Vol:Vol: 56 Issue:Issue: 1 JanuaryJanuary 2009 New Mint Website Easier to Navigate Not long ago, the Royal Canadian Mint switched over to their new website. This change over has been eagerly awaited by many frustrated customers. The old Mint website had a nasty habit of freezing on the starting page, and if one was lucky enough to get inside, they would have to This Issue navigate a maze of webpages to fi nd the product they were look- Love Tokens ing for. Unlike the old website, the new website has more information about ...My Lucky Coin Canadian coins including mintage fi gures and design specifi ca- tions. Even for people with slow internet connections, the new mint Roman Realities website seems to load faster. Easy to follow link and larger picture icons make browsing the mint inventory much easier. The Mint has ...Find for a Thaler also included more categories in their online shop. Colorized coins, holographic coins, and odd shape coins have their own category L`ARC de TRIOMPHE... as well as different themes. With all these upgrades, there are still some problems with the new site. When entering any quarry into the search bar, even something Next Meeting as simple as GOLD, the search engine returns zero results. After Wednesday, January 14, 2009 repeated attempts with many Doors 7:00pm -- Meeting 7:30pm different quarries, the search Royal Alberta Museum still returned no results. Another 12845-102 Ave, Edmonton annoying feature is a convenient pop-up placed on the mint web- page. This popup is sponsored Contact by the Royal Canadian Mint and is hosted by an independent Editor: Matthew Sztym survey company. In the short ten [email protected] minutes of surfi ng the Mint page, this popup re-appeared three Edmonton Numismatic Society separate occasions. It will not be P.O Box 75024, Ritchie PO long until the Royal Canadian Edmonton, AB, Canada T6E 6K1 Mint fi xes these problems. For www.edmontoncoinclub.com now, the upgrade is greatly ap- preciated. 2008 Executive The Edmonton Numismatic Society President: Jamie Horkulak Past President: Dan Gosling The Edmonton Numismatic Society (ENS) dates Vice President: David Peter back to September 1953. At that time the mem- Treasurer: Pierre Driessen bers met and discussed the hobby under the name, Secretary: Marc Bink the Edmonton Coin Club. During the 1960’s, 70’s, 2008 Directors: and 80’s the Club sponsored 20 Annual Coin-A- Rama shows, issuing many collectable souvenirs. In 1979, The City of Edmonton’s 75th Anniver- Newsletter sary, the Club was host to its fi rst CNA Conven- Editor: Matthew Sztym tion. A number of mini shows and Anniversary Distribution: Howard Gilbey shows were held during the 1980’s and 90’s. As a Advertising: Marv Berger refl ection of the varied collecting interest of the Webmaster: Dan Gosling current membership, and a continuing commit- Show Chairman: Jamie Horkulak ment to promote the hobby, the Club changed its Show Security: John Callaghan name to the Edmonton Numismatic Society (for- Show Admissions: Greg Wichman merly the Edmonton Coin Club) just prior to host- Special Events: Terry Cheesman ing its second CNA Convention in 1998. Since 1996 the Club has sponsored two shows each year, one in Directors: Ray Neiman the late winter/early spring and one in the fall. The Bob Eriksson ENS will host the fi rst RCNA Convention in 2009. Chris Hale ENS is a Member of: Club Meetings Canadian Numismatic Association NEXT MEETING American Numismatic Association January 2009 Canadian Paper Money Society Wednesday January 14, 2009 December 2008 Royal Alberta Museum 12845-102 Ave Doors open at 7:00pm Meeting starts 7:30pm The December meeting started off with an interesting discussion by Marc Bink about the a) nomination committee - will provide pre- various coins produced by the City of Lubeck. liminary report to membership present about Following the talk, Pierre Driessen and Mat- nominations received to date. Nominations from thew Sztym of the nomination committee went the fl oor. to the front of the room to discuss the upcom- b) Jamie Horkulak- Is to give a November ing election and positions available. They an- 2008 show report. nounced that they will be taking nominations c) appointment of an audit committee. at the upcoming January meeting for the AGM d) Guest speaker - Markus Molenda - and election in February. Following various “Canadian Lead Tokens.” announcements the ENS hosted their annual e) any other business donation Auction. Hundreds of items were donated by club member and auctioned off. The For more information regarding these events, auction raised just over $500. After the auction please send an email to [email protected] some of the members