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ACCent: The Monthly Newsletter of the Anchorage Coin Club
| Volume 20, Number 1 |
January 2007 |
|
| September Membership Meeting | ||
| Wed., Jan. 3rd, 2007 | Central Lutheran Church |
7:15 PM Meeting |
A Happy Holiday season to all of our club members.
At the time of the writing of this month’s newsletter, it is Christmas weekend. Hoping all of you are having a good this Christmas weekend.
The coin club’s Christmas Party on December 13th was well attended by all. There was plenty of food for everyone with ham and turkey provided as the buffet’s main dishes. It was good to celebrate our Christmas party in the downstairs area of the Central Lutheran Church.
The highlight of the evening was our club’s annual Christmas Numismatic Auction. The prices realized from the lot sales are posted in this newsletter.
There were plenty of door prizes given out that evening with a gold coin given out as the surprise of the evening. Thanks go to Roy Brown in providing that gold coin as the key door prize. That gold coin was won by Ruth Mead.
Our club’s raffle coin, an 1882 U.S. $5 Liberty Gold Coronet graded SEGS Certified AU58, was won by Stan Mead.
Congratulations go to both Stan and Ruth on winning the gold coins of the evening.
Our next club meeting will be the first Wednesday of January (January 3rd). Now that the downstairs area is finished at Central Lutheran Church, we can resume our normal meeting schedules (the first Wednesday evening of every month 7:15 PM start).
Larry Nakata will be giving the presentation on the subject of “U.S. Half Dollars”.
Bill Fivaz has also sent the following auction lots for our January Bullet Coin Auction:
Bill and his wife, Marilyn, wish everyone in the club a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
One final thing…your Chief Editor promised Loren’s mother that we would publish her recipe for:
Macadamia Nut Cream Pie
One nine inch baked pie crus
½ cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
2 cups of canned milk
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon of butter
½ cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons of Kahlua or coffee liquer
½ cup of macadamia nuts (chopped)
Mix and cook the sugar, cornstarch, canned milk, and egg yolks until thick. Turn off the heat and put in the butter. Cool the mixture in the refrigerator in a covered bowl.
Whip the heavy cream and Kahlua (or coffee liquer) until stiff. Fold in the chopped macadamia nuts.
Fold in the cool mixture, whipped heavy cream, and nuts together and put in the baked pie crust. Refrigerate until cool.
While the pie is refrigerating, prepare a topping consisting of:
½ cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of Kahlua (or coffee liquer).
Heat the topping until stiff. Spread over the pie filling and top with chopped macadamia nuts.
Let the pie mixture then set in the refrigerator. Serve and enjoy…….
Your editors want to again wish all of our club members a good Holiday Season and we’ll see all of you at our next club meeting (on January 3rd)……Your Editors.
Schedule of Events for the Month of January
December Board Meeting
There was no Board meeting held on December 20th. Your Board wishes all of our members a Happy Holiday Season.
CHIEF EDITOR’S NOTE: Since we are doing the newsletter over Christmas weekend, we browsed the Internet to find information on Christmas coinage. We felt it an appropriate subject at this time of year:
The
word Christmas comes from the old English "Cristes maesse" meaning Christ's
Mass. The Holiday celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. The actual birthday of
Jesus is not known; therefore, the early Church Fathers in the 4th century fixed
the day around the old Roman Saturnalia festival (17 - 21 December), a
traditional pagan festivity. The first mention of the birthday of Jesus is from
the year 354 AD. Gradually all Christian churches, except Armenians who
celebrate Christmas on January 6 (the date of the baptism of Jesus as well as
the day of the three Magi), accepted the date of December 25th. In
American/English tradition, Christmas Day itself is the day for opening gifts
brought by jolly old St. Nick. Many of our current American ideals about the way
Christmas ought to be, derive from the English Victorian Christmas, such as that
described in Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." The
caroling, the gifts, the feast, and the wishing of good cheer to all - these
ingredients came together to create that special Christmas atmosphere.
