Writing for the California Numismatist

Numismatic Fall 2010 California State Association of V. 7, No. 3 Numismatic Southern California $7.95 Association

Alexander Hamilton, Pioneer Money Man, The page 20... California Numismatist Collections Experience Singles Integrity Sets Honesty Gold Financial strength Silver Professional Copper Confidential Early type Life: ANA, CSNA, Liberty seated CSNS, FUN, NASC Morgan/Peace dollars We buy it all!

If you have coins to sell, Retailer—we can pay see us first. You'll see more because we sell to why we are one of the the public one on one. most fair and respected dealers in California. Eliminate the "middle man"—we buy over 85% We are buying, buying, of our coins from other buying! dealers.

Michael Aron Rare Coins Tel (949) 489-8570 Fax (949) 489-8233 www.coindaddy.com [email protected] —serving the numismatic community since 1972— The California Numismatist Ofﬁ cial Publication of the California State Numismatic Association and the Numismatic Association of Southern California Fall 2010, Volume 7, Number 3

About the Cover The California Numismatist Staff Beaming his approval, Alexander Editor Greg Burns Hamilton’s image from the $10 bill graces P.O. Box 1181 our cover in recognition of the inaugura- Claremont, CA 91711 tion of Dr. Sol Taylor’s column, “It Makes [email protected] Cents”. For the ﬁ rst installment of Taylor’s column turn to page 20 and read up on Club Virginia Bourke Hamilton’s role in the development of the Reports 10601 Vista Camino monetary system we use in the United South Lakeside, CA 92040 States. [email protected]

Club Jeff Shevlin Reports 7737 Fair Oaks Blvd., St. 250 North Carmichael, CA 95608 [email protected]

Advertising Lila Anderson P.O. Box 365 Grover Beach, CA 93483 [email protected] Visit Us on the Web The California Numismatist has a Web Mailing List Stephen Huston site at www.CalNumismatist.com. You can PO Box 1388 ﬁ nd the ofﬁ cial scoop there in between Alameda, CA 94501 issues. Also, both CSNA and NASC main- [email protected] tain their own Web sites at: www.Calcoin.org www.NASC.net The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 3 4 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 Contents

Articles Collecting BEP Souvenir Cards Bill Febuary ...... 12 Through the Numismatic Glass: Nona Moore - the NASC’s First Lady Dr. Thomas F. Fitzgerald ...... 14 C Len Ratzman ...... 16 It Makes Cents: Alexander Hamilton - Our Pioneer Money Man Dr. Sol Taylor ...... 20 Half-Dollar Has-Beens Jim Wells ...... 24 Do We Still Have a $20 Hobby? Mark Benvenuto ...... 34

Columns Presidents’ Messages Jerry Yahalom and Michael S. Turrini ...... 6 Editor’s Page Greg Burns ...... 8 ANA Report Jim Hunt ...... 23 Numismatic Luminary Jim Hunt ...... 38 Youth Corner Michael S. Turrini ...... 54

Association Reports Corresponding Secretaries’ Reports ...... 10 Association News Items and Events (starting on page) ...... 40 Golden State Coin Show and Banquet Report ...... 40 Goings On ...... 56 Around the State ...... 62

Everything Else We Get Letters ...... 52 CSNA Membership Application ...... 61 NASC Membership Application ...... 69 Directory of Member Clubs ...... 70 Calendar of Events ...... 74 Advertisers Index ...... 75 Ofﬁ cers, Boards and Chairs ...... 76 Writing for The California Numismatist ...... 78 Numismatic Nostalgia ...... 79

The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 5 Presidents’ Messages NASC...

Well, the Golden State Coin Show (GSCS) is now over and it was successful. To those who did not make it, you missed a great show. Our dealers were happy and are looking forward to returning next year. NASC sponsored a Boy Scout merit badge clinic on coin collecting. The attendance of 90 Scouts far exceeded our original expecta- tion of 60! I heard 8 Scouts joined the NASC that day and a few more took applications home, so I am hoping they will join also. All of our NASC hats should be off to Walt Ostromecki as well as Albertus Hoogeveen and Cole Schenewerk, his assistants, as they did an excellent job in promoting numismatics and exciting the Scouts about coins! Thank you both for investing your precious time in teaching the Scouts about our great hobby! May they become lifelong numismatic collectors! At the GSCS on Saturday, the CSNA board voted to quit being a sponsor in the GSCS. On Sunday the NASC board, offi cers and club delegates decided to continue the GSCS as the only sponsoring organization. This means that NASC will be solely responsible for all of the chores associated with the show, and be solely responsible for any profi ts or losses. Due to this, each and every person on the board, each and every offi cer and each and every club delegate will need to volunteer to help the NASC put on the very best show ever next year. I know this means a lot of work to be done, but I am confi dent we are up to the task! The show date is set: August 27 & 28, 2011—the last weekend in August. I envision lots of work in the coming year: increasing membership—each individual member and each club is urged to make every effort to sign up new members; putting on the best GSCS ever! Bring ideas on how to achieve these goals to our next board meeting. Invite fellow club members to the meeting! I’ll close for now and I am wishing all of you happy days of collecting coins, currency and other numismatic items.

Jerry Yahalom NASC President 6 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 CSNA...

Hello! First, your board of directors met during the Golden State Coin Show (GSCS) and the major decision involved an open, candid, and honest exchange: to end, effective with this year’s GSCS, our joint partnership with our compatriots, the NASC. This has been a relationship going back two decades; yet, the reality of our association’s initiative, identity, and independence compelled the board, with an 11 President Turrini with good friend, to 2 vote, to end it and to commit to Syd Kass of Stockton. the return of our legendary semiannual conventions in the north and south. To our friends and fellow coin hob- byists, NASC, we extend our warmest well-wishes and hopes. It has been a most appreciated joint endeavor. Many fond memories shall remain. CSNA offers its highest esteem to NASC. To the objective of an independent semiannual convention in the south I appointed a Southern Convention Implementation Committee and assigned Gary Beedon, Phil Iversen, plus Joyce and G. Lee Kuntz to proceed. The goal is to have something speciﬁ c for the board’s next gathering this upcoming January. For the north, the board directed me to prepare a proposal for an independent semiannual convention in 2012 in Vallejo, at a potential and advantageous site. These are important actions, and our members should be glad that our association seeks to return to its roots and rhythm of independent conventions. Second, during the recent GSCS I honored with President’s Medals Ronald Ishizaki, Roy L. Iwata, and Fredyis Grant. Congratulations! Comments are welcomed, and these may be to [email protected]. “Change Your Thoughts and You Change The World.”—Norman Vincent Peale. Remember: have fun with your hobby! Always serve others! Enjoy your collecting! And, create hope and do good!

MichaelMich S. Turrini CSNA President The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 7 Editor’s Page Man, did I have a problem pack- ing everything into this issue! Tons of articles, lots of association news, seems like almost too much to squeeze into 80 pages. In fact, it was too much. I had to push a couple of articles out to our next issue, a rarity for TCN. Lots of familiar names sprinkle our authors list, and I’m happy to say that Dr. Sol Taylor has agreed to write a column for us as well. Please read his fi rst installment in this issue under the recurring moniker: “It Makes Cents”. You’ll read elsewhere in the issue about the CSNA abandonment of the GSCS after a 21-year partnership. While change of this scale often comes initially as a shock, it often can be the element needed to ensure long-term health, and I believe that’s exactly what the CSNA board is hoping to accomplish. In any case, keep an open mind, and remember that both associations are still represented in the pages of TCN, the most cost-effective approach for both. If you have any opinions on changes CSNA or NASC could make to strengthen the hobby or improve the collecting environment here in California, remember that TCN is a wonderful forum for airing your thoughts. Write me a letter and I’ll be happy to publish it; complimentary or critical, full of praise or derogatory barbs, anything’s better than being ignored. To get you started let me ask you a controversial question: is the state of California big enough for both CSNA and NASC? Do each of them serve a specifi c non-overlapping purpose, or is there a dilution of interest and resources that hampers their abilities to serve the collecting community? What do you think? Until next issue, remember that we have the CSNA Northern Educational Symposium coming up October 23 in Vallejo, and while you’re thinking of it you might want to make your reservations for San Jose for the January 28-30 convention at the Doubletree. It proved to be a terrifi c venue this year and next year should be equally superb. And close on the heels of that will be the NASC Awards Banquet, always a treat. I expect to see you at each of them ...

Greg Burns Editor

8 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 We’re Not Braggin’, But...... did you know that TCN has won the ﬁ rst place award in the ANA’s Out- standing Regional Numismatic Publication category every year since its incep- tion? That’s right. We started TCN in 2005 and won that year, again in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and now 2010! You can thank all of the people that support TCN for this illustrious record: the authors, columnists, association ofﬁ cials, editor, advertisers, and TCN staffers. Oh, I almost forgot, you can also congratulate yourselves, the readers! There’s be no point to the whole thing if there weren’t eager consumers. Corresponding Secretaries’ Reports

CSNA— by Stephen Huston CSNA has passed membership number 6300 during our 64th year. However, applications are down again this year: 73 in 2007, 56 in 2008, 31 in 2009, and 18 so far this year. A few reinstatements of late renewers gave us a net increase of 4 in our roster this quarter. All three new members used website applications and were sponsored by the Webmaster (S. Huston). One of the Life members we recently lost, Robert R. Johnson of San Fran- cisco, was a dues-paying member for his fi rst 50 years in our association, at which time he was awarded Life membership. I fi rst met Bob about 35 years ago when I visited his coin and stamp shop near San Francisco’s Union Square. He was a gentleman who supported scholarly numismatic groups, joining CSNA in 1958, Pacifi c Coast Numismatic Society in 1959, and eventually serving as president of the Professional Numismatists Guild in the mid-1970s. Though offi cially retired, having turned day-to-day business operations over to his partners a couple of years ago, he continued to arrive at his offi ce daily until his last few weeks because, after 61 years in the coin business, he still enjoyed numismatics.

NASC— by Harold Katzman At the Golden State Coin Show NASC was able to sign up 6 juniors on Saturday after the scout event, plus three regular individual members. One additional junior took an application with him as he didn’t have time to ﬁ ll it out right at that moment. We dropped more members than usual this year (about 22), perhaps due to the dues increase. About three members did send back their renewal forms say- ing they were dropping out.

10 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 CSNA New Members NASC New Members Daniel R. Richards ...... R-6299 Cliff Kos ...... #3057 National Coin Broker Inc...... R-6300 Eric Auerbach ...... #3054 Dave Weir...... R-6301 NASC Members Deceased CSNA Members Deceased Richard Lebold (Life member and past president) Maurice O. Ortiz, Jr...... L-59-10 (2005) Bill Pannier (Sustaining member) Deceased Robert R. Johnson ...... L-0878 (1958) NASC Membership on August 28, 2010 CSNA Membership on August 25, 2010 Charter ...... 1 Regular ...... 299 Life ...... 13 Associate ...... 13 Member Clubs ...... 22 Junior...... 4 Regular ...... 96 Life ...... 150 Sustaining ...... 150 Club ...... 28 Total Membership ...... 282 Club Life ...... 13 Total Membership ...... 507 Dear Members—Please Note! If you’ve moved, please help us keep our addresses up to date. Take a moment to drop us a short note to ensure that you keep getting your copy of The California Numismatist: CSNA—Stephen Huston NASC—Harold Katzman P.O. Box 1388 P.O. Box 3382 Alameda, CA 94501 Tustin, CA 92781-3382

The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 11 Collecting BEP Souvenir Cards by Bill Febuary

Many years ago my close friend the International Paper Money Show and past Fresno Numismatic Society (IPMS), which was held in Memphis, president, Dick Bier, showed me his Tennessee on June 19-21, 1981. The collection of Bureau of Engraving and reverse of that same souvenir card Printing (BEP) souvenir cards, and was issued at the Memphis show in asked if I wanted any of the extras that 1987. A similar souvenir card was he had collected, since he really didn’t issued of the $10 large gold certifi cate want two sets (he apparently ordered at the Long Beach show in 1986 and two sets each time that a new series the reverse of that note at the GENTA was being offered). I looked them over show in 1987. and found a few that were extremely One of the notes that I could never interesting because they were printed quite afford was the “porthole note” of from some of the notes that I had 1923 (this $5 note has Lincoln’s por- collected at one time and sold or were trait appearing through what looks like notes that I could never afford. a porthole). A real note in crisp uncir- After that modest beginning, I was culated condition in today’s market hooked on souvenir cards, so of course sells for around $1,200. My souvenir I got on the bureau’s mailing list and card looks equally as good as a new started to send for two sets of every- note because it was printed from the thing they issued. Remember, this same plate as the original note. was many years ago and I have been Many articles have been written ordering them ever since. Not all of about souvenir cards, and several the offers presented by the BEP are for dealers specialize in the collecting and currency. They also offer duck stamps, selling of those cards. One such dealer early postage stamps, etc., most any- who I have developed a friendship thing that is a paper collectible. with over the years is Ken Barr in the As I look over my collection, I San Jose area. Ken has written many fi nd many interesting copies of notes. articles on currency and is an avid col- One is card of the $20 large gold note lector of paper memorabilia. issued in 1905. I had a real nice crisp Over the years, almost every col- AU+ of the 1922 $20 large gold note, lectible large size note was reproduced which has the same basic design, so I as a souvenir card and I have quite a can relate to the beauty of such a note. few of the them. Some of the more The BEP issued the souvenir card at beautiful notes made into souvenir 12 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 Stacks is selling a “face proof” specimen of the 1891 silver certifi cate in an upcoming auction to be held at the end of September and beginning of October, touting it as “the rarest of the rare.” Once the sale is over you can check the price it went for (current estimate is $15,000 to $20,000), but I’ll bet it was far more expensive than the few dollars this souvenir card cost. (Ed.) cards which I have collected are: For several years the BEP pro- $1,000 Silver certifi cate reverse, 1891 duced a series that they called “Un- $1 Educational note obverse, 1896 fi nished Masterpieces” which were $2 Treasury note reverse, 1890 souvenir cards of currency that was $1,000 Silver certifi cate obverse, 1891 designed for the general public but $2 US note obverse, 1917 never printed. That series of notes is $20 US note obverse, 1875 $20 Treasury note obverse, 1890 extremely interesting. $50 US note obverse, 1874 For those of you that collect $5,000 US note obverse, 1878 currency and fi nd that the market is $5 National bank note reverse, 1875 “extreme“ when it comes to purchas- $5 National bank note reverse, 1918 ing that favorite note you have been $1,000 US note obverse, 1869 longing for, be sure and look into what $1,000 “Watermelon” note obverse, 1890 is available as a souvenir card, which $2 US note obverse, 1917 when purchased from the BEP costs $500 Federal Reserve note obverse, 1914 about $5.50 (a nice savings from the $1 Treasury note obverse, 1890 $100 US note obverse, 1869 real thing). The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 13 ThroughThrough thethe Numismatic Glass:Glass: NonaNona Moore - the NASC’sNASC’s First LadyLady byby Dr. Thomas F. Fitzgerald

