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ACCent: The Monthly Newsletter of the Anchorage Coin Club
| Volume 18, Number 5 |
May 2005 |
|
| May Membership Meeting | ||
| Wed., May 4th, 2005 | Central Lutheran Church |
6:30 PM YNs, 7:15 Meeting |
O ur club's April 6th meeting saw a "Show and Tell" session in which club members brought their favorite coins and numismatic items (such as medallions). Each member gave a short presentation on their item(s). There were also displays on U.S. Proof coins and on U.S. Paper Currency.
This was also a "potluck" dish event in which club members brought a variety of food for all to enjoy. All in all, it was a great evening for all of us.
John Larson showed off our club's latest raffle prize, a set of $1 (AU), $5 (VF/XF), and $10 (VF/XF) denomination U.S. World War II North African Notes (commonly called Yellow Seal Notes). Tickets are selling for $5/each or 5 tickets for $20. The drawing for these notes will be at our club's Summer picnic scheduled for the month of August. So get your tickets now.
The door prize, two Indian Head cents (1893 and 1899) were won by YN Kyra Mead.
The membership prize, two Liberty Head nickels (1897 and 1899) were won by Bill Hamilton.
A couple of announcements are in order:
First, we have been asked by the Central Lutheran Church to schedule our June meeting to June 8th (the second Wednesday of the month). The church is having a conference during the first week of June and needs all of the rooms for their conference. Accordingly, this an announcement that we will have our meeting on June 8th.
Second, there will be no YN meeting during the month of May. Instead, we would like to have the YNs come to our 7:15 PM membership meeting on May 4th at the Central Lutheran Church.
We are still looking for additional donations for the YN Numismatic Donation Auction...which will be scheduled for our club meeting on June 8th. As of this month's newsletter, donations received have resulted in 29 lots so-far. These lots are listed in this newsletter. They will also be on display for all to see at our May 4Ih club meeting. Your editors would like to encourage our members to provide more donations. We want to make this year's auction a success. Take a look at the lots donated. There are really nice items. Thanks go those members who so generously donated for such a good cause....our YN Program.
Finally, Loren Lucason announced that he will be setting up a club information table at the 5th Avenue Mall (in the downtown area) during the last weekend of June. The intent is to promote our club and encourage people to join. Loren welcomes the company that weekend. If you wish to help out... .get with Loren (#272-3700).
See you at the next club meeting on May 4th......Your Editors.
Schedule of Events for the Month of May:
YN (Young Numismatists) Meeting: There will be no YN meeting for May.
Monthly Membership Meeting: May 4th(Wednesday) at 7:15 PM at the Central Lutheran Church (downstairs meeting area). The Central Lutheran Church is located at 1420 Cordova St. on the corner of Cordova and 15lh Avenue. Larry Nakata will be giving a presentation on "Collecting U.S. Nickels". Members, YNs, and general public welcomed.
Anchorage Coin Club Board Meeting: May 18th (Wednesday) at 7:00 PM at the New Cauldron Restaurant located at the University Center. Club members welcomed.
Minutes of the April 20th Board Meeting
The meeting was called to order at 7:15 PM by President Carl Mujagic. The meeting was held at the New Cauldron Restaurant located at the University Center.
Secretary Larry Nakata stated that there were no bills or correspondence for review. We are current.
The Board then went over old business....the club's Fall Coin Show. Larry Nakata stated that at the last Board meeting, a number of locations were reviewed. At that meeting it was decided that the best location for a Fall Coin Show would be at a mid-tier type hotel that has meeting room and small
convention facilities (such as the Golden Lion Hotel or the Westcoast).
The next phase of planning for this meeting then focused on what events would be desirable for such a Fall Coin Show. After considerable discussion, what was recommended:
• A numismatic coin auction,
• Have free grading of coins as a enticement for the public to attend,
• Promos... such as coffee coasters and door prizes for the public,
• Coin tables for selling and buying of coins and numismatic items,
• Have free half hour to one hour seminars to be given by our members on various numismatic subjects.