The
custom of gift-giving on Christmas goes back to Roman festivals of Saturnalia
and Kalends. The very first gifts were simple items such as twigs from a sacred
grove as good luck emblems. Soon that escalated to food, small items of jewelry,
candles, and statues of gods. To the early Church, gift-giving at this time was
a pagan holdover and therefore severely frowned upon. However, people would not
part with it, and some justification was found in the original gift giving of
the Magi, and from figures such as St. Nicholas. By the middle ages gift giving
was accepted. Before then it was more common to exchange gifts on New Year's Day
or Twelfth Night.
Santa Claus is known by British children as Father Christmas. Father Christmas,
these days, is quite similar to the American Santa, but his direct ancestor is a
certain pagan spirit who regularly appeared in medieval mummer's plays. The
old-fashioned Father Christmas was depicted wearing long robes with sprigs of
holly in his long white hair. Children write letters to Father Christmas
detailing their requests, but instead of dropping them in the mailbox, the
letters are tossed into the fireplace. The draft carries the letters up the
chimney, and theoretically, Father Christmas reads the smoke. Gifts are opened
Christmas afternoon. From
the English we get a story to explain the custom of hanging stockings from the
mantelpiece. Father Christmas once dropped some gold coins while coming down the
chimney. The coins would have fallen through the ash grate and been lost if they
hadn't landed in a stocking that had been hung out to dry. Since that time
children have continued to hang out stockings in hopes of finding them filled
with gifts. The
custom of singing carols at Christmas is also of English origin. During the
middle ages, groups of serenaders called waits would travel around from house to
house singing ancient carols and spreading the holiday spirit. The word carol
means "song of you." Most of the popular old carols we sing today were written
in the nineteenth century. The
hanging of greens, such as holly and ivy, is a British winter tradition with
origins far before the Christian era. Greenery was probably used to lift sagging
winter spirits and remind the people that spring was not far away. The custom of
kissing under the mistletoe is descended from ancient Druid rites. The
decorating of Christmas trees, though primarily a German custom, has been widely
popular in England since 1841 when Prince Albert had a Christmas tree set up in
Windsor Castle for his wife Queen Victoria, and their children. The
word wassail is derived from the Anglo-Saxon phrase "waes hael," which means
"good health." Originally, wassail was a beverage made of mulled ale, curdled
cream, roasted apples, nuts, eggs, and spices. It was served for the purpose of
enhancing the general merriment of the season. Like many of the ancient customs,
wassailing has a legend to explain its origin. It seems that a beautiful Saxon
maiden named Rowena presented Prince Vortigen with a bowl of wine while toasting
him with the words Waes hael. Over the centuries a great deal of ceremony had
developed around the custom of drinking wassail. The bowl is carried into a room
with great fanfare, a traditional carol about the drink is sung, and finally,
the steaming hot beverage is served. For
many years in England, a roasted boar's head has been associated with Holiday
feasting. The custom probably goes back to the Norse practice of sacrificing a
boar at Yuletide in honor of the god Freyr. One story tells of a student at
Oxford's Queen College who was attacked on Christmas Day by a wild boar. All he
had in his hand to use as a weapon was his copy of Aristotle, so he shoved the
book down the boar's throat. Wanting to retrieve his book, the student cut off
the animal's head and brought it back to the college where it was served for
Christmas dinner with much pomp and ceremony. It
is from Scandinavia that most of our Yule log traditions derive. The dark cold
winters inspired the development of traditions concerned with warmth and light.