On April 24, 2010 the Covina Coin from their grandfather. By 1961 she ClubClub held their annual CCoin-O-Ramaoin-O-Rama discovered the opportunity of becom- inin Arcadia. But this was not just anoth- inging a coin dealer, and set up her fi rst er in a long succession of the Covina tabletable at her fi rst coin show in 1964. cclub’slub’s shows. This one was very spe- She became the most popular dealerdealer ccialial becbecauseause it wwasas ththee fi nal cocoinin sshowhow onon the fl oor with a large stock of forfor NASC’s First Lady, Nona Moore. eign coins, tokens and medals. In fact, Every year since 1964, anyone visiting you would not have to walk around tthehe CCovinaovina show would fi nd Nona’s thethe bourse looking for her table, just ttablesables by making a sharp left turn looklook fforor a ccrowdrowd ooff cocollectorsllectors at oonene ooff uuponpon entering the bourse area. Or they thethe dealer’s tables, and you would be ccouldould simply look for a crowd of col- at her table. There was always some- llectorsectors planning on adding treasures to thingthing for everyoneeveryone.. ttheirheir cocollectionsllections NonaNona Moore’sMoore’s homehome cclublub wwasas ththee JJimim Hunt had written about this Fontana UUnitednited Numismatists which sspecialpecial lady in his “Numismatic Lu- sheshe joined in 1960. At one time she mminary”inary” column in the fall 2008 issue mademade Fontana her home. Among heherr of TheThe California NumismatistNumismatist. HeHe proteges are the immediate past presi- wwroterote that NNonaona MMooreoore wwasas bobornrn in dent of the NASC, Tony Micciche CCambridge,ambridge, Minnesota, 90 years ago. and NASCNASC Past President and CCorre-orre- She earned her bachelor degree from spondingsponding Secretary Harold Katzman. tthehe University of Minnesota with a They found many items to add to theirtheir mmajorajor in music and a minor in history collectioncollection and she was never too busy and business. SheShe was married forfor to taktakee ccareare ooff ththem.em. almost 50 years to Dr. George Moore, a dedentist.ntist. NonaNona Moore and the NASCNASC Nona Moore caught the “numis- The combination of the NASCNASC and mmaticatic bug” over 50 years ago when NonaNona MooreMoore cannotcannot be oveoverstated.rstated. heherr sosonsns receivedreceived LinLincolncoln cecentnt boobooksks SheShe served as a board member of this 14 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 organizationorganization (1976-78), Vice Presi- banquet in 1985 continued to pay dent ((1978),1978), and President-Elect in tributetribute to this special lady as she was 1979. Nona Moore was installed as the selectedselected by Krause Publications with nnewlyewly elected president of the NASC theirtheir greatest honor, the Numismatic at their annual banquet on January 25, AmbassadorAmbassador Award, presented to herher 1980 along with Vice President Dr. by Cliff Mishler.Mishler. Tom Fitzgerald and Recording Secre- ItIt isis cocommonmmon fforor aavidvid cocollectorsllectors ttaryary Albertus Hoogeveen. ofof coins,coins, medals and tokenstokens,, to have NANASCSC President Nona Moore otherother hhobbiesobbies anandd NNonaona MMooreoore iiss nnoo for the fi rst time in the history of the exception. In addition to numismatic NASC had special medals struck that items,items, she has collected antiques, ce- were presented to everyone who at- ramicsramics and books. Perhaps her favorite ttendedended her banquet. mightmight be her large collection of ducks IItt wwasas statedstated eearlierarlier in thithiss artiarticlecle which now numbers over 2,000.2,000. If it tthathat she was very important to formeformerr lookslooks like a duckduck,, sounds like a duckduck,, NANASCSC Presidents Harold Katzman and itit probably found a home in Nona Tony Micciche. In fact she was inter- Moore’sMoore’s duckduck collection.collection. ested in and supported all younger nu- mmismatists.ismatists. Beginning in 1983 Nona ItIt hashas beebeenn thithiss wwriter’sriter’s hhonoronor anandd Moore sponsored an annual JunioJuniorr privilege to share his love of numis- Literary Award. She continues to en- maticsmatics with Nona for fi fty years. But ccourageourage and support young collectors itit is not the offi ces held by both of us, wwhoho areare intinterestederested in nnumismatics.umismatics. thethe articles that have been published oorr thethe recognitions that have been earned, SpSpecialecial Honors forfor ratherrather it is the people, the collectors NNonaona Moore and supporters of this hobby that make AAmongmong her many awards is a fi rst itit so special and thus so important. So place literary award from the NASC in thisthis author joins with so many others 2003. In 1985 Nona Moore received as we say thank you and God bless tthehe NASC’s most prestigious recogni- you to the NASC’s “First Lady”, Nona ttionion wwhenhen sshehe rreceivedeceived ththee RiRichardchard PP.. Moore.Moore. GGoodsonoodson Memorial Award. The annual The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 15 C by Len Ratzman

One of the lesser-known rules in forming Roman numeral values is that any letter in the system with a bar over it designates the number is multiplied by 1,000. So, the letter “C” equals 100 in Roman numerals but with the bar over it, represents 100,000. (42,000 divided by 12) sheets printed The article’s title, therefore, was totaled 42 trillion dollars. Determin- just a sneaky way to draw your at- ing how many were destroyed since tention to the fact that it’s all about then, how many sheets survived intact the unique history of the Series 1934, and how many partial sheets or single $100,000 Gold Certifi cate printed certifi cates exist on display today for only 3 weeks from December 18, is a challenge for any researcher to 1934 to January 9, 1935 and, among determine. The Richmond, Virginia other unique features, was the highest Federal Reserve Bank, for example, denomination note this country has has a virtual tour web site that displays ever produced. an original, uncut, 12 specimen sheet Most sources researched don’t of the certifi cates. It can be viewed mention the designer and main en- by keying in: www.Richmondfed.org/ graver responsible for the note, but the about_us/visit_us/tours/money_mu- Bureau of Engraving and Printing’s seum/index.cfm. web site gives credit where credit is The resultant screen will display due. an option “Virtual Money Museum- “Our records indicate that Victor S. Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond”. McClosky, Jr. was the designer of the Scroll down to the option entitled $100,000 Gold Certifi cate, Series 1934 “Large Denomination Currency” and that William Bulmer Wells was and click on it. The fi rst display will one of several engravers that worked start with the uncut sheet (totaling on the note. $1,200,000) but will soon, automati- During that 3-week time span, cally, change to a display of a single, 42,000 certifi cates rolled off the $10,000 bill. The changes will contin- presses. Unlike today’s bills-per- ue until all the fi ve, high-denomination sheet count, in 1934, a sheet of bills specimens have been displayed. produced by the Bureau of Engraving Session two of the 73rd Congress and Printing held 12 notes; 6 down drafted the signifi cant law that autho- and 2 across. Representing $1,200,000 rized the Bureau of Engraving and per sheet, a quick calculation to gain Printing to begin printing the certifi - perspective reveals that the 3500 cates: 16 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 President Woodrow Wilson holds the place of honor on the nation’s highest denomination bill.

“The document that authorized the for transactions between FRB’s and printing of the $100,000 Gold Certifi - were not circulated among the general cates was Public law 73-87, signed by public.” President Roosevelt on January 30, Because the certifi cates were not 1934.” The law can be found in its created for public consumption, their entirety in volume 48, beginning in purchase, ownership or sale is, to this chapter 6, page 337 of the series titled day, illegal. “Statutes at Large of the United States That’s why you never see one of America.” advertised in any of the coin publica- Unlike all the other, 11, lower tions or the Internet web sites created denominations created, the Series by dealers specializing in high-denom- 1934, $100,000 Gold Certifi cates were ination, US paper currency. the only notes not created for public “The $100,000 Gold Certifi cate use. As the Bureau of Engraving and was used only for offi cial transactions Printing’s web site explains, these between Federal Reserve Banks and notes “…were issued by the Trea- was not circulated among the general surer of the United States to Federal public. This note cannot be legally Reserve banks (FRB) only against an held by currency note collectors.” If it equal amount of gold bullion held by were ever made legal to own, it would the Treasury. These notes were used surely cause a frenetic bidding war The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 17 and easily bring a seven-fi gure bid CC.. Douglas Dillon (under Lyndon B. at auction. Can you even guess what JJohnson),ohnson), introduced a bill on April 4, an uncut,uncut, 12 certifi cate sheet would 1964 which lifted the ban on owner- dedemandmand at aauction?uction? sshiphip of gold certifi cates which had IInn apparent defi ance and violation existed for 30 years. Unfortunately, ooff President Roosevelt’s, May 15, tthishis “lifting” apparently did not apply 1933 Executive OOrderrder #6102 recall- ttoo the $100$100,000,000 Gold Certifi catecate.. iingng all gold coins, bullion and Gold A second “lifting” on the ban on CCertiertifi cates, the Bureau of Engraving ggoldold certifi cate ownership was enacted and Printing began printing out the iinn 1974 butbut,, like the 1964 statutestatute,, fi rst,rst, 1934 SeriesSeries,, $100$100,000,,000, Gold didn’t apply to the $100,000 certifi - CCertiertifi cates 19 months after the recall ccate.ate. proclamation was issued. Even the Na- ““DecemberDecember 3131,, 1974. The ban on ttionalional Museum of American History (a private ownership and trading of gold ““branch”branch” of the Smithsonian Behring by U.S. citizens was ended.” (Public CCenter)enter) mentions their confusion oveoverr Law 93-373, 88 stat. 445445)) tthehe apparent confl ict.ict. Fortunately, several institutions ““TheThe GGoldold CCertiertifi cate SSerieseries of hhadad the foresight to preserve one oorr 1934 poses a slight puzzle since the mmoreore specimens for public display UUnitednited States was off the gold stan- and can be seen at the SmithsonianSmithsonian,, dard by 1934.” tthehe Bureau of Engraving and Printing The explanation is relatively iinn Washington, DC and some of the ssimple.imple. Since the $100,000 Gold 1212,, Federal Reserve District banks CCertiertifi cate didn’t even exist in 1933 around the country who either display when the recall occurredoccurred,, it was not an actual specimen, uncut sheet or a coconsiderednsidered oorr mmentionedentioned in ththee ExExecu-ecu- photograph of one for viewers to see ttiveive Order. According to a National during the public tours of the respec- AArchivesrchives RResearchesearch AAdministrationdministration ttiveive money museumsmuseums.. oofffi cial,cial, the Gold Reserve Act of Since it hasn’t happened by now, 1934 authorized the creation of the tthere’shere’s virtually no cchancehance that ththee cecer-r- ccertiertifi cate which was, “… approved ttiifi cates’ private citizen’s ownership by the President on January 30, 1934, will someday be made legal which, Presidential Proclamation No. 2072 nnoo doubtdoubt,, would create a furor in the ssignedigned by the President on January 30, nnumismaticumismatic community when the fi rst, 1934 and Treasury Regulations issued $$100,000100,000 Gold Certifi cate were to be JJanuaryanuary 30-31, 1934.” put up for bidding in a major auction. TToo aaccommodateccommodate nnumismatistsumismatists WWhathat a shame! everywhere, Secretary of the Treasury,

18 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 Michael Aron is buying! See our full-page color ad on the inside of the front cover...

The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 19 It Makes Cents: Alexander Hamilton, Our Pioneer Money Man by Dr. Sol Taylor

Alexander Hamilton was born created or pushed for a decimal coin- on the Caribbean island of Nevis on age system with some resemblance to January 11, 1757 (or possibly 1755 existing British coinage. Ten copper according to some records). pennies would equal one silver dime, Of all the members of the group ten silver dimes would equal one we know as the “Founding Fathers” silver dollar and the ten silver dollars he was the only one not born in one would equal one gold eagle. In 1792 of the 13 colonies. His involvement in the only offi cially issued coins were the Revolutionary War and the Conti- a handful of half dimes (5 cent coins) nental Congress are well documented and a smaller number of dimes—the and a major part of his history. silver purportedly coming from the Most Americans know of him from personal silverware of the Martha the portrait on our ten dollar bill. He Washington household. The cop- has been a feature of that denomina- per cents were fashioned in size and tion for more than 75 years and previ- content to the English penny and the ously appeared on other denomina- silver dollar roughly equal to the Brit- tions before then. ish silver crown. He was appointed by President The gold eagle was roughly George Washington in 1789 as our equivalent to two British sovereigns fi rst secretary of the Treasury. He or two Guineas (21 shillings each). held that post until January 31, 1795. Production of the full line of coinage In that time he made several major was delayed due to a lack of bullion changes to our budding fi nancial situ- and equipment including dies to make ation. He authorized the fi rst United the other denominations. The quarter States Mint in Philadelphia. The report was fi rst issued in 1796 and several for the establishment of a mint was years passed until more quarters were presented to the House of Represen- minted. Likewise, the early years saw tatives in 1791. Construction began very limited issues of all coins—in shortly thereafter and the Mint offi - fact far less than the population of the cially opened in 1792 with equipment major cities of the time. purchased from European sources Hamilton’s concept was to have a and skilled engravers and die makers coinage in which all other coins were also mostly of European origins. He reckoned on a decimal United States 20 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 Alexander Hamilton was a major force behind the decimalization of our fl edgling country’s coinage system. Ten cents to a dime; ten dimes to a dollar, and ten dollars to an eagle.

basis. Previ- ously, and for much of the early years, currency exchanges dealt with coins of at least a dozen foreign countries and compa- nies that traded in the Colonies. He founded the fi rst national bank Hee was a against strong opposition from Thom- delegatedeelelegag te from as Jefferson as a part of the strengthen- New York to the Congress of Con- ing of the federal role in government. federation from 1788-1789 and also He initiated the Coast Guard. a delegate from New York to the He was also a staunch Federalist— Constitutional Convention in 1787. He that is the power of the country was in was a strong advocate of the separa- the hands of the central government tion of powers—legislative, executive, with less rights for the states—a fact and judicial. which eventually was detailed in the In 1801 he established a daily Constitution. During the Revolution- newspaper, the New York Evening ary War he served as an offi cer and Post. It survives today as the New Aide-de-camp to General Washington York Post. rising eventually to the rank of major In his later years (ironically he general before the fi nal battle of the died at the young age of 47 or maybe war at Yorktown. 49), he ran into political scuffl es with The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 21 Pistols used by Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr belonged to Hamilton’s brother-in-law, and were the same that Hamilton’s son Philip had used three years earlier in a duel resulting in his death at age 19. Both father’s and son’s duels were held at the same dueling grounds.