What then followed was a discussion on what key issues will need to be considered on putting such a coin show together. What was discussed:
• Need for a number of display cases for the coin tables, especially if outside dealers come for this event,
• Need for an advertising budget. Look at newspapers, TV, radio, Community Calendars, and coin magazines (such as Numismatic News, The Numismatist, and Coin World). Also, distribution of flyers to promote show.
• Security during the coin show and at night.
• Budget.
Following these discussions, it was decided that our next Board meeting (on May 18th) will focus of determination of a budget. At this meeting each member will be assigned specific core area(s) with the responsibility of coming up with a recommended plan and cost.
On another matter on old business, Larry Nakata stated that he has put together a list of 29 donated lots for the YN Numismatic Donation Auction. More lots are needed. Accordingly, the auction is to be held on June 8th. This should allow for more time to get additional lots needed to round out the auction.
The Board then moved into new business:
Our club's summer picnic will be held in early August. Larry Nakata will check with Anchorage City Parks and arrange for a Saturday event.
Our club's meeting agenda for May 4th.
• There will be no YN meeting scheduled for May 4th. One of our key club members heading up the YN Program, Stan Mead, will be retiring at the end of April and plans to take a vacation following his retirement. The Board gave congratulations to Stan on his retirement.
• Larry Nakata will be giving a presentation on "Collecting U.S. Nickels".
As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8.15PM.
Correct coin storage is important!!
Make sure you keep your coins in a cool, dry, and safe place. A couple of years ago a collector purchased a 1963 Lincoln cent graded Proof 70 deep cameo by PCGS for a record price of $39,100. He reconsigned the coin to auction a year later and the bids reached $51,000 during the auction when it was removed from the sale. PCGS bought the coin and downgraded the coin to Proof 64 cameo which now has a current market value of $4. PCGS paid the owner of the coin $40,250 under the company's grading guarantee without regard to the storage circumstances. The coin was obviously downgraded due to improper storage (carbon spots or subdued luster)- from $40,000 to $4.
Also, I would like to thank everyone that brought coins to the "Show and Tell" session at the last coin club meeting. Club support like this is what will help continue our success. It turned out to be a very informative and interesting session.
Thanks again.....Carl.
FROM YOUR CHIEF EDITOR: I have written a number of articles over the 16 years that I have been with the Anchorage Coin Club. Over those years I wrote some pretty good articles. In going back over the past issues of our club's newsletters, I came across this particular article that was one of my favorites. It was printed in our February, 1998 newsletter. Since that article was done over 7 years ago, I wanted to reprint the article for those members of our coin club who joined afterwards.
February, 1861 saw the beginning of the Confederate government. The immediate problem facing the new government was the disorder and chaos that resulted in it's monetary and economic system.
Going into 1861, the South's economy was not in the best of shape. The South, being primarily agriculture based, relied on it's state banking houses and a barter/credit system (in rural areas) with each Southern state in charge of it's destiny. State Bank notes (the paper currency of it's day) and U.S. coinage were the moneys used for circulation in the South's economy at that time. By the beginning of the Civil War, the State Bank Note systems in the North and South were in need of revamping in order to financially support their respective war efforts.
This article covers how the South addressed this problem. I will not cover the efforts made in the North since that is an article by itself. On that subject I will only say the North and South took very different paths in how they addressed their monetary policies.
The immediate problem facing the South was what to do about the coinage situation. To Southern politicians it made no sense to have U.S. coinage circulating in the South's economy when a state of war existed with the North. There were three mints still active in the South: New Orleans, Charlotte, and Dahlonega. The problem was that coins of all descriptions were being hoarded by the Southern public and there was only a small amount of bullion owned by the Confederacy for mintage of new coins. This bullion was necessary as payment to foreign countries for needed supplies used in the war effort.
There was an attempt in the beginning of the war to try and mint Confederate coinage. In April of 1861, some 4 pattern specimens of the Confederate half dollar were made out of the New Orleans Mint, The obverse design resembled the same design used on the North's Liberty Seated half dollar. Only the reverse side differed on the half dollar. The Confederate half dollar never saw any mintage as a decision was made by the Confederate government to use it's available bullion as payment to foreign countries. As a result, the policy throughout the war was to regulate the value of available foreign and U.S. coinage within the Confederacy.