Yuletide, meaning the turning of the sun or the winter solstice, has
traditionally been a time of extreme importance in Scandinavia - a time when
fortunes for the coming year were determined and when the dead were thought to
walk the earth. For a long time, it was considered dangerous to sleep alone on
Christmas Eve. The extended family, master and servant, alike would sleep
together on a freshly spread bed of straw. The
Yule log was originally an entire tree, carefully chosen, and brought into the
house with great ceremony. The butt end would be placed into the hearth while
the rest of the tree stuck out into the room. The tree would be slowly fed into
the fire and the entire process was carefully timed to last the entire Yule
season. The
Christmas tree has never been particularly popular in France, and though the use
of the Yule log has faded, the French make a traditional Yule log-shaped cake
called the "buche de Noel," which means "Christmas Log." The cake, among other
food in great abundance, is served at the grand feast of the season, which is
called Le reveillon. Le reveillon is a very late supper held after midnight mass
on Christmas Eve. The menu for the meal varies according to regional culinary
tradition. The traditional Christmas dinner is made of turkey with chestnuts
puree, and the buche de Noel as desert. Oysters are eaten on New Year's Eve only
because New Year's is more an adult celebration and usually children are not
very fond of oysters. The tradition in Paris is to eat grilled chestnuts in the
streets during the month of December and part of January. The
popularity of the Nativity scene, one of the most beloved and enduring symbols
of the holiday season, originated in Italy. St. Francis of Assisi asked a man
named Giovanni Vellita of the village of Greccio to create a manger scene. St.
Francis performed mass in front of this early Nativity scene, which inspired awe
and devotion in all who saw it. The creation of the figures or pastori became an
entire genre of folk art………www.ridgenet.org/Szaflik/history.htm
Christmas Thaler of the 16th - 17th Century It was about
200 years ago that the first
Christmas tree, the green symbol of faithfulness and perseverance, stood in
festively decorated living rooms. But there is a far older custom of
distributing precious coins at Christmas to commemorate the events of the
Christmas story. . Christmas
Talers have been preserved especially
from the 16th and 17th century, and like all coins and medals with biblical
motifs, they are an attractive area for collectors. Those who study Christmas
coins and medals will find a particularly large number of items from Hamburg.
They tell the story of Christmas, and sometimes the story of the baptism of
Christ, the crucifixion and the resurrection. "Jesus born as a child of a chosen
virgin" is the round inscription on a silver coin with the weight of a double
Taler. The undated silver coins can be dated rather more precisely due to the
coin-maker's sign and signatures. The Hamburg Christmas coins
are only proper coins in the widest sense because they do not mention the
Hanseatic city as their place of origin and they omit the coat of arms. Such
coins were often given to the child by the godparents at the christening. They
were generally made of silver or gold, and they could be worn as jewelry or as a
talisman and melted down as reserve metal in times of need. That explains why
many such coins have become extremely rare. As they were used as jewelry, they
often had a small hook attached or a hole made in them. Collectors of coins
should consider whether it is better to respect the mistreated Christmas coins
as witnesses to history rather than filling the holes or removing the hooks. The cast and
struck medals which were decorated with biblical motifs in the Erzgebirge
mints are real museum pieces. Probably the most
famous Christmas coins are the coins struck for the Saxon Elector Johann
Georg I. in 1617. With these coins, he wanted to express his love for his
mother. "Like Solomon, I too honour my mother" is the inscription on the gold
and silver coins which show the Old Testament king kneeling before his mother. Christmas motifs
were also popular in Cologne and in the diocese of Münster. In
catalogues, the beautiful coins and medals showing the events observed by the ox
and ass in the stable at Bethlehem are found under the heading "miscellaneous
medals". This refers to works which are not state, personal or historical
coins in the original sense. The category also includes pieces struck for family
occasions such as birth, christening and death, weddings and marriage and other
subjects of general human and moral content. It also includes new year coins and
medals. In the baroque period,
talented punch cutters created fine works with figures symbolic of time and
eternity, harmony and lasting health. There were also calendar medals on which
the new year was listed in tiny figures, often combined with information about
movable feasts and political dates……www.moneymuseum.com
1.
Set of six (6) Uncirculated Kenney Half Dollars. 1984-D (2)/ 1992-D/
1993-P/ 1993-D/1996-P. Price Realized (PR): $9
2.
1890 Liberty Seated Dime. AU condition. PR $50 3.
1969-S Proof Kennedy Half Dollar. NGC Pf67 Ultra Cameo PASS 4.
1970-D Kennedy Half Dollar. ICG MS65 PR $25 5.
1879-S Morgan Dollar. ANACS MS63. PR $37 6.