Hamilton is commemorated on a 24-cent stamp from the island of Nevis.

Hamilton’s portrait on the ten-dollar bill has been in place for more than 75 years.

several of the Founding Fathers and Taylor is a past president of NASC (1975) especially Aaron Burr. In a duel held and winner of the Richard Goodson Award in New Jersey, Hamilton was fatally (1999). He holds numerous Karl Brainard wounded and died the next day July and other awards for his articles in the NASC and TCN journals. He has been a 12, 1804. He was buried at Trinity regular contributor to the NASC Quarterly Church in lower Manhattan. His wife and The California Numismatist for more who died in 1854 is also buried there. than 40 years. He holds life member- They had eight children and ironically ships: NASC L21, ANA L805, TAMS L79, their eldest son Philip was killed in Whittier Coin Club L2, and Society of a duel in 1801. Another son born in Lincoln Cent Collectors L1. Taylor was 1802 was also named Philip. the founder and president for the next 27 His biography contains many years of SLCC before retiring in 2009. He chapters of the trials of a infant United is currently a Realtor with Rodeo Realty in Studio City and just observed his 25th States and the power players of the year in the ﬁ eld. His prior profession was time. His economic concepts won over associate professor of education at Chap- such diverse supporters years later as man College (1971-1982). Going back to the Meiji rulers of Japan and Germa- 1960-1971 he was a biology teacher at Si- ny’s Kaiser Wilhelm, and is consid- erra High School in Whittier (1960-1967) ered the “patron saint” of the Ameri- and an administrator at California High can School of economic philosophy. School also in Whittier (1967-1971). A more complete view of the man and his achievements can be found on-line Taylor will be writing a new recurring column in TCN, so look forward to our next by Googling “Alexander Hamilton”. issue for the next installment. 22 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 ANA Report by Jim Hunt

August 15th is the deadline to He has received the Medal of Merit, submit my report to TCN. I will be on Glenn Smedley Memorial Award, a plane, fl ying back from the Boston Exemplary Service Award, Numisma- ANA convention on that day so I tist of the Year, Lifetime Achievement thought I’d better do my report before Award, and the ANA’s highest honor, I leave. Over the last few months the Farran Zerbe Memorial Award for there has been a lot of news about the Distinguished Service. convention and I have covered some During the time that Chet served of it in my last ANA report. I will have on the board, the ANA hired a new plenty of news about the convention executive director, stabilized its fi - for my next report. As for this report, nances, increased donations, expanded well?... educational programs and approved a The biggest non-convention news third annual show. coming out of the ANA concerns the Chet will be succeeded by Alan resignation of Chet Krause from the Herbert, who will be installed at the board of governors. Chet has found Boston ANA con- it diffi cult to travel these days and vention. Herbert decided that he had previously ccould best serve served on the tthe ANA by board of gover- rrelinquishing his nors from 1999 sseat on the board. to 2001, again in HHe has served on 2003 to 2007, and tthe board for the fi nally from 2008 llast three years, to 2009 when he hhaving been re- was appointed to eelected in 2009. succeed Governor Radford Stearns CChet is truly who had passed away. He is known as among the ANA’s greatest personages. “The Answer Man” in his columns in He has received virtually every honor Numismatic News and other popular that the organization can bestow. numismatic publications. The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 23 Half-Dollar Has-Beens by Jim Wells

America’s venerable half dollars of its 217-year life. As its mintage rose have withstood the ups and downs and fell, it was frequently more im- of our nation’s history and economy. portant than its big brother, the silver Numismatists are well familiar with dollar. It has shared a similar image these ﬁ fty-cent coins. Indeed, so are of Miss Liberty with several other most Americans, even though the denominations, starting with the Flow- denomination has been disappearing ing Hair and Draped Bust designs in from circulation lately. the eighteenth century, and the Capped Less familiar are the numerous Bust, Liberty Seated, and “Barber” substitutes for half dollars that have designs of the nineteenth century. In sprung up to meet periods of monetary the twentieth century it earned its own crisis or times of special coinage needs designs, featuring Liberty Walking, in our nation’s history. These substi- Benjamin Franklin, and John Ken- tutes have often disappeared as rapidly nedy. And the half dollar for years was as they appeared, and could rightfully the preferred denomination for com- be called “half-dollar has-beens.” memorative coins, used for 48 designs Since the US half dollar coin was of the “classic” series (1892-1951) and introduced in 1794, more than 5.5 bil- 17 of the “modern” series so far (1982 lion have been produced in 204 years to date). All remain legal tender at ﬁ fty

America’s regular-issue half-dollars have been popular with collectors, but sometimes insuf- ﬁ cient for trade.

24 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 Paper half dollars from the Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Georgia were issued before and after the Declaration of Independence. cents, even if their numismatic value history of the United States. Because has soared, and all have been well few coins—and none worth fi fty documented in numismatic literature. cents—were minted in the thirteen But the mints’ half dollar coins colonies that became the United States have not always been suffi cient for in 1776, foreign coins like the Spanish our nation’s commerce. At various Milled Dollar and its fractions were times over the centuries, coins from widely circulated. Colonial govern- or for other nations, tokens, and paper ments sometimes issued paper money money have substituted for the popu- to facilitate economic activity. The lar half dollar coin, as well as other British Parliament passed Currency denominations. Times of war, depres- Acts in 1751, 1764, and 1773 that sion, resettlement, and economic regulated colonial paper money. upheaval have brought out a variety Most of the currency produced of substitutes for our federal coin- by colonies was based on the English age. Most have had a short life, and monetary system of pounds, shil- then were discontinued or declared no lings, and pence; others were based longer legal. These substitutes each on the Spanish Milled Dollar. In 1767 have colorful histories and formats Maryland was the fi rst colony to issue that enhance our federal coinage or dollar-denominated notes, includ- could serve as a collection theme by ing unusual $1/9, $1/6, $2/9, $1/3, themselves. $1/2, and $2/3 notes, all with a stated Described here are several of the shilling and pence rate. Maryland’s “has-been” substitutes for half dollar half dollar note, for example, equaled coins. 2 shillings, 3 pence. New York and North Carolina followed with half dol- 1760s-1770s: Colonial and lar notes in 1775. After independence Continental Currency was declared, Georgia and Rhode Early American currency went Island printed half dollar notes starting through several stages of development in late 1776. During the American in the colonial and post-Revolutionary Revolution, the colonies became The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 25 independent states; and freed from currency, or Continentals. Continental British monetary regulations, they Currency was denominated in dollars issued paper money to pay for military from 1/6 of a dollar to $80, including expenses. many odd denominations in between. The Continental Congress also Continental Currency depreciated issued paper money, known as Con- rapidly during the war, giving rise to tinental Currency, to fund the Revolu- the famous phrase “not worth a conti- tionary War effort. But with little gold nental.” By the end of 1778, Continen- or silver backing, both state and Con- tals retained from 1/5 to 1/7 of their tinental Currency depreciated rapidly, face value. By 1780, the bills were becoming practically worthless by the worth 1/40th of face value. Congress end of the war. attempted to reform the currency by To address these and other removing the old bills from circulation problems, the United States Constitu- and issuing new ones, without success. tion, ratifi ed in 1788, denied indi- By May 1781, Continentals had be- vidual states the right to coin and print come so worthless that they ceased to money. The First Bank of the United circulate as money. In the 1790s, after States, chartered in 1791, and the the ratifi cation of the United States Coinage Act of 1792, began the era of Constitution, Continentals could be a national American currency. After exchanged for treasury bonds at 1% the American Revolutionary War be- of face value. Of course these onetime gan in 1775, the Continental Congress “has-beens” are popular with collec- issued $241,552,780 in Continental tors today!

Continental Currency half dollars featured Benjamin Franklin’s Fugio design and linked rings with the names of the 13 colonies. They soon were “not worth a continental.” Four reales from SSpainpaain aandnd their American domin-omin- ions were declaredred legal tender in the US,S, equaequall to ﬁ fty cents. Andnd even eight reales coinsns werweree occasionally cut in half to make a half dollar.r.

1790s-1850s: Foreign Silver until ﬁ nally outlawed by the Coinage For decades after its opening, the Act of 1857. US Mint struggled to produce enough coinage for the growing American 1850s: California Gold economy. Wars, lack of bullion, mint- During the 1850s gold rush, ing problems, politics, and other fac- small coins were in short supply in tors prevented the mints from reaching the remote, newly-minted state of their output goals. California. Small transactions were Starting in 1793, Congress granted funded with unfamiliar foreign coins legal tender status to selected for- or highly-questionable ‘pinches’ of eign coins. The 4 reales coins from gold dust. Enterprising individuals, Spain and their New World colonies especially jewelers in booming San in Bolivia, Chile, Guatemala, Peru, Francisco, minted quarter-, half-, and and Mexico were half the value of one-dollar gold coins to alleviate the the widely-accepted 8 reales Span- shortage of coins. Most of the half ish Milled Dollar. Most showed the dollars of 1852-1857 (called “Period king’s bust and the Pillars of Hercules One”) show a Liberty or Indian head surrounding the crowned coat of arms, and often “CAL” or “CALIFORNIA similar to the pillar dollars. These 4 GOLD.” Many show signs of circula- reales pieces were accepted at 50 cents tion and are close to standard weight for United States Government transac- for American gold coins of the period. tions. The legalization was originally Thirteen varieties of octagonal intended to last three years, but was halves and around 40 varieties of extended many times, and continued round halves were produced by at least

Octagonal and round gold half dollars were produced during California’s gold rush.

The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 27 a half a dozen private makers. The retary of the Treasury Salmon Chase Coinage Act of 1864 made this private asked for a new Fractional Currency coinage illegal, but similar, often un- that was harder to counterfeit than the derweight tokens were still produced. Postage Currency. The new Fractional These tiny treasures have attracted a Currency notes were more colorful growing numismatic following today, with printing on the reverse. even those which were holed for use Three subsequent issues of Frac- in jewelry. tional Currency were approved, each being more sophisticated, and expand- 1860s-1870s: Fractional ed to include 3 and 15 cent notes. In Currency the fourteen years (1862-76) of issue, At the beginning of the Civil War, about 369 million dollars worth in trade and commerce seemed to come 25 basic types was printed. Although to a sudden stop. Gold, silver, and still redeemable at face value today, copper coins were hoarded, and even it has been estimated that less than the simplest transactions could not be one percent still remains outstanding. completed. To overcome this problem, Fractional Currency served as a bridge the US government proposed the use between the all-metal “hard money” of fractional currency notes. period before 1861 and the metal and In 1862 Congress authorized an paper money combination period after issue of 5, 10, 25, and 50 cent notes. 1862. The ﬁ rst issues became known as Postage Stamp Currency because they 1860s: Confederate Half bore facsimiles of the then-current 5 Dollars and 10 cent postage stamps. Postage The War Between the States Currency (1st Issue) was never legal caused small coins to be hoarded on tender but could be exchanged for both sides, especially south of the United States Notes in $5 lots and re- Mason-Dixon Line. The Confederate ceivable in payment of all dues to the government issued fractional paper United States, up to $5. In 1863, Sec- money equal to half a dollar in 1863

Fifty-cent denominations were included in all ﬁ ve issues of Fractional Currency.

28 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 The Confederacy resorted to half-dollar notes, showing President Jefferson Davis.

and 1864. (And yes, after taking Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Missis- over the New Orleans Mint in 1861, sippi, Tennessee, South Carolina, and the Confederacy attempted to mint North Carolina all printed fi fty-cent fi fty-cent CSA coins, but was able notes. to produce only four. They did strike A major blunder of the Confeder- 962,633 half dollars using US dies ate government which contributed dated 1861.) to its downfall was the failure of the During the Confederacy’s ex- Confederate Congress to levy enough istence, paper money was not only taxes to fi nance the war. The Confed- issued by the central Confederate eracy instead, tried to fund itself and government in Richmond but also by back its currency with the millions of the individual southern state govern- cotton bales stored in Southern ports ments, local municipalities, numerous that were destined for Europe. But due private banks and even merchants. to a heavy world-wide surplus of cot- The Confederate states of Alabama, ton in the early 1860’s, and India and

Alabama, Florida, and Louisiana were among the Confederate States that issued ﬁ fty-cent paper money. The American- struck Hawaiian half evolved from a foreign coin to US legal tender to a has-been.

Egypt now supplying Europe with its system for the kingdom in 1846, tying cotton needs, the Confederate cotton it directly to that of the United States, sat unsold in warehouses and on the thus normalizing the rate of transac- docks, causing Confederate notes to tion of small change in the islands and ultimately become worthless paper. their corresponding values to United Likewise, some of the notes issued by States money. the states were backed by cotton, bond In 1883 the San Francisco Mint sales, or mere pledges redeemable struck coinage for the Kingdom of for goods or services. Many state- Hawaii. Ten, 25, 50 cent, and one issued notes were exchangeable for dollar coins all show Charles Bar- Confederate notes. By the end of the ber’s portrait of King Kalakaua I. war, most state-issued notes, like their After Hawaii became a US territory in Confederate counterparts, were worth- 1900, the coins were redeemed for US less “has-beens.” coins, and almost 90% were melted. They were US legal tender until 1904. 1900s: Hawaii Coinage Original mintage of the Hawaiian half In the early nineteenth century, dollar (called ‘Hapalua’) was 699,974; coined money was in great demand in the Kingdom of Hawaii, and was in continual shortage. In response, King Kamehameha III devised a monetary

Philippines Peso coins under US sovereignty identify both the Philippines (Filipinas in Spanish) and the USA.