went to the traditional after-meeting Boston Pizza. The Planchet Page 2 January 2009 Important Messages for 2009 Message from the President • The ENS is currently looking for speakers to give presentations at club meetings in 2009. There are many blocks available and Hello everyone and welcome to another excit- we invite all members to give a talk in their ing year of the ENS! This one will prove to be area of interest. If you would like to give a demanding with 3 shows including the RCNA talk, please contact; [email protected] August 12-16, as well as our regular shows • The Planchet Is now in the 56th year of March and November. printing. To keep our newsletter a success, Despite all the talk about the struggling econo- we invite all club members to submit an my, I keep reading how strong the coin and paper article to be published. As of 2009 the ENS market is. And the proof is in the numbers. Gold has made annual awards to recognize the and silver bullion’s actual value is well above hard work of those individuals who submit spot according to Kitco, and the mint can’t get articles to The Planchet. If you are interest- enough gold to fi ll production demand, even at ed, please contact; [email protected] these above spot prices. Michael Walsh in his last Torex auction reports • February is the annual AGM and elections. a record gross sales fi gure, and that paper money Coming into 2009 the ENS has many events realized 107% of estimate on average. The mar- planned and need a strong executive com- ket is still strong as well, having dabbled a bit mittee to get things done. If you are inter- recently in it, I can tell you to be prepared to bid ested in running in the election, or would at least 100% of estimate to get anything. Items like to nominate someone, please contact with above average eye appeal can expect to real- the nominations committee. ize double trend or higher. Expect this trend to • 2009 Membership fees are now due. If you follow into , that is, eye appeal weighing heavier have not yet paid, you can make payment on value than technical grade. in person at the January meeting, via A world coin auction in on December 2 &3 Paypal through the ENS website, or send set a record realized price for a non-US auction, in your membership through regular mail. $25.6 million total, equating to 75% over esti- If you have not paid your dues, you are not mate. The auction also set a record for highest eligible to run in the February election. price paid for an ancient coin, $1.9M for a Ses- Constitutional Amendments tertius of Hadrian struck in brass. Many speculate that investors are turning to The following amendments, submitted to the bullion and numismatic markets after a substan- ENS, are to be voted on at the upcoming AGM. tial loss from their “on paper” portfolios and re- tirement plans. You can hold coins in your hand, 1. Elevating Editor to executive offi ce. unlike shares of some online tech company who Be it resolved that: only asset is the money it supposedly makes. “The position of editor be changed from director to executive offi cer Our election for 2009 will be held at the Annual of the Executive Committee. This offi cer shall be responsible for: editing and publishing the offi cial newsletter The Planchet and General Meeting in February. coordinating the selling of advertising and track payment and dura- Most offi cers will likely want to hold their posi- tion of said ads. All monies received for said ads shall be paid to the tions, but we encourage members to step up to Treasurer.” the next level and be more involved in the club. 2. Removal of chronic absent board members. If you are interested and capable of being part Be it resolved that: of the executive, please notify our nominations The Executive Committee reserves the right to dismiss a Director committee, Pierre Driessen and Matt Sztym. who misses three (3) consecutive executive meetings due to unex- plained absences. Dismissal shall be determined by a majority vote of the Executive Committee. Jamie Horkulak. The Planchet Page 3 January 2009 the wealth and stability the man could offer to his Mutilated Money wife. This tradition carried on into later love token Part 1 of 6 practices as well. Although 6d coins were most commonly used, bender love tokens have Love tokens been found on nearly all denominations BY MATTHEW SZTYM of early British currency. In the early Welcome to the fi rst installment of 18th century a cross over began to my six month feature on mutilated happen. “Bender” Love tokens be- money. Mutilated money is one of gan to appear with initials scratched, the least collected items in Canadian engraved, or stamped into the coin.