1927 Mercury Dime. ANACS MS63. PR $40 7.
1936 Mercury Dime. ANACS MS65. PR $25 8.
1941-D Mercury Dime. NGC MS65 FB PR $34 9.
1916 Barber Dime. ANACS AU50. PASS 10.
1947 Washington Quarter. NGC MS65. PASS 11.
1914-D Lincoln Cent. ANACS VF30. PASS 12.
Complete set of Mercury Dimes (less the 1916-D dime). Coins are in
Good to BU condition in Whitman Blue folder. Many of the late dates in AU to BU
condition. PASS 13.
1904 Indian Head Cent in MS64 condition. PR $48 14.
1945-S Jefferson Nickel (4 & ½ steps). A hard coin to get in this
condition. MS-65. PR $22.50 15.
1921-D Mercury Dime in VG condition. PR $87 16.
1943-P Mercury Dime MS-65. Split Bands. PR $24 17.
1934-P Washington Quarter. Doubled die obverse (FS-004) in Good
condition. PASS 18.
1943-S Washington Quarter. MS-64. PR $36 19.
1950-D Washington Quarter. MS-65+ condition. PR $23 20.
1945-P Walking Liberty Half Dollar in MS-63 condition. Strong die
polish through “Dollar”. PR $37 21.
1964-D/D Kennedy Half Dollar RPM# 6. Triple Die Obverse (FS-013.5)
in MS-63 condition. PR $29 22.
Official John F. Kennedy Inaugural Medal (U.S. Mint). PR $10 23.
Original Hobo Nickel by Howard Hughes (signed “HH” on reverse). PR
$85 24.
1987 Silver Piedfort* Lafayette Medals (French Mint). One is BU, one
cameo Proof. 100 F. each. 1.06 oz. each. 25.
1945-S (Micro-S) Mercury Dime with Rim Clip in VF condition. Rare.
PR $11 26.
1913 Canadian Large Cent in Uncirculated condition. With Verdigris
spot on coin. PR $6 27.
1837 Hard Times Token (Low-107) R-2 (NYC) in VF condition. PR $22 28.
1976 Austria 100 Schillings Olympic Buildings. Proof condition.
PR $13 29.
U.S. Prototype Silver Dollar Proof Set. From Gold Standard
Corporation. PR $11 30.
1979- P/D/S and 1980- P/D/S Susan B. Anthony Dollar U.S. Mint
Souvenir Sets. PR $10 31.
Set of five (5) ANA/Atlanta poker chips that were issued on Casino
Night at the April 7th, 2006 Atlanta ANA Convention. This is a very
limited production run and is now rare. PASS
32.
1842 Large Cent in F-VF condition. PASS
33.
1858 Large Letter Flying Eagle Cent in Fine condition. PASS
34.
1859 Indian Head Cent in AU condition. PASS
35.
1943/2 Jefferson Nickel in VG condition. PASS
36.
1857 Liberty Seated Quarter VG-F condition. PASS
37.
1916 Walking Liberty Half Dollar in VF condition. PASS
38.
1881-S Morgan Dollar in BU condition. Cleaned. PASS
39.
1892 Columbian U.S. Commemorative Half Dollar in AU condition. PASS
40.
1893-S Isabella U.S. Commemorative Quarter in AU condition. PASS
41.
Gold type set consisting of U.S. $20 St. Gaudens, $10/ $5/ $2& ½
Indians. PASS 42.
U.S. Treasury Hoard consisting of 1883-O, 1884-O, and 1885-O Morgan
Dollars. All coins in PCGS old type holders. (These coins would be considered
MS63 grade today). PR $150
43.
Year 2000 Silver Eagle- Colorized. PASS
44.
George Washington- George Bush Bicentennial Commemorative 3 coin set.
PR $20
45.
1899 $2 U.S. Legal Tender Note in 22kt Gold Proof. PR $20
46.
1923 $1 Silver Certificate in .999 fine Silver Proof. PASS
47.
2000 Lincoln Cent ANACS Uncirculated (off center- with counting wheel
damage). PR $20
48.