30 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 Newly-arriving ARRC colonists are assigned to tents in 1935. They were issued “Bingles” based on the number of family dependents, and redeemable only at the ARRC stores.

some survivors are still available one-peso pieces of 1907-1912. The today. coins were hastily crated and dumped into Manila’s Caballo Bay to prevent 1900s-1910s: Philippines their capture. Partially recovered after Coinage the war, these coins were badly cor- After winning the Spanish- roded from their exposure to saltwater, American War, the US acquired the adding further to the scarcity of high- Philippines from Spain. The United grade prewar silver coins. The Philip- States Congress passed the Philippine pines became independent in 1946. Coinage Act in 1903, which fi xed the weight and fi neness of Philip- 1930s: Alaska Rural pine coins. The peso was defi ned as Rehabilitation Corporation being equal to exactly half the gold Tokens content of the US dollar, as defi ned by The Alaska Rural Rehabilitation the US Coinage Act of 1849. During Corporation (ARRC) was incorpo- 1903-1906, silver one-peso coins were rated in 1935 under the laws of the US struck in the Philadelphia and San territory of Alaska. It was founded as Francisco Mints, offi cially equal to 50 a non-profi t organization to adminis- US cents. But silver values fl uctuated, ter the colony of 202 families being and the silver content was reduced in relocated from the American Midwest. 1907-1912, using the same exchange The participants in this relocation ratio. were allocated a house, 40 acres of The Japanese invasion of the land, necessary tools and equipment. Philippines during World War II led The federal government provided loan to removal of much of the Treasury’s money to enable the colonists to set up bullion to the United States. More their farms and get established. ARRC than 15 million pesos’ worth of silver administered those long-term, low- remained, mostly in the form of these interest loans and managed the agri- The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 31 Half dollar MPCs spanned post-World War II (above) to Korea and Vietnam (below.) These were ‘converted’ on an unannounced ‘C-day’ then declared without value. cultural project on behalf of the US overseas campaigns and reduce government. Once the federal loans profi teering from currency arbitrage, were repaid, accrued interest remained the US military devised MPC paper in a revolving fund from which ARRC money denominated in amounts of 5, continued to make loans to farmers 10, 25, and 50 cents; and 1, 5, 10, and and others involved in agricultural (eventually) 20 dollars. pursuits. MPCs were fully convertible to The US government issued alumi- US dollars upon leaving a designated num tokens to the ARRC colonists in MPC zone and convertible to local 1, 5, 10, 25, 50 cent, and one dollar currencies when going on leave (but denominations, and brass 5 and 10 not vice-versa), and were illegal for dollar denominations. AARC tokens, unauthorized personnel to possess. called “Bingles,” were similar in size Although actual greenbacks were not to the corresponding US coin, and the circulating, many local merchants design was the same on both sides. accepted MPC on par with US dollars, The Bingles were used as federal aid as they knew they could use them on in 1935-1936, and were then redeemed the black market. This was especially for regular US money and destroyed. evident during the Vietnam War when Few of these has-beens have survived the MPC program was at its zenith. today. To prevent MPC’s from being used as a primary currency in the host 1940s-1970s: Military country, thereby destroying the local Payment Certifi cates currency value and economy, MPC MPC’s were used by our deployed banknote style would occasionally armed forces from the end of World change. Many veterans can recount a War II until the end of the Vietnam conversion day, or “C-day.” C-days in War. To eliminate US dollars from Vietnam were always classifi ed, never 32 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 pre-announced. On C-day, soldiers system, presently used by US armed would be restricted to base, prevent- forces in Iraq. Stored Value Cards are ing GIs from helping Vietnamese similar to prepaid debit cards, so they civilians--especially local bars, broth- have no designated denomination. els, bar girls and other black market people--from converting old MPC to What is the next “has-been”? The the newer style MPC. Since Vietnam- “has-been” California fractional gold, ese were not allowed to convert and Hawaii and Philippine halves, Span- frequently lost savings by holding ish four reales, and Alaskan Bingles old worthless MPC, they would be may no longer be legal tender, but very angry about their MPC loss and their numismatic values have soared “arrange” to have the nearest US base far above their former monetary value. rocketed or mortared the next night. Similarly, Continental currency, Civil Thirteen series of MPC were is- War notes, Fractional Currency, and sued between 1946 and 1973; over military payment certifi cates are also half included a half-dollar denomina- avidly collected, and most command tion. Layers of line lithography were nice premiums. Now it seems the used to create colorful banknotes that genuine fi fty cent pieces themselves could be produced cheaply, and their are in jeopardy. Few have been used in varied designs were often compared to circulation lately. The Mints’ pro- Monopoly money due to their colors. duction since 2002 has been mostly After the Vietnam War MPC was for collectors, and not for general never again issued, and the concept circulation. Will this coin, that most lay dormant until the late ‘90s when it collectors admire, become the next was replaced by a Stored Value Card ‘has-been’?

Is this the next “has-been”?

The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 33 Do We Still Have a $20 Hobby? by Mark Benvenuto

If you are like many collectors, group that they know they can sell for you may have spent a bit of time won- a profi t. This isn’t being crafty, sneaky, dering just where our hobby has been or cheap. Dealers have to live and going since 2007. With the economic have to eat. The coin business isn’t the slump, then the proclamations of grocery business, meaning you can’t recovery, you can’t help but wonder eat what you don’t sell. The profi t they where that recovery really is when make—the difference between what gold fl irts with price tags like $1,250 they spend for a coin, and what they per ounce, and when silver gets close sell it for—it what keeps the food on to $20 per ounce. It makes a person their tables. So, what happens to the wonder if there I still anything out many coins in a purchase that aren’t there that doesn’t automatically have a really big ticket items, but that might hefty price tag slapped on it. have been purchased along with those For all of us who pine for some potential gems? They end up in the bygone day when coins were cheap (if bargain bin. there ever really was one), we present Also known as the junk box, dealer for your collecting pleasure a laundry bargain bins can be the home of some list of what can still be added to a col- wonderful U.S. coins. Proof quarters, lection for $20. Here we go. nickels, dimes, and cents that have been cracked out of US Mint cases First: Dealer bargain bins of cents, sometimes end up here, often for only nickels, dimes, and quarters. a dollar or two. A person with a bit of If you patience can assemble a date run of have always any or all of these denominations. Ad- been the type ditionally, there are plenty of bins that of collector to have been sorted according to denomi- wander past nation and series. Wheat back cents these jum- come quickly to mind as a coin that bled, often ends up in plenty of “copper bargain chaotic offer- bins,” if that is a proper term. Loads ings, slow down. Smell the roses, as it of these go for much less than a dollar were. Dealers often buy large numbers per coin. Older Jefferson nickels, as of coins for a select few within the well as well-circulated Buffalo nick- 34 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 els, are also the stuff of bargain bins. per coin in a grade such as extra fi ne. Silver isn’t entirely absent from There’s a pretty trio that a person on a the bargain bin either. Roosevelt dimes budget can still collect. are often found in them, as well as The Peace dollars are just about al- some of the more common Mercury ways check by jowl with the Morgans dimes. A person with a keen eye and when it comes to dealer selections. some patience can assemble some The most common Peace dollar is the good looking date runs for $20 or less. 1922, with a mintage of a whopping If you move up to quarters, you’ll 51.7 million coins to its offi cial tally. receive less of them for your $20 Today you can nab one in almost un- than you will dimes, but some careful circulated condition for $20. But don’t searching can land you a handful of stop with just this one Peace dollar. silver Washington, or even Stand- Take a look through any of the refer- ing Liberty, quarters. Certainly, these ence price lists and you’ll fi nd several won’t be mint state specimens, but of these large, silver disks that list at they can still be handsome coins. just about the same price tag.

Second: Silver dollars in circu- Third: Franklin half dollars. lated, but attractive conditions. Tempting Okay, though the if smaller Walking Lib- U.S. coins erty half dol- aren’t your lars are, let’s bag, there simply forget are still some them for the bargains moment, and to be had go to a half among what dollar series are arguably that will be much friendlier to you and the most collected of US silver coins, your $20 bill. The Franklin half dollars the Morgan and Peace dollars. Those always seem to be in the shadow of big, fat Morgans are not entirely out the Walking halves, but that’s a good of reach, although $20 will only get thing when we are looking to keep our you one. The common dates, such as costs down. The bad news for these the 1879, the 1880, the 1880-S and the coins is that if you want a proof Frank- 1881-S to name a few examples, can lin half dollar, you will have to part be had for about $20 each in grades with at least $40 to get one. The good such as very ﬁ ne. Again, these aren’t news is that if you want to assemble mint state gems, but they aren’t dogs a collection of circulated Franklin either. halves, virtually every single date and The tail end of the Morgan dollar mint mark are available for less than series also has a few promising items. $20. The common dates are usually Speciﬁ cally, the 1921, as well as its $15 - $20 in the low end of mint state. siblings from Denver and San Fran- Even the key coin to the series, the cisco, can all be had for about $20 1955, can be had for about $20 in

The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 35 almost uncirculated. And, if you drop posed to a specifi c denomination – can down a couple of grades, the Franklin be a fun challenge. Plenty of Indian halves become truly inexpensive. Head cents can be had in F-12 for only a couple of dollars. Believe it or not, Fourth: Circulated Liberty nickels. a few of the common date two-cent Let’s take coppers can also be had in this grade a step back for about $20. As well, quite a few to a base of the three-cent nickel pieces are metal series, available for $20 or less in F-12. A but also a few of the latter year half dimes also step back in qualify as $20 coins. We’ve already time, and add mentioned the Liberty Head nickels, the Liberty but the common Buffalo nickels can nickels to our be had in the same grade, often for “under $20” less than $5. Quite a few common list. Almost every collector on the date Seated Liberty dimes fall into planet knows about the 1913 rarity; this price zone, as do numerous com- and collectors who have looked at this mon Barber dimes. On top of all that, series in detail know that the 1912-D several of the Seated Liberty quarters, and 1912-S are key coins as well. But and even a few of the Standing Liberty look at the common dates—which quarters can be had at this grade for generally means everything from the $20, or a bit less. It’s only when we 1883 without the word “CENTS” on get to half dollars and dollars that the the reverse, right up to the 1912. The silver content starts to get in the way. mintages were always in the mil- But we’ve already seen that there are lions, and often in the tens of millions. possibilities in the Franklin halves, as Your $20 can get you a lot of these well as the Morgan and Peace dollars. nickels, depending upon the condi- Thus, if you are willing to look at a tion you want. Many of them will run solid but circulated grade, you can still only $1 - $2 in the lower circulated fi nd quite a bit within the many U.S. grades. Grades such as fi ne to very series. fi ne straddle the line from $5 to $15. It seems there’s a lot still to be had in Sixth: Foreign coins from countries this series, even if your budget is tight. now in the euro zone. What happens if you Fifth: The oldest U.S. coin you want to get can fi nd in out of United fi ne, or F-12 States coin- condition. age though? This kind Well, how of collect- about taking ing – looking a look at for a specifi c some of the grade, as op- many coins that were used not so long

36 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 ago in the countries that now use euros coins of the world that come in at the as their common currency? There are same price tag. Have you ever looked German marks, French francs, Italian at the trade dollars of Britain? How lira, Austrian schillings, Spanish pese- about the large, silver Japanese yen of tas, Dutch guilders, and a host of other the last century? The large, silver piec- nations’ coins out there, all waiting es of South America also shouldn’t be to be examined by collectors. It can counted out. And of course, the larger be a whole new world, especially if coins we just mentioned, of many you have always concentrated on U.S. European countries, can also fall into coinage before. this category. When it comes to the Now, certainly, there are no blue numismatic version of globetrotting, books with neat holes for each of $20 can still take you pretty far. these European pieces. But look at a Standard Catalog of World Coins and Well, that list lengthened rather ﬁ nd out just how each system was set quickly. Please note, we haven’t up before they made the switch, and included anything made of gold. you’ll have some idea of where you Every coin made with it is simply too might want to start. For example, there expensive right now. Also, we haven’t were 100 pfennigs in each German included U.S. or foreign bullion coins, mark, with the largest coin being the even those made of silver. They can be 5 mark piece. Or, the Italian lira origi- fun series to collect, but again, are too nally broke down into 100 centisimi, expensive for our purposes. Finally, decades ago. The Italian government we haven’t included any older U.S., had seen so much of the value bleed large, copper series. Though these away from the lira over time though are purely collector coins, old copper that there were 500 lira coins on one seems to rise with the prices of silver end, and small, aluminum 5 and 10 and gold. lira coins on the other, at least right at But hey, we have proved that a the time of the switch. Look in detail single piece of U.S. currency with at some of the other nations in Europe. President Jackson’s face on it can Then, go look through some dealers’ still buy a serious numismatist some stocks, perhaps at the next show you serious fun, even when the economy attend. You’ll ﬁ nd plenty of these at $1 is rough. What will be your next $20 or less. venture into fun?

