ACCent: The Monthly Newsletter of the Anchorage Coin Club

With over 750 Girl Scouts and leaders attending the encampment from June 3^rd - 7^th at the Palmer State Fair ground, and over 43 presentations by different groups going on at the same time, one would have thought that things would have been chaotic. Once again, the Girl Scouts of Alaska Council did an did outstanding job of accommodating all parties with the necessary equipment and space to make this biannual event a great success. Over 500 tents and RVs were set up around the State fairgrounds. High winds, raining, snowing on the mountain tops, hail coming down on Saturday night and the girls were chasing their tents around the fairgrounds all night, this was a far cry from what the event was like two years ago.

On June 4^th and 5^th, the wife (Ruth) and I conducted the "Fun with Money" presentation. 178 Girl Scouts attended the presentation averaging 22 girls per session for the two day, 8 session seminars. The "Fun with Money" ANA Girl Scout patch has different elements that need to be completed to receive this American Numismatic Association (ANA) patch. Two mandatory items that must be accomplished for the ANA Girl Scout patch are to draw/design a $1 coin and to visit the ANA web site.

Other requirements within the Fun with Money patch are chosen with age group requirements in mind. The goal was to do the first two mandatory requirements, then onto the discussions, while at the same time working on the "Hobby" patch and the "Collecting" patch depending on the age group of the girls in the sessions.

The "Fun with Money" presentation was all hands on. After passing out the "Cent & Blank" combination sets donated by the United States Mint, discussions followed on how coins are made. This was made easy by having a form with written and drawn examples showing each step so that the girls could follow along and ask questions as needed.

Next, the girls got to pick out one or two foreign coins that they liked as acid free coin envelopes were being passed out by Ruth. The girls could either find the date and country the coins were from and write the information on the envelope or they could etch with a pencil the design of the coin onto the envelope.

While working between other requirements of the Fun with Money patch, circulated wheat cents, Buffalo nickels and the 2008 Alaska State Quarter were passed out along with 2x2 cardboard holders. The Girl Scouts had to look for and write down on the cardboard holders the mint marks and dates, then staple and use needle nose pliers to fold the staple down. Once the requirements were completed for the "Fun with Money" patch, the Uncirculated 2012 Alaska Denali Park Quarters and uncirculated 2014 cents along with cotton gloves were passed out. Explaining what an uncirculated coin vs. a circulated coin meant was interesting. Using the cotton gloves, they once again had to find the date and mint mark and write them down on the cardboard holders.

The next to the last item to be passed out was the 200 Alaska Mint Tokens donated by The Alaska Mint.

The last item on the agenda was the "Grab Bag". While the grab bag was held high, each girl got to reach in and take a coin. Was it a silver Mercury or Roosevelt dime, a "V" nickel, or a SBA, Ike, or Presidential dollar? How about an Indian head cent, steel cent, or a broad strike cent?

This was a hands on, fast pace event that left little time for the Girl Scouts attention to focus on their tents blowing away or how cold they were. A great time was had by all and the girls were very surprised and thankful that they got to keep the coins.

Special thanks are in order to the United States Mint, the American Numismatic Association, the Alaska Mint, The Alaska Girl Scout Council, Debbie's Old Coins & Collectables, Carl's Jewelry, and the Anchorage Coin Club members who donated materials, coins, and or money to make this event a great success!

- Stan and Ruth Mead

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Anchorage Coin Club
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Anchorage Coin Club
PO Box 230169
Anchorage, Alaska 99523