The Confederate government also attempted to commission a one-cent piece early in the Civil War. Twelve pattern specimens were struck by a gentleman named Robert Lovett Jr. of the firm "Bailey and Co." out of Philadelphia. For reasons that are obvious, these pattern coins were never delivered to the South. It is believed the dies were hidden during the war since Confederate one cent pieces began resurfacing in 1874....some 9 years after the conclusion of the war.
With Confederate coinage non-existent, the monetary policies then focused on the use of paper currency. Up to this time, State Bank notes prevailed as the currency of it's day. The need for an interstate currency was quickly realized as a necessity for the South's economy. Such currency would be the exchange standard used between banks and states in the Confederacy.
The first Confederate notes issued were interest bearing Treasury Notes that were printed in denominations of $50, $100, $500, and $1000. These notes could be retired at the end of one year....probably in anticipation of an early end to the Civil War. While not intended for public circulation (since they were essentially bonds used to pay debts owed by the Confederate government), these notes nonetheless proved very successful and popular. This led the Confederate Congress to pass legislation that permitted non-interest bearing Confederate Treasury Notes in denominations of $5 and above. These types of Treasury notes were to become the medium of exchange standard for the South. By April, 1862 lack of coinage caused the printing of notes below $5 denominations to be authorized by the Confederate Congress.
The beauty was that:
• No interest needed to be paid,
• The money could be used easily by the public,
• These notes could be used to pay government debt,
• They could be exchanged for specie (i.e., paper currency redeemable in gold and silver) and State Bank notes, and ... .more important....
• The principal on these Treasury Notes was not due until the successful conclusion of the Civil War by the South.
The Southern banks and general public readily accepted these Confederate bills at first...perhaps out of patriotism for the Southern cause. The fact that these bills could be exchanged for State Bank Notes allowed for the continuation of the State Bank Note system in the South until the end of the Civil War. The Confederate paper money soon established itself as virtually legal tender.
As the Civil War dragged on, this Confederate currency saw a deterioration process occur. After all, this was currency created by the will of the Confederate government and backed only by it's people's faith in that government.
Several incidents occurred which undermined the effectiveness of Confederate currency.
First was the failure of the Confederate government to make this currency legal tender. For reasons that still remain unclear, the Confederate government chose to make it's currency a voluntary standard in the South. Legal tender status would have made acceptance compulsory and thus allow the Confederate government more flexibility in influencing better monetary policy in the South.
Second, the Confederate government failed to control the amount of State Bank Notes that circulated in the Southern economy. The high quantity of such notes slowly undermined the value of the Confederate currency.
Third, various states within the Confederacy saw fit to issue their own brand of Treasury Notes that essentially competed with Confederate currency. These State Treasury Notes were intended to meet their respective war debt obligations and did of that state. Nonetheless, this added more paper currency into the South's economy.
All of these factors combined to create a situation where an abundance of paper currency flooded the South. Rising costs associated with a prolonged war, declining purchasing power of the currency, and continued hoarding practices by the public ultimately created a vicious cycle in which more paper money had to be printed by the Confederate government to keep the South's economy afloat. Hyperinflation soon resulted. By March, 1863 the Confederate government was printing $50 million in Treasury Notes a month to meet expenses. Something needed to be done to bring back order to this situation.
By early 1864, monetary reform changes occurred. In an effort to reduce the paper currency supply in the South, the Confederate Congress acted by forcing a redemption of it's older Treasury Notes in exchange for government bonds (without loss of value). After July, 1864 any remaining Treasury Notes could only be exchanged for new issue notes at a rate of $3 in old bills for $2 in new bills.
This money reform measure proved too late in coming. By this time the public's faith in Confederate government currency had eroded. The South was clearly losing the war. Inflation continued even with the new currency. In January, 1861 the exchange rate was $1.05 in Confederate currency to $1 in gold. By the conclusion of the Civil War in 1865, the exchange rate deteriorated to $1200 in Confederate currency to $1 in gold. By this time, trade and barter became the principal means of economic transactions in the South.