Seventh: Silver crown-sized coins of the world. If there are Morgan and Peace dollars to be had at $20, there have to be some crown-sized

The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 37 Numismatic Luminary by Jim Hunt Our numismatic luminary was CSNA, to have PCNS host the 50th born as Ruth Ludwigsen in New CSNA convention with her as general Jersey, graduated high school in chairman. She rented the Palace Hotel 1946, and has a B.S. degree in Home in San Francisco and chaired one of Economics from Central College in CSNA’s more memorable conventions Iowa. She soon realized that teaching in April of 1972 was not in her future and applied to At the same time, Mint Direc- Eastern Airlines in New York to be a tor Mary Brooks announced that the stewardess. She was turned down for restoration of the Old Mint in San the job she wanted because she was Francisco would begin. Through the too tall. In the 1950’s, you had to be efforts of devoted CSNA and PCNS no taller than 5 foot 6 inches to be members, both organizations were a stewardess. But she was offered a able to get in on the ground fl oor of job in the reservation department and the mint activities. Ruth was asked by stayed for a few years. She accepted a Mary Brooks to arrange for punch and job with a public relations fi rm as traf- cookies to be served to all the dignitar- fi c manager and a few years later, after ies who attended the grand reception a vacation trip to Hawaii, decided that at the offi cial opening ceremonies. San Francisco is where she wanted to One of the highlights of her numis- live. matic life had to be when she was She went to work at L & H mixing punch in one of the big vaults Paint Company where she met Frank off to the side of the reception room Strazzarino. One day, bemoaning the with a million dollars in gold bars in fact that she was having a diffi cult the adjoining vault. time fi nding a potential husband, he Because of the close association suggested she join a coin club that he with CSNA and Everett Phillips, belonged to, the Pacifi c Coast Numis- she got her wish and was married to matic Society (PSNS). She stated she Everett in 1972 and moved to Fresno. knew nothing about coins and he said Both PCNS and CSNA struck medals all the more reason to join. She at- for the event, dubbed the “Marriage of tended her fi rst meeting with him and the Presidents”. was hooked. She immediately became Ruth’s main collecting interests an involved club member and eventu- are in commemoratives and exonumia, ally became the fi rst woman president mainly elongated coins, tokens, and of PCNS. While president, Ruth was inexpensive foreign coins. What she asked by Everett Phillips, who was doesn’t know about coins and grading a lawyer and current president of in particular, she depends on other ex- 38 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 When they were married in 1972, Ruth and Everett Phillips’s nup- tials were commemorated by both CSNA and PCNS with the below two medals.

perts for advice. She is well known to does she think she is?” The reply was, many people in the hobby. Her favor- “Son, you just met Ruth Phillips.” ite numismatic story involves a young Ruth believes that if you belong hot-shot dealer and a seasoned dealer to a club, you should be an active par- at a big coin show. She was asked by ticipant in the organization and thinks a fellow coin club member to sell a people who boast about belonging beautiful set of Peace Dollars for him. to 25 or 30 clubs are insane, having She offered the them to a young hot- more money than good sense. She shot dealer who complained that the believes that if you belong to a club, coins were all over-graded. Knowing you should contribute all you can. that they were not over-graded made She belongs to CSNA, PCNS, Fresno her mad and she told the dealer that he Numismatic Society (FNS), The was trying to buy them cheap and then Elongated Collector (TEC), California he would turn around and upgrade Exonumist Society (CES), and the them when he sold them. She told him American Numismatic Association that he made it hard for honest dealers (ANA). She has served as President to make a proﬁ t and that she would of CSNA, FNS, and PCNS. She has never sell him any coins. She left his served as editor of The Medallion table angry and noticed the dealer at (CES) and as Interim-Librarian for the next table listening and chuckling CSNA for many years. She never over the incident. She heard the young wanted to be the CSNA librarian, just dealer ask the other dealer, “Who Continued on page 46... The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 39 Golden State Coin Show and Banquet Report We’ll cover the Golden State Coin Show and CSNA convention in our usual photo format. In summary though, it was an excellent show in many respects, though attendance was only about average. The banquet was a delightful gathering and included a “pre-roast” of Banquet Coordinator Joyce Kuntz, the of- ﬁ cial roast of Jim Hunt, the presentation of the exhibit awards and the TCN literary awards. The format for the show and banquet will obviously change next year as CSNA has elected to hold a separate show, ending a 21- year joint effort. Read elsewhere in this and upcoming TCN issues for more on this topic. Now, on to the photos and the awards reports...

Right top and bottom: ﬁ rst Joyce Kuntz and then Jim Hunt get “roasted” by Master of Ceremonies Phil Iversen. Looks like Jim was feeling the “hot seat” a bit more than the amused Joyce.

Below: Coco’s served up the usual feast of all- you-can-eat salmon, chicken, and prime rib. Yum! Salads, desserts, drinks, and more rounded it out.

40 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 Above: (from left) Walt Ostromecki, Albertus Hoogeveen, and Cole Sche- newerk all worked together on the stunningly successful Boy Scout Merit Badge Workshop. It drew 89 scouts as well as 54 parents and scout leaders. Wow! Gotta believe some of those seeds will sprout in the years ahead.

Also drawing attention were the many superb exhibits. Have you ever heard of a “Bingle”? If not, then you missed an interesting exhibit on this unusual series of tokens. There was also an extremely thorough look at “23 Decades of Half Dollars,” with some gorgeous specimens to drool over (well, actually they were protected under glass.) The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 41 Above (from left): Greg Burns, Len Ratzman, Phil Iversen, and Jim Wells, all receiving accolades for their literary work. Greg and Jim each won a ﬁ rst place award from the ANA (received by Jim Hunt at the Boston convention) for editing TCN (Greg) and the San Diego Numismatic Society’s Bulletin (Jim). Len and Phil were present at the banquet to pick up their awards for articles in TCN. The full list of TCN Literary Award winners is:

Brainard (Best Article) – Phil Iversen, “Alaska-Yukon-Paciﬁ c Exposition Centennial”

Kappan (Exonumia) – 1st, Phil Iversen, “Alaska-Yukon-Paciﬁ c Exposition Centennial” 2nd, Walt Ostromecki, “Banknotes of the Afterlife or Spirit Money” 3rd, Ken Aring, “Introduction to Privatiza- tion Vouchers”

Burke (Foreign) – 1st, Walt Ostromecki, “Banknotes of the Afterlife or Spirit Money” 2nd, Joel Anderson, “First Coins of Stol- tenhoff Island Feature Sailing Ships” 3rd, Walt Ostromecki, “Dumb Coins”

Hall (Medals) – 1st, Phil Iversen, “Alaska- Yukon-Paciﬁ c Exposition Centennial”

Colver (Paper) – 1st, Walt Ostromecki, “Banknotes of the Afterlife or Spirit Money” 2nd, Ken Aring, “Introduction to Privati- zation Vouchers” 3rd, Bill Febuary, “Antique Checks”

Hill (US) – 1st, Phil Iversen, “Alaska- Yukon-Paciﬁ c Exposition Centennial” 2nd, Jim Wells, “‘Crime of 1873’ Creates Two photos above: CSNA President Turrini Coinage Chaos” presents the President’s Medal to (top) 3rd, Len Ratzman, “The Lost Herd” Roy Iwata and (bottom) Ron Ishizaki in recognition for devotion to the CSNA and for dedication to numismatics. 42 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 Exhibits Chair Virginia Bourke’s complete report on the exhibit activities and awards follows on page 45, but for the award winners that were present at the banquet we were able to get some photos of them receiving their awards from the awards’ sponsors (or the sponsors representative if unable to be present at the banquet).

Exhibit Award photos clockwise from top (those pictured noted left to right):

Roy Iwata and Michael Turrini.

Al Lo and Lee Kuntz.

Phil Iversen and Lee Kuntz.

Ron Ishizaki and Lee Kuntz.

George Moore and Cole Schenewerk.

The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 43 Continuation of Exhibit Award photos clockwise from top (those pictured noted left to right):

Harold Katzman and Ken Spindler.

Harold Katzman and Michael Turrini.

Kay Edgerton Lenker and Michael Turrini.

Kay Edgerton Lenker and Howard Feltham.

Phil Iversen and Jim Wells.

Al Lo and Michael Turrini.

Jerry Yahalom and Jim Wells.

44 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 GSCS Exhibit Report by Exhibit Chair Virginia Bourke

The exhibits this year were outstanding. We had 16 exhibits, two of which were non- competitive. G. Lee and Joyce Kuntz sponsor Category G, Medals and have expanded the category to include tokens. Categories A, D, E, F, G, H and I were represented with at least one exhibit. The other categories had no exhibitors. We had one exhibitor who brought over 3 exhibits and two who brought in 2 different exhibits.

Category A – US Coins, Ron Miller Memorial Award, Sponsor David Lange First Place, “23 Decades Of America’s Half Dollars”, Jim Wells

Category D – Modern Foreign (1500-Present), John Lenker Memorial Award, Sponsor Kay Edgerton Lenker First Place, “Terry Fox Dollar”, Michael Turrini Second Place, “Catherine The Great Coins”, Kay Lenker Third Place, “A Brief Analysis Of The 1748, 2-Reales Milled Pillar Coinage Of Mexico”, Howard Feltham Fourth Place, “Treasure From Sierra Madre – Selected Coins From The Guadalupe Y Calvo Mint In Mexico”, Mike Ontko

Category E – Currency, In Memory Of Don Thrall, Sponsor CSNA First Place, “Japanese Invasion Money”, Roy Iwata

Category F – Gold (US and Foreign), Sponsors Jim and Ellen Hunt First Place, “El Deseado: Examples Of The Gold Coinage Of Fernando VII Of Spain (1808-33)”, Mike Ontko

Category G – Medals and Tokens, Sponsors Joyce and Lee Kuntz First Place, “1961 John F. Kennedy Ofﬁ cial Inaugural Medal Process Set”, Al Lo Second Place, “A Set Of Bingle Tokens”, Phil Iversen Third Place, “The Magniﬁ cent Six”, Ron Ishizaki

Category H – Young Numismatists, Sponsors George and Nona Moore Second Place, “The Severans: Blood, Murder, And Conquest”, Cole Schenewerk Also In Category: “Peace Of The Past”, Torrey Schenewerk

Category I – Miscellaneous, Thelma Katzman Memorial Award, Sponsor Harold Katzman First Place, “French Revolution (1790’s) Coins & Tokens Used As Machine Pieces”, Ken Spindler Second Place, “Any Bonds Today”, Michael Turrini

Best of Exonumia (Categories G and I), Sponsor Michael Turrini On Behalf Of CES “1961 John F. Kennedy Ofﬁ cial Inaugural Process Set, Al Lo

People’s Choice, Murray Singer Memorial Award, Sponsor NASC “23 Decades Of America’s Half Dollar”, Jim Wells

Best In Show, Sponsor NASC “23 Decades Of America’s Half Dollar”, Jim Wells The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 45 ...continued from page 39 in Tulare County who issued their own wanted to re-organize the library in its tokens during the great depression, entirety, sell the many duplicate books and another one on the restoration of and auction catalogs, and computerize the Old San Francisco Mint. She has the library catalog. When she inherited received the CSNA Medal of Merit, the library, she did reorganize it in its a ﬁ rst place literary award, numerous entirety. It has stayed in her home for awards of recognition including the ten years. It is in far better shape as ANA President’s Award and many she turns it over to a new librarian in awards for exhibiting. the Maritime Museum in Vallejo. Be- Ruth’s advice to beginning collec- ing president of CSNA was the most tors: “Buy the book before the coin”, important highlight of her numismatic and don’t spread yourself too thin; try career. to specialize in a speciﬁ c collecting Our numismatic luminary’s ac- area. And when you join a coin club, tivities have included writing articles contribute, don’t just attend the meet- for Calcoin News (the forerunner to ings, for working members are the TCN), two symposium talks, one on backbone of every club. the Tagus ranch, a farming community

Legislative Action Needed address and social security number. The ANA urges members to “All dealers will be dispropor- contact Congress to repeal a law that tionately and unfairly impacted by signifi cantly increases the paperwork this legislation,” said ANA Executive burden on dealers and the risk of iden- Director Larry Shepherd. “As a former tity theft for all collectors who buy dealer, I can see how a small-to- and sell numismatic material. medium-sized dealer could easily Under section 9006 of the Patient be required to submit 1,000 or more Protection and Affordable Care Act 1099s in a typical year, at very signifi - businesses will be required to report cant cost. In addition, all collectors goods and services purchased in would be forced to give out personal excess of $600 with IRS 1099 form. information that could increase the Beginning in 2012 the law would re- possibility of identity theft. This sec- quire coin dealers to report to the IRS tion of the healthcare reform bill is a goods and services (totaled across a nightmare for everyone in this hobby. taxable year) they purchase from other We need to make sure that our voices dealers or customers over $600. are heard.” While the legislation applies to all The ANA has posted sample letters types of businesses, an unusual burden for dealers or collectors on its website would be placed on numismatic deal- at www.money.org. ers who, unlike most businesses, buy For information on your members goods and services from each other of Congress, go to www.house.gov and their retail clients. Dealers will be or www.senate.gov, contact the local required to gather personal informa- offi ce of your representative or sena- tion on clients who sell them goods or tor, or call the U.S. Capitol at (202) services over $600, including name, 224-3121. 46 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 PNG Adopts Coin “Doctor- gin, and altering business strike coins ing” Defi nition to make them resemble proof issues The Professional Numismatists are also examples of coin doctoring. Guild (PNG) has created a defi nition This defi nition is not intended to be of coin “doctoring” and now offi cially all-inclusive, but only illustrative of included it as one of the prohibitions forms of coin doctoring.” in the organization’s By-Laws. For additional information call “Coin doctoring is the action of a (760) 728-1300 or visit online at person or the enabling of another to www.PNGdealers.com. alter a coin’s surface or appearance, usually to diminish or conceal defects, Pannier’s Passing and thereby represent the condition President Jeff Stahl of the Greater or value of a coin as being superior to Orange County Coin Club reports that its actual condition or value. Among William “Bill” Pannier, proprietor the practices defi ned as doctoring are of Fullerton Coins and Stamps (the effacing hairlines by polishing or ma- shop where Dwight Manley worked nipulating the surfaces of proof coins, as a kid), TCN advertiser, association applying substances to the surface supporter, and a long-time member of of coins to hide marks and defects, the Long Beach and Greater Orange hiding marks or otherwise changing County Coin Clubs, died Friday, the appearance of a coin by adding August 6, after a long illness. Services toning, adding chemicals or otherwise were held at Fairhaven Memorial Park manipulating the surfaces to create in Santa Ana. ‘cameo’ frost on the devices of proof coins, and making a coin appear more Don Berry—Exhibit Winner fully struck by re-engraving portions I don’t know if I missed anyone of the devices, such as re-engraving else, but the only California numis- bands on the reverse of a Mercury matist I noticed winning an exhibit Dime or adding head detail to a Stand- award at the Boston ANA show was ing Liberty Quarter. Altering dates or Don Berry with his second place in mintmarks or other struck portions of category 8—Elongated Coins, with his a coin to make it appear to be from a exhibit, “Progressive Dies (Creating a mint date or type other than that of ori- Masterpiece)”. The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 47 CSNA President’s Medal 8/22/2009 ...... Phil Iversen Recipients 12/5/2009 ...... Daniel Shattuc Following is an up-to-date listing 12/5/2009 ...... John Russell, Jr. of the CSNA President’s Medals that 12/25/2009 ...... Theresa Lund have so far been awarded by CSNA 1/23/2010 ...... Virginia Bourke President Michael Turrini. You may 1/23/2010 ...... Edgar Fulwider recall that this is a recently instituted 1/23/2010 ...... Ruth Phillips award intended to recognize the re- 4/24/2010 ...... Sally Johnson cipient for their devotion to the CSNA 4/24/2010 ...... Fred Davis and for their dedication to overall 4/24/2010 ...... Martha Davis numismatics. 7/16/2010 ...... Paul Johnson So far there are 24 recipients. Ac- 8/28/2010 ...... Roy Iwata cording to Turrini, he had expected to 8/28/2010 ...... Ron Ishizaki have quite a few initially issued in the fi rst year or so, with the rate thereafter ANA National Money Show declining. Reminder Issue Date ...... Recipient Name Reserve the dates of March 17-19, 3/28/2009 ...... Joyce Kuntz 2011 for the last ANA convention to 3/28/2009 ...... G. Lee Kuntz be held in California (at least for the 3/28/2009 ...... Greg Burns foreseeable future). The show will 3/28/2009 ...... Jim Hunt be held at the Sacramento Conven- 5/9/2009 ...... Ryan Johnson tion Center. More information on the 5/9/2009 ...... Al Lo event will show up in the next issue of 5/9/2009 ...... Stephen Huston TCN, but if you have any questions in 5/9/2009 ...... Gordon Donnell the meantime try e-mailing the show 8/8/2009 ...... Michael Stanley coordinator, Jeff Shevlin, at SoCalled- 8/22/2009 ...... Kay Edgerton Lenker [email protected]. 8/22/2009 ...... Dorothy Baber