1973 Nixon- Agnew Large Bronze Medallion. PR $11
49.
2005 Silver Titanic coin. $10 face value. Only 5000 were made. Each piece
with an actual piece of coal (as part of the coin) taken from the Titanic.
PR $31
50.
1976 4 coin Silver Olympic Montreal Uncirculated Set. PR $30
51.
1887 U.S. Morgan Dollar in MS63 condition. Nice color. PR $46
52.
2005 U.S. Mint Proof Set. PR $25
53.
1986 U.S. Statue of Liberty 3 coin set- Holographic Edition. PR $20 54.
1900 Lafayette U.S. Commemorative Dollar in Uncirculated condition.
PASS 55.
1884-S Morgan Dollar. SEGS certified graded AU55. PR $225 56.
1889 Morgan Dollar in MS60 condition. PASS 57.
1890-S Morgan Dollar in MS60 condition. PR $42 58.
1891-S Morgan Dollar in MS60 condition. PR $42 59.
1894-O Morgan Dollar in VF30 condition. PASS 60.
1945-S Lincoln Cent. ICG certified graded MS66 Red. PR $30 61.
1955-S Lincoln Cent. ICG certified graded MS-67 Red. PASS 62.
1970-S Small Date Lincoln Cent. SEGS certified graded MS65. PASS 63.
1918/17D Buffalo Nickel. PCI certified graded VF35. Marked
“Chemically treated”. PASS 64.
1880-S Morgan Dollar. PCGS certified graded MS65. PR $95 65.
1896 Indian Head Cent. SEGS certified graded Ms63 Red/Brown.
PR $25 66.
Partial Liberty Nickel Set in Whitman Blue Folder. PR $17 67.
Partial Walking Liberty Half Dollar Set in two Whitman Blue Folders.
PR $110 68.
Partial Franklin Half Dollar Set in Whitman Blue Folder. PR $90
69.
Two coins. 1976-S Proof Washington Quarter/ 1976-S Proof Kennedy
Half Dollar. PR $7 70.
1915-S Barber Half Dollar in G/VG condition. PR $8 71.
1981-S Susan B. Anthony Proof dollar. PR $10 72.
1902 Gold plated Indian Head cent with keychain. PASS 73.
1981-P BU Rolls of Lincoln Cents. PR $1 74.
Pewter Coin Dish of a 1908 Lincoln Cent. PR $8 75.
1902 Post Office Box Door Box- Oak. PASS 76.
Set of 3 coin albums (Blue) for Franklin Half dollars, Walking
Liberty Half dollars, and Peace/American Eagle Silver dollars. PASS 77.
Set of 3 Littleton coin albums for Franklin Half dollars, American
Eagle Silver dollars, Peace dollars. PASS
78.
1948 Washington Quarter. ICG certified graded MS66. PASS
79.
2003-S State Quarter Silver Proof Set. NGC certified graded Proof 69
Ultra Cameo. All coins in one NGC holder. PASS
80.
1889-CC Morgan Dollar. ANACS certified AU58 “with scratch”. PASS
81.
“World Paper Money Catalog 1961-Present” PASS
82.
Book: “Selections from the Numismatist” PR $8
83.
British Check Type Sampler Book PR $6
84.
Various Auction Catalogs PASS 85.
“World Coins- 2005” PR $10 86.
“World Coins- 2004” PR $5 87.
“World Coins- 2002” PASS 88.
“World Coins- 1996 (1801-Present)” PR $5 89.
“World Paper Money Vol. 3” PASS 90.
Great Britain: 1836 Four Pence Unc. PR $12 91.
1936-D Washington Quarter XF PR $20 92.
Russia: 1980 10 Ruble (Boxer) PR $8 93.
Treasure Box of Coins PR $24 94.
Mexico: 100 Peso State Series PR $25 95.
Mexico: 100 Peso State Series PR $25
The History of Christmas - December 25th
Christmas Coins
Prices Realized Christmas Coin Auction December 13, 2006
*Piedfort- double thickness. PR
$27
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