There were hopes following the Civil War that the victorious U.S. Federal government would honor some percentage of Confederate currency in exchange. As a result, large amounts of Confederate currency continued to be kept in attics and storage....even after the notes were demonetized.
So much for the history. For the collector one must ask the question as to what is collectable in terms of Confederate moneys.
First there is the half dollar coin. Only four pattern specimens were ever struck of the half dollar. A number of restrikes were later made following the Civil War using the reverse die. These are very collectable.
Even more difficult to collect are the one-cent pieces. Only 12 original patterns were struck. Restrikes of the cent were made in copper, gold, and silver around 1873 from the hidden dies. Only 74 restrikes were ever made....so forget any thought of collecting one-cent pieces.
There were a number of tokens that circulated in the South's economy during the Civil War. Thse tokens were intended to be used as substitutes for the lack of available coinage. These are certainly collectable.
Finally, there is the multitude of Southern paper currency that is very much collectable. Lots of Confederate currency is available at very reasonable prices. A collector can put together a very nice set that is very affordable. There are lots of Southern State Bank Notes and State Treasury Notes that are also very reasonable in price.
So take your pick on what you wish to collect. Confederate moneys are certainly very rich in history.
References:
1. "Graybacks and Gold: Confederate Monetary Policy" by James F. Morgan c. 1985.
2. "A Guide to U.S. Coins/ 50th Edition- 1997" by R.S. Yeoman.
3. Article: "A Confederate Cent Spent In a Tavern" by Q. David Bowers. The Numismatist/ January, 1998.
4. "1997 Blackbook Price Guide of U.S. Paper Money" 29th Edition by Marc Hudgeons.
FINAL CHIEF EDITOR'S COMMENT: There was another article that I was not able to find in our club's back newsletter issues (the ones that were available). This article is on "The Kingdom of Hawaii Coinage". It was one of my best articles printed a lot of years ago. If any of you have the back issue for this article, see if you can get it to me for a reprint.,. .Your Chief Editor.
As of this newsletter we have put together the following 29 lots that were generously donated by some of our senior club members. Thanks go to Roy Brown, Bill Hamilton, Bill Fivaz, John Pastos, Jim Hill, Greg Samorajski, Larry Nakata, Loren Lucason, and Frank Jasper for donation of these items for the YN Numismatic Donation Auction.
It has been a yearly tradition in our coin club to have a donation auction that benefits our club's YN Program. Each year, I have been asking our club members to donate coins, currency, and other numismatic items for this auction.
This year we have some nice lots among the 29 items. Among them are a % ounce American Gold Eagle-Year 1999 (Lot #18) in BU condition, an 1898-P Morgan Dollar with a great obverse toned surface (Lot #10) in BU condition, and a U.S. Treasury Note Series 1869 in Good condition (Lot #29).
We need more than 29 lots for the upcoming YN Numismatic Donation Auction. Proceeds from this yearly auction goes to benefit our club's YN Program. These proceeds have done a lot of good for our YNs over the 17 year history of our coin club.
As the organizer of this yearly event, I am asking all members of our club to be generous and donate what you can to such a good cause.
You can donate by:
• Bringing your donated coins, currency, and numismatic items to our May 4th club meeting.
• Dropping off your donations to Roy's coin shop (Roy's Coins) or to Carl's business (Carl's at the University Center).
• Mailing the donations to our club's mailing address at Anchorage Coin Club/ P.O. Box 230169/ Anchorage, AK 99523.
Because we have only 29 lots, the auction will be held at our club's June 8* membership meeting. That should give another month to get more lots for the auction.
Remember, it is for a good cause......Larry Nakata.
Set of seven (7) Indian Head Cents: 1901 1902 19031904 1905 1906 190 in Good to Very Fine Condition.
Complete set of 41 commemorative coins in specially engraved coin book "A Coin History of the U.S. Presidents"
Set of three (3) booklets:
• "Collecting World Paper Money" by Lance K. Campbell c. 1993.