CSNA’s 128th Convention Info—San Jose Reserve these dates! January 28- 30, 2011. The hullabaloo will be held in the Doubletree Hotel’s Bayshore Ballroom at 2050 Gateway Place, San Jose. The 60 dealers tables for the show are already sold out! The Doubletree is also the host hotel, and rooms are available at $94 include various awards and the tal- plus $5 for overnight parking (be sure ented hijinks of the CSNA Thespians. to mention “group code SJC”). The General chairman is Al Lo, who rooms sell out early, so make your can be reached at [email protected], reservations soon. 1-800-222-TREE. or (408) 268-5808. Details on the CSNA banquet will Full particulars to be included in be in our next issue. The program will the next issue of TCN. 48 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 NASC Awards Nominations It’s that time of year to have the NASC awards nominations in preparation for the NASC Awards Recognition Luncheon to be held in early 2011. The following awards are based upon NASC member nominations: Richard P. Goodson Memorial Award—honors a member by acknowledging their contributions to the NASC. Must have been an NASC member in good standing for ﬁ ve consecutive years. No self-nominations. Maurice M. Gould Memorial Junior Achievement Award—recognizes a junior’s participation in numismatics. Must be no older than 18 at time of nomination and be a member of the NASC or NASC member club. Outstanding Numismatic Speaker Award—recognizes a member of the NASC or a member club who volunteers time and effort furthering education and NASC goals by speaking before schools, clubs, organizations, etc. No self-nominations. Use the form below and mail to the Fosters as noted no later than 12/1/10.

NASC Annual Nomination Form Please submit nominations as quickly as possible! Nomination candidates to be considered between October 1 of the previous year to Oc- tober 1 of the current year. Qualiﬁ cations are to include achievements, accomplishments, and valued efforts in the numismatic arena. Nominee must be a member in good standing of the NASC or a member club. Circle the appropriate award: Richard P. Goodson Award Junior Achievement Award Outstanding Speaker’s Award

Name of nominee:

Qualiﬁ cations (provide on separate sheet if this space is insufﬁ cient):

Submitted by: Member # Individual’s or club’s name (must be a NASC member in good standing)

Mail to: Don and Terry Foster 422 Drake Road Arcadia, CA 91007

The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 49 CSNA Election Candidates Note: some of the positions are uncontested and therefore candidate statements are not included in this issue: President Gary Beedon, Vice President Jeff Shevlin, Corresponding Secretary Michael Turrini, Recording Secretary Virginia Bourke, Treasurer Roy Iwata, and Directors for the south: Howard Feltham, Greg Schenewerk, Kenneth Stempien, and Phil Iversen. These positions will be ﬁ lled automatically (a “white ballot”). The ﬁ ve below-listed biographies are for the four elected positions that are open for directors from the north, and so a ballot will be mailed to all CSNA members. Please be sure to read the candidates’ statements, mark your ballot according to the instructions you’ll receive with it, and return promptly (Ed.)...

Harry Davis Harry Davis has been president and member of many clubs including North- ern California Numismatic Association, Vallejo Numismatic Society (VNS), past president of Solano Silver Round Club, and board member of Fremont Coin Club among others. Harry collects mostly US and has a large foreign coin collection, as well as stamps. As a board member of CSNA Harry would like to heavily support CSNA holding its own independent coin shows. As the experi- enced bourse coordinator of VNS, Harry would love to see a convention in the northern part of the state if he can ﬁ nd a location, currently a difﬁ cult task Harry is working.

Alvin H. W. Lo (Al Lo) As a current CSNA board member for Northern California, Al pledges to continue to use his energy, knowledge, and experience for the betterment of the CSNA and its members. Al is very active in the CSNA as a current board member and is the CSNA educational forum coordinator and facilities chair for the semi-annual North- ern California conventions held in conjunction with the San Jose Coin Club’s Annual Show. Al has entered his numismatic exhibits at many of the CSNA conventions and has designed several medals for CSNA conventions. He was the past assistant editor (North of Tehachapis) for CalCoin News (now TCN) for 8 years (1991- 1998). Al has been a numismatist since 1964 and an active coin club member and/or ofﬁ cer since 1972. He is an active member in the Cupertino Coin Club, San Jose Coin Club, Peninsula Coin Club, and Liberty Numismatic Society. Al is also a member of the ANA, Northern California Numismatic Association, CSNA, Honolulu Coin Club, and the International Association of Silver Art Collectors. Al’s philosophy has always been to be an active participant in every club that

50 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 he joins, through leadership and service. He tries to attend and participate at all meetings, volunteers to be a club offi cer, helps at coin shows and conventions, designs coin club show medals, and exhibits at coin shows. The Cupertino Coin Club was the fi rst coin club that Al joined and is considered his “home club”. He has been a very active participant in this club and has served as a club offi cer for the past 31 years, as president, vice president, board member, or Coin Press editor. Al has been a member of the San Jose Coin Club for 28 years and has demonstrated outstanding leadership and service while serving as an offi cer for the past 20 years as president, vice president, corresponding secretary, or board member. Outside of numismatics, Al is a retired engineer who worked at IBM for 30 years before retirement. He is also active in Toastmasters, an international organization whose aims are to improve a person’s communication and leadership skills through self-help and friendly club members’ evaluations and encourage- ment. He has been married to Pearl Lo for 42 years and has 3 children and 2 potential numismatists, granddaughters Jessica and Madison, both 2 years young.

Herb Miles Currently live in Richmond, California, murder capital of the world, but was born and raised in Wilton, Arkansas! I have collected for 50 years or so; began when I forced my mother to buy a leather belt with 1956 Lincoln cents attached; what could be cooler than that? My ﬁ rst foray into collecting was Lincoln cents and I have never stopped. Never completed the Lincoln cent set from circulation, but got close, missing only the 1909-S, 1909-S VDB, 1914-D, and 1931-S. Now it is time to serve the larger community if so chosen. I have no agenda other than making sure the association continues for as many years as collectors collect. I love collecting and will bring that same joy to serving.

Lyle Okamoto Lyle has been a CSNA member since spring of 2006 when sponsored by Gordon Donnell. There was no other information available for Lyle at the time this issue of TCN went to press.

Gordon Stubbs I have been a systems engineer for the same company located in the Bay area for 25 years. I started collecting coins in my junior high school years then stopped. I started back collecting about ten years ago. I joined the San Jose Coin Club in January 2006 and have been a member of the board for the last two years. Some of my other hobbies are magic (I’m a member of the Magic Castle in Hollywood), reading and collecting signed ﬁ rst edition books, leatherwork, photography (I enjoy photographing coins), and playing guitar.

The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 51 We Get Letters... Mailing address: PO Box 1181, Claremont, CA 91711, or if you’re up to it: [email protected].

We Stopped Doing That, But Hey, If You Really Care... Good morning, will be held in Sacramento. It is The California State Library has scheduled to be held at the Conven- received The California Numismatist tion Center from March 17th through for a number of years. We retain all the 19th and will be centered around issues in our extensive California his- the theme of “Rediscover Gold in tory collection. Sacramento”. The Sacramento Valley For some reason we seem to have Coin Club is hosting this show and as fallen off your mailing list since the such we are encouraging you and your summer of 2009. Would you kindly members attendance and participation. put us back on your mailing list and The show features not only education- send us the issues for Fall 2009, Win- al services and free programs, but also ter 2009/10, Spring 2010 and Summer has some of the best inventory of rare 2010. coins, paper money, and tokens that Thank you in advance for your can be considered for collections. consideration of this request. There will also be world-class —Beverly Butler exhibits. To that end, I am inviting California State Library you and your members to not only Acquisitions/Serials attend this event, but to also seriously consider preparing and entering an Note to our readers: I turned this exhibit. In addition to the numerous over to Stephen Huston who manages ANA sponsored exhibit categories, the the integration of our mailing list, and SVCC will be sponsoring a Public’s he reminded me that the boards had Favorite Northern California exhibit. discontinued most “courtesy subscrip- Each of your members is eligible to tions”; but it was brought up at the participate in this category as well as GSCS and decided that for our state the many other ANA categories. Infor- library it made sense to reinstate at mation concerning exhibit parameters least this one. can be found on ANA’s website at www.money.org. Any other questions Upcoming ANA concerning exhibits can be referred Sacramento Show to John Bither, our Exhibit Chair, at As you may be aware, the 2011 [email protected]. Spring National ANA Money Show The Numismatic Theater is another 52 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 available venue to deliver and/or listen Awe” and was wondering if permis- to a speech on your favorite subject. sion could be granted to reprint Mr. Programming for the Numismatic Ratzman’s ﬁ ne article in our quarterly Theater will be coordinated between publication ... “Casino Chip & Gam- the ANA Education Program Coor- ing Token News”? Of course proper dinator and our Numismatic Theatre credit will be given to Mr. Ratzman Chairperson, Mike Niecoff. Mike can and “The California Numismatist” if be contacted at [email protected]. permission is granted. Please advise. This is a unique opportunity for Numismatically yours, all of Northern California and espe- —Archie Black cially those that would like to share CC>CC Founding President an exhibit and/or participate in the (1988-1999) Numismatic Theatre. We look forward to visiting with you and your club You got it, Archie… Regards, Greg members this next March as we all gather to share our numismatic inter- A New Collector? ests. Should you have any questions Good Afternoon Mr. Burns, about the show itself, you can contact ...I am contacting you today Jeff Shevlin, our Show Coordinator, at because a friend of mine who is [email protected]. somewhat of a historian bought a coin Again, I look forward to meeting on Ebay for CSNA that was dated in you at the upcoming ANA Money 1966. The reason my friend bought show. Please stop by the SVCC table. the coin was because they held their Sincerely, event in Riverside at The Mission Inn —Robert Shanks Hotel & Spa. The coin is great, it has President, SVCC a rain cross, orange tree along with a arrowhead...I have attached a picture Liked Casino Article of the coin for you to view. It is not Hi Greg; Nice job (as usual) with the best picture but I thought you may the Spring 2010 issue of “The Califor- ﬁ nd it interesting... nia Numismatist”. I was particularly —Kristina Porter interested in the article on pages 20-24 Sales Manager by Len Ratzman titled; “Nine Feet of The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa

The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 53 Youth Corner by Michael S. Turrini CSNA Youth Numismatist Coordinator

Well, when you receive this TCN pated in like workshops elsewhere, summer shall have become fall, and it and particularly last October, 2009, is now already ten years since “Y2K”, in Hawaii during the Hawaii State the much anticipated Millennium! Numismatic Association convention. Time does fl y! These BSA merit badge programs First, on Saturday, August 28, require much in venue space and time nearly for the whole day, our avid in preparation, for those anticipating youth numismatic advocates, Albertus like events. Hoogeveen, recording secretary for Again, a well-done job! our neighbors, the NASC, and Dr. Second, in a chance conversation, Walter A. Ostromecki, Jr., ANA gov- on Sunday, August 29, I and another ernor, coordinated a most successful adult shared our passion working and Boy Scout coin collecting merit badge being with young people. While load- workshop, during the Golden State ing my Fusion for the return trek from Coin Show (GSCS). Ninety Scouts the concluding GSCS, the gentlemen attended the well-organized and pre- in the same Motel 6 just two doors pared workshop. Those involved and down was out enjoying the early those assisting are commended for a morning overcast in Arcadia. From most exemplary event. hellos our conversation progressed to While my time and duties as the learn that each of us had involvements CSNA and California Exonumist So- with youngsters: I as a retired high ciety president, plus being an Educa- school educator and he as youth intern tion Forum presenter, compelled my coordinator for his employer, plus as presence elsewhere, “sticking my head a Little League coach. We must have in” periodically, the Scouts were atten- talked for over a half-an-hour, sharing tive and enthused. Al and Walt did an experiences. excellent program. There is a special bond among I have observed and even partici- those who have worked with, coached, 54 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 Ninety enthusiastic Scouts crowded the available chairs at the GSCS to attend the BSA coin collecting merit badge workshop. taught, or lead youngsters, and as Coin Club’s show and the CSNA new career literature and studies northern convention this coming Janu- confi rm, it is from those individuals ary 2010, there might be a gathering today’s teachers need to be recruited among those who are actively in- and retained, and I might add those volved with youth numismatics around who wish to be involved with youth the northern California area. numismatics. Sally has expressed an interest. But, back to our conversation, I have invited Wilson Ray from the we concluded that key elements in Fairfi eld Coin Club to participate. Lee working and encouraging youngsters H. Gong from the Redwood Empire are respect and responsibility. While Coin Club is scheduled to be present. we did not accept the same nomencla- Greg Schenewerk from San Diego ture, we both agreed that adults with plans to attend, and needless to say, youngsters need to practice “respect” yours truly will be there. No specifi c and to entice “responsibility”. These venue, date, or time has been set, and are broad terms, and the sadness in our as this issue of TCN is being prepared society is so often, even among adults I will be in contact with Sally and with adults, these qualities are lacking. those in the San Jose Coin Club as to For me, it has been my three the potentiality and schedule. decades in teaching that come to The format is planned to a round- mind whenever youth numismat- table—time to meet and to share, and ics—or whatever might be the “hot” nothing formal is anticipated. or preferred title or naming—that you Of course, “the more the merrier”, have to love what you are doing and and hopefully, specifi cs shall be fi nal- those who are entrusted to you: respect ized soon and appropriate announce- them and give them responsibility. ments published. In the meantime, The reward is their and our society’s contacts can be via EMPERORI@ tomorrows. juno.com. Third, now to something specifi c, “Youth is a talent, a perishable tal- based on some exchanges and obser- ent.”—Eric Hoffer. vations beginning this past July and Remember: have fun with your with the support of Sally Johnson, of hobby! Always serve others! Enjoy the San Jose Coin Club, it is hoped your collecting! And, create hope and that during the combined San Jose do good! The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 55 Goings On by Greg Burns

