June, 2006
Year 13, Issue 6
Award Winning Newsletter
Meeting 7:30pm, Wednesday, June 7
Talk and trading 7:00-7:30pm
VFW, 1601 Weld Road, Elgin, IL
815-786-6779
Meeting 7:30pm, Wednesday, June 7
Talk and trading 7:00-7:30pm
VFW, 1601 Weld Road, Elgin, IL
815-786-6779
This month's program will be a grading contest. Please bring in a certified coin or two, we will tape over the grade assigned and pass the coins around. The person with the most correct guesses will win a prize. Circulated coins are preferred but any American coin will do.
| ECC Meeting 579 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opened: | 7:30 | Closed: | 9:45 | |
| Members: | 18 | YNs: | 0 | |
| Guests: | 8 | |||
| Beginning balance: | $154.83 | Income: | $74.00 | |
| Expenses: | $62.00 | Current balance: | $166.83 | |
Doug called the meeting to order at 7:30. The Secretaries and Treasurers reports were accepted as published. Old and new business was discussed and show and tells were given. After raffle tickets were sold and drawn, we went into the monthly program. The may program was a talk by Mike M. and Petra W. on their travels in Spain. The meeting adjourned about 9:45.
Accepted as printed in the May newsletter.
Balance: $154.83.
The report was accepted as published.
Fantasy coin contest:
None
We had our customary raffle and membership drawings. The winners were:
The meeting closed around 9:45 P.M.
Submitted by Jim D.
On May 10, Doug, Don C. and Jim D. met to discuss club business and select coins for the June raffle.
Jim D brought in some recent purchases, a 1916-P and 1917-S obverse half-dollars, a 2004 proof silver eagle, a 1971-S brown IKE, and a 1923-P peace dollar.
Don C. showed his well-worn silver dollars he has kept in his pocket for the last several years.
John R showed some examples of currency from the Dominican Republic.
Thank you Mike and Petra. Last month former club president Mike M. and his wife Petra W. presented to the club an excellent multi-media discussion on their travels in Spain. Both Mike and Petra spoke well on the subject and made the listener feel like they were also on that road well traveled. Also last month Don C. contributed an article on the Canadian vimy ridge coin and memorial. This is the kind of membership participation the club needs. If Mike and Petra can cross an ocean to give us a talk, there is no reason why any other club member cannot address the club.
Brother, can you spare a disme? On April 26, Heritage Galleries sold a 1792 half disme for over 1.3 million. The coin is a pattern struck before the mint officially opened from silver donated by George Washington. The popular version is the silver came from his tea service but recently there has been some dispute as to the accuracy of this story. Even though the piece is one of the finest known it is still crudely designed, overly wordy on the obverse and features a scrawny eagle on the reverse. Despite all the negatives, it is still an important first step in the development of our coinage.
This month's coin of the month is the 1793 Chain cent. This is the first coin officially struck by the U.S. Mint for circulation. According to Walter Breen, the mint struck 36,103 pieces from March 1-12, 1793. Shortly after their release the coins design came under much criticism. The obverse was said to resemble either a mad woman or an Indian squaw. The reverse was decried for implying a link between liberty and slavery. By June of 1793, the mint had discontinued the chain design and began striking the new wreath reverse cents. The new design featured an improved obverse portrait (but not by much), and a more artistic and less controversial reverse.
The chain cent measures about 27 mm in diameter and weighs about 208 grains of pure copper. Most specimens extant are well worn with very few mint state specimens known. The two most common types are the AMERI. Reverse and the AMERICA reverse. Values for this coin are as follows, in ag-3 4,000 to 5,000, in fine-12 20,000 to 30,000 and in au-50 75,000 to 90,000.Sudoku is a new kind of puzzle that has become very popular over the last year or so. In this puzzle, you have a grid 9 x 9 that is sub divided into 9 sections of 3 x 3. In each 3 x 3, grid 9 different letters or numbers appear once. In each line going across or up and down each of the 9 letters or numbers, appear only once.
In this puzzle, I am using letters taken from a different American coin. Some letters are already placed in the grid you have to determine where the other letters go.
- B - / G - - / K - - L-Lincoln 1c - G - / P - R / - W - B-Buffalo 5c. - P - / - L - / J - G J-Jefferson . - - - / - B G / M L - K-Kennedy - - - / - - - / - - - M-Morgan - R W / K M - / - - - R- FDR 10c. . R - J / - G - / - P - P-PEACE - K - / R - W / - J - W-Washington - - L / - - M / - G - G-Gobrecht
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KGR/MJB/LWP MJL/WPR/GKB BPW/KGL/JMR . JBP/LMK/WRG WKG/PRJ/BLM RLM /GBW/PJK . GRJ/BLM/KPW LWB/RKP/MGJ PMK/JWG/RBL