The Elgin Coin Club is a group of collectors
mainly from the Elgin, Illinois, area. Join us the first Wednesday of any month at 7pm at our meeting in the Elgin VFW. (Map and details)
We meet monthly at 7:30pm on the first Wednesday
of month. We meet at the VFW
at 1601 Weld Road, Elgin, IL. Weld Road is a frontage road between
McLean and Randall Roads just
south of US 20 on the south side of Elgin.
Our Elgin Coin Club meetings offer many opportunities to enjoy our hobby and share it with others. Some of our activities include:
Each year we have a coin show on the last Sunday in
October. 2008's show is 25 October--plan to join us.
It usually runs from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm and includes a lot fun with the following activities:
For more information about the show or to reserve a table, contact our show chairman Don Cerny at 847-888-1449 or
ECC History
The first Elgin Coin Club meeting was in September, 1957. That means that we have endured the full length of the Space race. Sputnik went up in October, 1957, a month after we started. The Memorial Lincoln cent debuted two years after we started. We have been around for more than one fifth of the time the United States has existed!
ECC Exonumia
During its history, the Elgin Coin Club has issued tokens and other exonumia. we currently have accounted for these:
We issued a 1976 bicentennial 50-cent, aluminum, "good-for" token redeemable at the Elgin American Legion.
We issued rolled coins in 1990. Some were done on 1990 cents, the year of issue, and others on 1957 cents, the year the club started. We have also found three made from Polish 5 Zlotich coins.
We issued several wooden nickels. One celebrates the 12th annual Elgin Coin Club show on September 29, 1974. Another generic one probably was issued around the same time. Yet another was issued for the 40th Annual Coin Show in 2002.
Read more about the above items (except the 2002 token in "Elgin Coin Club Tokens" in Money Meanderings: An Introduction to Numismatics.
When the Elgin Coin Club celebrated its 500th meeting on August 4, 1999, each person at the meeting received a souvenir bill honoring the meeting and good for one dollar towards club dues. The bill included pictures and signatures of the officers and a picture of all members present at the April, 1999, meeting. Read nore about this souvenir bill.
During our 40th Annual Coin Show we issued notes "Good For" one dollar in trade at dealers at the show.
Some Other Facts
Many other clubs have came and gone in the length of our history. McHenry County Coin Club was around when we started, but it closed its doors in the mid-'90s. A set of wooden nickels were issued in 1965 for the Greater DuPage Coin Festival by five area clubs: Tree Town's CC, DuPage CC, West Suburban CC, Wheaton CC, and Westmont CC. None exist today.
We have met on various days:
- 3rd Wed '69
- 2nd Wed '86, '90
- 1st Wed since Apr 91
And we have met at different places:
- '69 Carpenter Hall, S. Grove St.
- '86 Manor Rest., N. McLean
- '90 Dieterle's Rest, S. McLean
- '92 to present VFW - beginning with our 400th meeting.
I am Mike Metras and I created and maintain the Elgin Coin Club Home Pages. If you have any comments, suggestions, or questions click here
to contact me.
This home page is located free of any charge to the club (not totally free, I get my yearly club dues) on
Mike's Works and Words, my web site. Visit Mike's Works and Words and enjoy wandering my world or writings, walking, and pilgrimage. And consider purchasing one or more of my books.