Lots of “goings on” recently as both groups had board meetings at the Golden State Coin Show (GSCS). I’ll half share of the convention income start off reporting on CSNA because currently coming in from GSCS and they met fi rst. none from the San Jose convention in After the usual preliminaries recent years. Plus, President Turrini Treasurer Roy Iwata gave his written noted that our state-wide presence is fi nancial report. I didn’t get a copy of greatly diffused when we share such the absolute latest, but do have a copy events resulting in an overall loss of of one ending 6/30/10. It shows about recognition. a $5,000 decline in our fortune over With that setting of the stage, the the previous six months. Nothing new discussion focussed on starting up an there, but it added fuel to the fi re that independent northern convention once was to come regarding optimizing in- our commitment to the San Jose show come from convention activities. In re- is up (January 28-30, 2011). This sponse to the report, President Turrini would mean there would be a start-up asked the budget committee to review effort in 2012, likely on a different the report and report back in January. date, though probably in the fi rst half Phil Iversen brought up a short of the year. A possible venue is the discussion on membership recruitment Vallejo Veteran’s Memorial Building, medals, a temporary past practice of which can hold 50-60 dealer tables, Past President Lila Anderson. Phil was has a full kitchen, and an appropriately asked to write a specifi c proposal (if reasonable price tag. The board asked he so chose) and to present it at the Turrini to report with more detailed next meeting. information in January. Corresponding Secretary Ste- With the north out of the way we phen Huston reported that there was turned our discussion to the southern roughly a 10% decline in member- convention, which for the last twenty ship this year and he expects a similar years or so has been held in conjunc- decline in 2011. Turns out that most tion with the GSCS (fi rst with COIN, new members don’t renew after their SIN, and NASC, and most lately with fi rst year, and many that do renew then just the latter as the other two asso- drop out in the fi rst fi ve years. ciations have dissolved). As you can The big discussion of the day was guess, there was a lot of passionate on CSNA’s role in GSCS and the lack discussion on both sides of this idea, of independent conventions, both in both pro and con. The temperature the north as well as the south. The in the room probably went up a few long-term fi nancial health of the asso- degrees, but in the end the vote was ciation isn’t compatible with the one- ten yeses, two noes, and one abstain, 56 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 for approval of the motion. Therefore, President - Gary Beedon at the conclusion of this past August’s Vice President - Jeff Shevlin GSCS the CSNA has bowed out of Corr. Secretary - Michael Turrini the joint show leaving NASC as the Recording Secretary - Virginia Bourke only remaining organization from the Treasurer - Roy Iwata original four groups that started it. The Directors (North) - CSNA board voted a special motion of Harry Davis goodwill in recognition of the special Al Lo association it has with NASC and as Herb Miles thanks for the mutual support both Lyle Okamoto have enjoyed. (Similar sentiments Gordon Stubbs were also expressed to the San Jose Directors (South) - Coin Club members present regarding Howard Feltham the change in the north.) Greg Schenewerk President Turrini then appointed Kenneth Stempien a committee consisting of Joyce and Phil Iversen Lee Kuntz, Phil Iversen, and Gary Since there are fi ve candidates for Beedon, to investigate venues, and the four available northern director other particulars that would support an positions there will have to be a ballot independent convention in the south, mailed to the membership. As the and to report on those details at the other positions were all uncontested next board meeting. we’ll only run bios in this issue for Note that all of this discussion only the fi ve northern director candidates. had to do with joint shows, and had no CSNA readers can expect to see bal- bearing on the two associations’ co- lots in their mailbox within the next operation with TCN. Oh, I guess there several weeks. will be some practical impact, such Turrini mentioned that he would be as when literary awards are given out, sending out an e-mail to the executive but those are minor details and beyond group regarding some type of recom- that TCN will continue to publish just mendation for recognition of club as in the past, because plainly, it isn’t anniversaries. affected by the choice of convention There was a motion to give $100 venues. to the ANA patron program for the up- Moving on, Turrini then brought coming Sacramento show—it passed. everyone up to date on the status of Both Turrini and Greg Schenewerk the library. The materials have all spoke about YN initiatives, with the been moved to the Vallejo Naval and note that there would be some type of Historical Museum, and the installa- roundtable gathering at the San Jose tion is expected to be complete prior show in January. If it results in youth to the October 23 symposium to be activities anything like that experi- held in that same building. You can enced at the GSCS Boy Scout merit check up on it when you attend, as I badge event it would be stupendous. know I will. I mentioned that we were getting The nominating committee posted low on TCN literary award medals the slate of candidates for 2011-2012: and that I would prepare some type

The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 57 of recommendation for the board’s the Boston ANA show, noting that consideration. attendance was over 10,000, a more Medal’s Chair Joyce Kuntz stated than 38% increase over the recent Los that the standing orders have declined Angeles event. The number of exhibits even further (was 64 before, now only was up 42% as well. Walt relayed that 52) and the program has been con- young Cole Schenewerk held a YN sistently losing money. This violates event, and also mentioned that both a previous board direction that this TCN and the San Diego Numismatic activity be completely self-sustaining, Society’s “Bulletin” won fi rst place but the board decided to postpone awards in their respective divisions in any action until the January meeting. the ANA’s Outstanding Club Publica- Doesn’t look good. tion Contest. Guess it’s in the water. Director of Education Jim Hunt The Fosters, new to the position of spoke briefl y about the recent suc- chairing the awards recognition com- cesses in attendance down south mittee, stated that they’d be holding a coincident with the format change committee meeting in mid-December of the past couple years. You may as usual. have noticed that the southern events George Moore and Ken Arnold have a local coordinator who changes took the pulse of those assembled on with each event under Jim’s constant their thoughts on the actual luncheon direction and overall supervision. location, etc., and stated they’d report Because each coordinator chooses a more at the next board meeting. different location it seems to encour- Finance and Budget Chair Tony age people who might not otherwise Micciche asked for people to send him have attended, with the result that their estimates of income/expenses for overall attendance is roughly double their activities for the upcoming year. now compared to just a few years ago. Perhaps an actual budget will come Good going, Jim. out of this. Probably won’t look too Next morning the NASC held their good though. Might be improved a board meeting. There were again the little bit by not sharing GSCS profi ts usual preliminary pleasantries. with CSNA in the future—that’s one Corresponding Secretary gave his bright spot for NASC. report (see page 10). Phil Iversen passed along the Treasurer Kay Edgerton Lenker CSNA resolution from the day before provided her fi nancials for the NASC, regarding retracting from future GSCS but the dark clouds of that were involvement. There was a bit of dis- somewhat lightened by the news that cussion about what the impact of that the Yap Stone that had been sold at may be, but President Yahalom asked auction during the Boston ANA show to postpone any decision-making went for something like $13,500. We until the next board meeting so that should see those clams in about 45 everyone would have time to absorb days. With current net worth a little the information and process their over $23,000, that will bring a much- thoughts. One of the things I brought needed infusion to the association. up was perhaps the literary awards Walt Ostromecki gave a report on could alternate every year, NASC

58 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 giving them out one year in the south, stated he had put ads regarding GSCS and CSNA perhaps choosing to give in Coin World, and sent press releases them out during their alternate rotation to various local papers. I mentioned in the north. Rotating it between the that most radio and TV licenses two organizations seems fair, and I required the license holders to make like the symmetry of CSNA giving “Public Service Announcements” them away up north so our brethern available to appropriate non-profi ts above the Tehachapis can participate. and that perhaps something along Guess that’ll be something I can pitch these lines might also help publi- at the next board meetings for the two cize our group. The point being that groups. publicizing our group to collectors is Tony Micciche said that the necessarily limited when compared pending tally of gold benefi t drawing to the number of non-collectors in profi t or loss wasn’t looking so hot. the general public. Perhaps we could On Sunday morning only $1100 had pique a non-collector’s interest some- been collected to that point against a how and have them join our ranks. gold cost of $1950. Ouch. Luckily, his Walt reported that there were 90 latest word is that we ended up with a scouts at the BSA merit badge event, profi t of $163.76...close call! along with 54 parents and scout lead- I didn’t have much to say regard- ers. Pretty impressive turnout. That ing TCN other than I was roughly was likely a signifi cant percentage of on schedule. I mean, you read my the show attendance. I hope that most thoughts with each issue, right? Kay of them made it out onto the bourse Edgerton Lenker had some questions fl oor. about advertising revenues and their Harold Katzman moved to split cycles and I suggested she contact Ad TCN or otherwise separate the two Manager Lila Anderson directly for associations’ journals (NASC and whatever information she needed. CSNA). Wiser heads prevailed and Harold Katzman reported selling the motion went down in fl ames after about $70 worth of our old medals. some brief, but spirited, discussion. It Could probably use that to fi ll up the did get two votes though. gas tank of a Jaguar if we’d buy the The board affi rmed it’s intention editor one with the money from the to again participate in the GSCS in Yap Stone. Just sayin’... Arcadia in August of 2011 as the sole Policies and Procedures Chair remaining organization out of the orig- Nona Moore has fi nally retired her inal four. So mark your calendars typewriter (it’s kinda like a keyboard, for the last weekend in August but there’s no computer attached and and I’ll see you there. they make a lot of noise, plus you The NASC’s next can’t fi x your typos easily). For future board meeting will be on efforts Mary Yahalom has volunteered November 14 at 11 AM. to help out with the digital aspects Should be interesting. of the job. Kind-hearted Mary. What Bring your lunch box would we do without her? and I’ll see you there... Publicity Chair Bob Thompson

The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 59 CSNA 12th Annual Northern Educational Symposium

Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum 734 Marin Street, Vallejo, CA Saturday, October 23, 2010 9:00am - Registration 10:00am - 4:30pm

Robert E. Luna Detecting Counterfeit Dollars

William Waychison Gold: More Than Nuggets and Double Eagles

Herbert Miles Black Numismatics

James E. Kern Mare Island: Medallions and More

For further information please contact: Jim Hunt, CSNA Director of Education/Symposium at 1183 Nile Ave., Chula Vista, CA 91911, or by e-mail at [email protected]. Michael Turrini, Northern California Symposium Coordinator, P.O. Box 4281, Vallejo, CA 94590, (510) 547-0518, (707) 246-6327, or by e-mail at [email protected].

60 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 CSNA Membership Application

Membership Category Cost Individual (1 year) $20 Includes subscription to Individual (2 years) $39 The California Numismatist! Individual (3 years) $55 Associate (spouse) $10 Junior (under 18) $10 Club/Organization $30

Name:

Address:

City:

State: Zip:

I herewith make application for membership in the association subject to its constitution and by-laws.

Signature:

Sponsored by (optional): Send this application, including a check/money order payable to “CSNA” for your dues, addressed to: Stephen Huston, CSNA Membership PO Box 1388 Alameda, CA 94501-0151

The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 61 Around the State...

Club Reporter—North Jeff Shevlin 7737 Fair Oaks Blvd., Suite 250 Carmichael, CA 95608 [email protected]

Club Reporter—South Virginia Bourke 10601 Vista Camino Lakeside, CA 92040-1605 [email protected]

Ginny’s Gleanings: Congratulations to Jim Wells, editor of San Diego Numismatic Society’s newsletter, and TCN Editor Greg Burns for winning top publication honors at the ANA convention in Boston. Glendale Coin Club’s new president, Mary Yahalom, gave a certiﬁ cate of appreciation to resigning Presi- dent Oded Paz for all his hard work, energy and ideas. Oded’s new job takes him to Idaho. Many clubs mentioned that Oded was moving. He will be missed. We have a new (old) coin club: Burbank Coin Club. It was formerly Lockheed Coin Club. It is hoped that the new name will attract new members.

Jeff’s Comments: The ANA is returning to Sacramento in March of 2011 and I am fortunate to be appointed the general chairman. Please consider volunteering to give a Numismatic Theatre presentation on some topic you are knowledgeable about, or at least plan to attend one. If you have ever set up an educational exhibit or thought of setting one up, Sacramento is the place to do it. I hope you all attend, it is a great opportunity to see old friends and meet new ones. See you all there!

Club Reports... WHITTIER COIN CLUB enjoyed its picnic in the park at their May meeting in Parnell Park. In June, the program was Pharaoh’s Lost Treasure, the story of the recent recovery of some of the ruins of the Lighthouse of Alexandria Harbor. The lighthouse was constructed during King Ptolemy’s rule in the third century 62 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 BC. The video The Best of the National Parks - Part II aired at the July meeting, which featured areas of Alaska toured by the Star Train.