• "Coinage of the United States Branch Mints" by A. G. Heaton c. 1984.
• "The Colonial Coins of Vermont" by Hillyer Ryder/ "The Vermont Coinage" by Edmund Slafter. C. 1981.
Set often (10) various denomination British coins (BU condition) in special holder: 1967 Penny/ 1963 Sixpence/ 1954 Farthing/ 1967 Three pence/ 1966 Halfpenny/ 1963 ScottishShilling/ 1960 English Shilling/ 1967 Florin/ 1967 Half Crown/1965 Crown. Also, an additional1965 Crown (BU) in special holder. Nice examples of pre-decimal British coinage.
U.S. Military Payment Certificate (MFC): $1 Series 661 (October 1968 - August 1969). Used in Vietnam only.
Set of three (3) Bicentennial Commemorative medals consisting of:
• Two (2) 1974 John Adams commemorative medals, one of which is in a 1974 First Day Stamped Cover.
• One (1) 1975 Paul Revere commemorative medal.
Book: "Standard Catalog of World Paper Money Fifth Edition- Volume One/ Specialized Issues" by Albert Pick.
Book: "Standard Catalog of World Paper Money Fifth Edition- Volume Two/ General Issues" by Albert Pick.
Set of two (2) Bicentennial Commemorative medals consisting of:
• One (1) 1972 George Washington commemorative medal in 1972 First Day Stamped Cover.
• One (1) 1976 Thomas Jefferson commemorative medal in 1976 First Day Stamped Cover. 1898-P Morgan Dollar. High grade BU coin with great toned obverse side.
Set of five (5) BU Lincoln cents: 1952/ 1953/ 1955-D/1956/ 1958-D
1955/55 Poor Man's doubled die Lincoln cent in BU condition.
Partial set of Lincoln cents 1935-1961 in old time coin book (manufactured by Meghrig).
Set of two (2) Bicentennial Commemorative medals consisting of:
• One (1) 1972 George Washington commemorative medal in 1972 First Day Stamped Cover.
• One (1) 1976 Thomas Jefferson commemorative medal in 1976 First Day Stamped Cover. Royal Australian Mint 2005 $1 Silver Proof Commemorative "Gallipoli 1915 Campaign". Limited mintage of 20,000 coins. This coin is numbered "11165".
Set of two (2) Liberty Head Nickels. Circulated condition. 1897 and 1899. Set of two (2) Bicentennial Commemorative medals consisting of:
• One (1) 1975 Paul Revere commemorative medal in 1975 First Day Stamped Cover.
• One (1) 1976 Thomas Jefferson commemorative medal in 1976 First Day Stamped Cover. 1999 1/4 ounce ($10 denomination) American Eagle Gold coin in BU condition.
Set of two (2) 1975 Paul Revere American Revolution Bicentennial commemorative medals in
U.S. Mint original holders.
Set of three (3) medals from the U.S. Mint:
• Pewter medal "Washington Before Boston".
• 1973 Bicentennial Commemorative Silver Medal "American Revolution" in Proof condition.
• 1976 National Bicentennial Silver medal in Proof condition.
Patrick Henry Sterling Silver Medal. Excellent condition. Great looking item.
1966 Philadelphia Mint Set in plastic holder.
1972-S U.S. Proof Set.
1991 Gold Plated Silver American Eagle Dollar.
1937-P Buffalo Nickel in BU condition.
1942-D Washington Quarter doubled die obverse in VG condition. RARE!!
1881-P Morgan Dollar in BU condition.
GRAB BAG; A grab bag of numismatic items. Makes for a great "coin collecting starter kit".
U.S. Paper Currency: $1 U.S. Treasury Note. Series 1869. Allison-Spinner. Good condition.
Club Archivist / Photographer
DUES
The Anchorage Coin Club is a non-profit organization formed to provide information, education, and a meeting place for individuals having an interest in numismatics.
Correspondence Address: Anchorage Coin Club, P.O. Box 230169, Anchorage,
Alaska 99523