark on the obverse is the Scottish thistle in the legend above the King’s head; on the reverse, it is the Scottish coat of arms appearing in the Position of Honor (1st/4th) on the quartered shield. (On comparable English coins, the English arms appear in the same location.) This coin was part of Charles I’s “third coinage” in Scotland, attributed to moneyers Nicholas Briot and Thomas Falconer, beginning in 1637. The Scots silver coinage for Charles I terminated at the start of the English Civil War in 1642. Despite a good amount of wear on the obverse, the King’s portrait is still quite clear, and anyone familiar with his oil portraiture would immediately recognize this as Charles I.
3. Deven Kane showed three items.
   1. A bronze medal, the 113th issue of the Society of Medalists, approximately 2⅜ by 2⅞ inches, somewhat oval in shape, and weighing 7.2 ounces. It was designed by Marika Somogyi (b. 1933), a Hungarian-born American sculptor and artist. The obverse features a “Mirror, Mirror, on the wall”-type portrait of a diadem-wearing lady (with little else on) holding a mirror which forms the center hole. The reverse features a Pan-like devil, drawing aside a curtain to peer back through the center hole.
   2. An Edinburgh and East of Scotland College of Agriculture bronze medal by A. Kirkwood & Sons, 48mm in diameter. One side features a robed facing female figure holding scythe and wheat, while the reverse is named (Evening Class, Horticulture, Catharine Richardson, Session 1903-04).
   3. A cast bronze plaque acquired from Noonans’ offering of the Silich Collection of Historical and Art Medals: Part III. Titled Swaddled Baby, this circa-2000 piece features the head of a baby surrounded by swaddling clothes. It measures 115 x 60mm, weighs 324.75 grams, and has a central incision for suspension.
4. Lyle Daly showed Colombian Exposition items and circulation finds.
   1. Four items from the Columbian Exposition.
      1. A brass medal featuring the Expo’s US Government Building, sponsored by the Treasury Department.
      2. Two elongated coins, a cent and a five-cent piece, were noted as the first examples of elongated coinage, a practice which is popular to this day. The six machines located around the Expo produced the same simple design: COLUMBIAN • 1893 • EXPOSITION on three lines, with the top and bottom lines curved to yield an ovalish shape. A 5¢ charge for each coin elongated; coins known today range in size from small 3-cent silver pieces to large Trade Dollars.
      3. A medal manufactured by the Oldenkamp company depicting: Columbus’ arrival in the Americas, the landing of the pilgrims, and the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
   2. Roll searching yielded six 1985-D Roosevelt dimes with mushy design details, resulting from the improper heat treating of many dies.
5. Laurence Edwards attended the annual gathering of the Colonial Coin Collectors Club (C4) in Baltimore, November 6-9, 2025. As a first-time attendee, it was exciting to meet some of the legendary names in the field. He began collecting colonials around age 12 thanks to the encouragement of his father, a US history buff. The section of the Red Book devoted to colonials was much smaller then than it is now. The field has expanded and there are many different ways to collect. C4 has published a lovely guide to the subject, Colonials 101. The first printing is almost gone, but he nabbed a few to offer to those who might be seriously interested. The booklet is a friendly guide to newcomers, and a useful review for those who have been at it for a while. It covers such topics as: What are American Colonials? Who made them? A popular type set. Colonial Currency. Rarity, grading, and what to look for. He mentioned that he would be happy to start a waiting list for the second printing! Larry said that he hopes to go more in-depth on his interest in Colonial/Pre-Federal (as we now often refer to anything that circulated as money anywhere that eventually became part of the US prior to the establishment of the US Mint). In fact, it includes Mexico and the other Spanish colonies, since Spanish colonial silver was a mainstay of the American economy. If you are a colonial collector he said, Let’s talk! And even if you are not a colonial collector if he might be able to spark your interest, let’s also talk!
6. Mark Wieclaw covered a range of interests.
   1. Continuing his interest in connecting the serial number on US currency to calendar dates, a $20 bill with the serial number NL01981513E. The first of three assassination attempts on Pope John Paul II occurred on May 13, 1981. Mark also talked about the other attempts on his life, the various travel firsts for a Pope, and the record number of attendees at his funeral.
   2. A follis of Roman emperor Constantine II, 316-337AD. While buried, the encrustation that formed on the reverse of the coin retains an incuse image of another Constantinian bronze coin.
7. Jim Ray shared his Birth Year Set – 1963 Proof Philadelphia. Jim’s dad gave each of his children a proof set from their year of birth. His set is from 1963 and was placed in the shown custom birth year holder which includes a picture that shows Jim. He believes this picture was taken on George Air Force base in California, where he was born. His birth year set is extra special as this year Jim will turn 63, making this his platinum birthday. That is the year when your age matches the last two digits of the birth year. He said now his next action item is to find a fun way to celebrate it this year.

Reminders:

• You can email to Ray 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 1285th 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

http://www.ChicagoCoinClub.org/

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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
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.

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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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