VERDUGO HILLS COIN CLUB meeting in June featured Donald Berry’s presentation of Elongated Coins. He designs and rolls them with his machine. Bob Thompson won the ANA’s National Coin Week “Road Trip Across Amer- ica” Grand Prize; a 1976 Montreal Olympics Commemorative $100 gold coin! Congratulations, Bob. The July meeting will be held at La Cabanita Restaurant, a renowned, authentic Mexican restaurant. President Richard Murachanian will discuss Morgan Dollars. The August meeting was very sweet thanks to the Ice Cream Social presented by Donald Berry and his son William Berry.

VALLEJO NUMISMATIC SOCIETY members Lee Gong and Michael Turrini coordinated a youth table at the latest Vallejo coin show. The club’s recent meeting which included bingo and hot dogs sounds like it was entertaining combination. The VNS hosted the very successful NCNA coin show in August. Recent club meeting themes were token night and other hobbies night. The VNS will be co-hosting with the Fairﬁ eld coin club their annual joint picnic.

UPLAND COIN CLUB members enjoyed Tom Fitzgerald’s talk on Two Great Gold Shipments at their June meeting. It covered the why and how San Francis- co Mint transferred all its gold and silver reserves to the Denver Mint. Members studied up for the program in July, a coin quiz!

STANISLAUS COUNTY COIN CLUB did not provide information or a club newsletter. Please have your club editor or publisher mail newsletters to Jeff.

SOLANO SILVER ROUND CLUB did not provide information or a club newsletter. Please have your club editor or publisher mail newsletters to Jeff.

SAN JOSE COIN CLUB did not provide information or a club newsletter. Please have your club editor or publisher mail newsletters to Jeff.

SAN FRANCISCO COIN CLUB is proceeding with a plan for a 50th anniversary SFCC elongated half dollar. All current paid members will receive a free 2010 P & D elongated halves set if they attend the club’s 50th Anniversary Octo- ber 2010 meeting. The club is accepting donations for their annual fund-raising Hans Hansson Auction. The SFCC has been averaging ﬁ ve or six members in attendance at their monthly coin club meetings.

SAN DIEGO NUMISMATIC SOCIETY The previous editor of the club’s newsletter The Bulletin, Jim Wells, was chosen “Best Local Publication” in the entire US at the recent ANA convention in Boston. Congratulation, Jim! The club has been having some very active and successful auctions. In June, members enjoyed Ken Spindler’s chili at their picnic in the park, which, is a BYOB

The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 63 affair. (Bring Your Own Bag!) Paul Whitnah and Dorothy Baber provided a red velvet cake for the club’s birthday in June. June was also Other Hobby Night and Jeanne Dickey brought her traveling hat full of pins from all the places she has visited. Mike Shaw had posters from the National Army Museum in Britain featuring British Campaign Medals.

SACRAMENTO VALLEY COIN CLUB continued their tradition of having an annual spring picnic with food provided by the club. Jeff Shevlin was thanked for giving a great educational presentation on the 1915 Panama Paciﬁ c International Exposition. The SVCC meets twice a month with an incredible average attendance of 60 members. The club is preparing to host the ANA’s March, 2011 spring coin show to be held in Sacramento at the Convention Center in downtown Sacramento. They have selected a theme for the ANA show: Redis- cover Gold in Sacramento. In conjunction with the show, the club will be hosting a banquet downtown. A design competition is underway to select a design for a medal to commemorate the SVCC/ANA event.

REDWOOD EMPIRE COIN CLUB published an article on fractional currency and the coin shortages caused by the civil war. Another article discussed Father’s Day and the custom of wearing a red rose to indicate that their father is still alive and a white rose if he is deceased. The club celebrated Lee Gong’s 39th birthday (again) with a special cake. An article titled “Create Your Own Money” talked about a website where you can put your photo on currency notes and print them.

PENINSULA COIN CLUB did not provide information or a club newsletter. Please have your club editor or publisher mail newsletters to Jeff.

PACIFIC COAST NUMISMATIC SOCIETY did not provide information or a club newsletter. Please have your club editor or publisher mail newsletters to Jeff.

ORANGE COUNTY ANCIENT COIN CLUB program in May was presented by Allan White who brought photographs of his recent cruise to the Mediter- ranean area. He had photos of the Coliseum, the Forum, the Parthenon, Pompeii, Carthage and a few less ancient places. Wow! In June, members enjoyed ANA’s Douglas Mudd’s 60-minute DVD recording titled Parthia: the Forgotten Em- pire.

NORTHROP GRUMMAN COIN CLUB enjoyed Oded Paz’s presentation on Coins From Unrecognized States at their June meeting. Phil Iversen presented a slide show, State Bank Note Engravings in July. Phil also presented a much- appreciated Coin Grading Clinicin August, which was very popular.

64 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA NUMISMATIC ASSOCIATION is accepting nominations for the 2010 Ron Miller Award (the Miller Medal). The NCNA had a very successful NOR-CAL IX coin show in Vallejo. The board of directors is investigating the possibility of a joint venture coin show with the CSNA.

LONG BEACH COIN CLUB The May program was a continuation of Lee Watson’s Powerpoint presentation of U.S. Type Coins Part II based on his own fabulous coins. Arri Jacob tackled the subject of Long Beach National Cur- rency and their Charter Banks at the June meeting. Brad Yonaka talked about some of his favorite coins, Mexican Pillar Dollar Overdates in August.

LIBERTY NUMISMATIC SOCIETY welcomed local coin dealer John Jencek as the featured speaker on ancient coins. The LNS club members have been asked to come up with a name for their club’s newsletter. Young numismatist Bruno Bower announced that he is working as a tour guide at the old San Francisco Mint, and he offered to take ENS members who would like to visit on a guided tour. LNS President Bill Hurja gave a talk on How to Authenticate 1916 D Mercury Dimes. Member David Goya, fresh from attending the ANA Summer Seminar held in Colorado Springs on coin grading and digital photography, donated two copies of the ANA grading guide to LNS.

INTERNATIONAL NUMISMATIC SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO chose the topic Mexico and Latin American at their May meeting. Jeff Lewis did a presentation of the Mexican Revolution coins and history. He had many varieties of revolutionary coins. In June, Ken Aring covered the topic Canada and British, French, Danish and Dutch Areas of America. His slide show was illuminating. The topic chosen in July was Countries with Names Starting with L or M. Ken Aring again put together a terriﬁ c slide show. Bob Fritsch continues to educate the members with his challenging quizzes each month relating to the themes chosen. Ken Spindler was congratulated for winning “Best Exhibit” at the Del Mar Fair.

HEMET NUMISMATISTS were thrilled to welcome Ron and Mary Morrow who were visiting from Utah and ﬁ ve past-presidents at their May meeting. The ado was all about the Super Auction. In June, Rafael Flores was head grillmas- ter for the outstanding picnic at Gibbel Park. After the picnic, members played Bingo for prizes and enjoyed the balmy weather. Dot Williams was recognized for her work in coordinating the event. Angus Bruce provided the educational program at the August meeting with his topic of Odd and Curious Money.

HEARTLAND COIN CLUB members were justly proud of their very successful one-day show in May. Congratulations to Joe Swinko and crew for a job well done. The club celebrated its birthday in May and members were encouraged to donate items to be auctioned off. The club earned $110. Editor Andrew Woodruff is currently running contests each month where members identify a

The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 65 mystery note from his clues. Charles Fares and Bob Wagner continue to dazzle all with their informative and detailed show and tells.

GREATER ORANGE COUNTY COIN CLUB July meeting featured Bourse Night. Over twelve members set up a table to wheel and deal. Mike Ontko presented an excellent talk on Treasures from the Sierra Madre: Coins of the Mint Guadalupe y Calvo in June.

GLENDALE COIN CLUB program in June was the very popular Coin-O. President Oded Paz moved to Idaho for his job and the new president, Mary Yahalom, presented him with a very nice certiﬁ cate of appreciation for all his hard work on behalf of the Club. Good luck Oded! We will miss you! The July program was presented by Don Berry on the subject of collecting elongated coins. Don designs and rolls his own coins. In August, the club will have their White Elephant sale with the proceeds going to the club. Members are busy planning their Coin and Currency Show on October 17.

GATEWAY COIN CLUB newsletter published an interesting article on the hat on a pole behind Miss Liberty depicted on several early US coinage designs. The GCC is soliciting volunteers to help the club produce their 2010 Gateway Coin Club medal.

FRESNO NUMISMATIC SOCIETY members were enlightened by a presentation on Carson City Half Dollars by the club newsletter editor, Randy Clifton. The city of Fresno was enquiring about the possibility of the club needing a business license. Their journal contained an excellent article on the 1881 Carson City Gold Half Eagle. James Obler’s presentation was a coin grading workshop focusing on the differences between AU and BU type coins. Bill Febuary penned an interesting article titled My Grandparent’s Coins. President Ken Richert educated the club on war nickels produced from 1942 through 1945. Ruth Phillips restored the club’s membership status with the ANA.

FREMONT COIN CLUB members Richard Kelly and Nancy Oliver gave a presentation titled A Twisted Tale of Cover Up and Deceit. Sounds like it was an interesting presentation. The talk covered a 150 year-old controversy involving the ﬁ rst San Francisco Mint and a missing fortune of gold. The FCC journal has great photos, many in color of their clubs members and social activities. Special speaker Ken Barr shared some of his numismatic collectables and oddities in a recent talk titled Things in My Ofﬁ ce. Member Herb Miles gave a presentation on Tokens and Ephemera of Richmond, California. Richmond was incorporated in 1905 and Herb has around 100 of the approximately 180 Richmond tokens that exist. Roger Lyles gave a talk on his favorite early copper specimens at the June meeting.

66 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 FAIRFIELD COIN CLUB will be celebrating their joint picnic with the Vallejo Numismatic Society in September. Bill Bartz is coordinating a high-low serial number contest for the $5 bill. Detecting Counterfeits was presented by Robert Luna.

DOWNEY NUMISMATISTS enjoyed Albertus Hoogeveen’s presentation on Collecting Coins from the Netherlands. Other Hobbies Night was the June meeting theme. Many members participated.

DIABLO NUMISMATIC SOCIETY is encouraging members to receive the clubs monthly newsletter via e-mail to reduce mailing costs. The August meeting focused on other hobbies the members shared with their club. The DNS held their annual picnic in July at Oakhill Park where they enjoyed a Texas BBQ. Member Charles Ludvik gave a presentation on collecting Washington quarters. He provided handouts which covered the history, overview and pricing information.

DELTA COIN CLUB held their annual summer picnic at Micke Grove Park in July. About 50 members and guests attended their annual hot dog night meeting. Syd Kass celebrated his 90th birthday with the DCC membership.

CUPERTINO COIN CLUB recent meetings have covered other hobbies night, hot dog night and their joint picnic with the San Jose Coin Club. Attendance is high at the CCC meetings with approximately 45 people attending their monthly meetings. Texas Coin and Currency was the topic of a recent presentation given to the members. Santa Clara Expos generously donated $500 to the CCC for their support of the Santa Clara Coin Show. The CCC still has wooden nickels available for promotions. Members recently took a ﬁ eld trip to the Wells Fargo museum and the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank.

COVINA COIN CLUB is having an election to choose the favorite orange to represent the club. They have four designs to choose from. The club Show and Tell continues to be very popular. Bill Nash is very involved with Civil War reenactments and gave a terriﬁ c presentation about the Civil War, which brought out almost all the members.

COINEERS COIN CLUB Show & Tell theme in May was The Civil War, Coins & Currency Of, which brought almost 100% participation. The theme in June was Off-Metal Coins. Members were encouraged to share their prized Rus- sian platinum roubles. Andrew Woodruff won a ﬁ rst and second place for his exhibits at the Del Mar Fair. The theme in July was World Silver.

CHULA VISTA COIN CLUB meetings feature a themed Show and Tell. July was Other Hobby Night. Don and Ginny Smith brought in several two-inch cast iron fry pans which Don collects while Ginny brought in many lovely green

The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 67 depression glass plates, etc. She collects all Depression glass but her favorite glass is green. Dave Gross brought in his silver spoon collection with the oldest spoon dating back to Roman times 2000 years ago. Steve Fahrlender was awarded the coveted Medal of Merit issued only occasionally by the San Diego County Inter-Club Numismatic Council for all hard work over the past years and for setting into place, website sites for several clubs. The website for CVCC is ChulaVistaCoinClub.org. Check it out! The club had their annual potluck picnic at the August meeting, which was enjoyed by all!

CALIFORNIA EXONUMIST SOCIETY member Virginia Bourke has been soliciting member nominations for future club positions. James Hunt and Stan Turrini will be co-presenting at the next CSNA educational forum, Now You Are Gone: What Happens or Should Happen to Your Collection? The CES is soliciting members for ideas to create souvenirs to celebrate the club’s Golden Jubilee 50th Anniversary from 1960-2010. Member and dealer Joel Anderson has created elongated tokens to celebrate his 40th anniversary as a coin dealer. To encourage authors to write articles CES member Robert Fritsch, currently in New Hampshire, is allowing members to select a token that they may keep as long as they write an article about the token they have chosen.

BURBANK COIN CLUB (formerly LOCKHEED COIN CLUB) had a catered dinner meeting in June. On June 12 the club did their free annual Coin Appraisal Day. It was well attended with over 25 people participating. Phil Iversen presented the program in July, State Bank Note Engravings. The club voted to change its name at the July meeting from Lockheed Coin Club to Burbank Coin Club.

BAY CITIES COIN CLUB members Bill Chin and Art Winters were spotlighted in June and July. This club is growing very rapidly. The consensus credits the new name for attracting new members. Bay Cities Coin Club merged with Culver City Coin Club. Most of the members live in the Bay Cities and the name Bay Cities Coin Club reﬂ ected that. To celebrate, the club has issued a very beautiful medal featuring both club logos with a setting sun on the Culver City Coin Club logo. To order, contact the club representative in the directory of coin clubs.

ALAMEDA COIN CLUB hosted their coin show in late June with a children’s table hosted by Mike Turrini. The show was a great success. Last month the club met at a local Round Table Pizza. It sounds like a good way to encourage members to attend club meetings. Alan Kraemer brought up moving the club’s meetings to the Elk’s Lodge which will be discussed in future meetings.

68 The California Numismatist • Fall 2010 NASC Membership Application Membership Category Cost Junior (under 18) $10 Individual $20 Includes subscription to Individual (3 years) $55 The California Numismatist! Club $30 Sustaining (lifetime) $300

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