Chatter

Minutes of the 1081st Meeting

The 1081ST meeting of the Chicago Coin Club was held January 14, 2009 in the Chicago Bar Association Building, 321 S. Plymouth Court, Downtown Chicago. President Jeffrey Rosinia called the meeting to order at 7 PM with 17 members present.

The November Minutes as printed in the Chatter were approved as published. The December Minutes were approved as published with the following addition, “Outgoing President Feiler was presented with an engraved Past-Presidents medal.” Treasurer Steve Zitowsky reported Nov-Dec income $4,908.00, expenses $4,480.78 and income $427.22, leaving total assets of $13,499.87 which is in Life Memberships $2,630.00 and Members’ Equity $10,869.87. Zitowsky also reported 2009 income of $9,916.51, expenses $8,131.64 and income $1,784.87. Following several questions, the reports were approved.

First V.P. Lyle Daly introduced featured speaker, Mark Wieclaw, who delivered a program on The Bank Notes of the Central Bank of Brasil, Cruziero Issues 1942-67. Following a question and answer period, Mark was presented with an engraved medal and ANA Educational Certificate.

Second V.P. Elliot Krieter introduced the evening’s exhibitors: RICHARD LIPMAN – paper money error, toned U.S. silver dollars & U.N. stamps with coin images; MARK WIECLAW – 3 ancient Greek coins; MARC STACKLER – 2 Mexican coins; DAVID GUMM – 8 coins from British Colonial India; STEVE ZITOWSKY – 2 anti-slavery tokens and 3 coins from 17-19 century Europe; BILL BURD – book The Medals of Johann Carl Hedlinger; LYLE DALY – U.S. banknote error, various South American bank notes & receipt from Chicago Day, Oct 9, 1893, Columbian Exposition; CLIFFORD MISHLER – cellophane wrapped 1935D U.S. silver certificate advertising Naval Air Reserve and a Christmas card from New Holland Implement with 10 1923 Peace dollars; ROBERT FEILER – 11 examples counterfeit coinage; ROBERT KULYS – Lithuanian 2008 100-litas gold proof coin; ROBERT WEINSTEIN – 8 elongated coins.

President Rosinia presented Honorable Mention 2008 Cabeen Exhibit award medals to Robert Weinstein and Lyle Daly who were unable to attend the December meeting. Chatter Editor and Webmaster Paul Hybert was given a warm round of applause in recognition of his work.

Under Old Business, Mark Wieclaw announced the next meeting of the 90th Anniversary Committee as January 21, 2009 at Connie’s 2372 S. Archer Ave., Chicago.

Under New Business, Clifford Mishler spoke before the membership on his candidacy for President of the American Numismatic Association. Member David Greenstein also spoke on his candidacy for Governor. After brief discussion, a motion was made and passed to endorse Mishler’s candidacy. It was decided to delay governor endorsements until the February or March meeting.

Under correspondence a letter was read from member Dr. Robert Wallace who is teaching Greek Numismatics at the University of Pisa. A ballot from the Central States Numismatic Society was read and a motion was made and passed supporting their constitutional change creating separate positions of Secretary and Treasurer.

An open discussion was held dealing with recruiting more young collectors with members relating their experiences when young or efforts to engage their own children in the hobby.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:20 PM.

Sincerely Submitted,
Carl Wolf, Secretary

Speaker’s Wor[l]d
The Bank Notes of the Central Bank of Brasil, Cruziero Issues 1942-67

by Mark Wieclaw,
presented to our January 14, 2009 meeting

Why banknotes from Brazil? Mark started collecting them years ago, starting with the colorful notes that were selling for 50 cents each. Then a few more, and then the hard ones. His collection is complete, and only a few types have not been upgraded to uncirculated pieces.

Inflation was the reason for introducing a new denomination. Typically, the last three zeroes were dropped when going from the old denominations to the new denominations. The Cruzeiro issues were used for 25 years, from 1942 to 1967, after replacing the Mil Reis issues that had been used for 109 years, from 1833 to 1942. The Cruzeiro Novo issues were used for 19 years, from 1967 to 1986. Then change came more often between 1986 and 1995: the Cruzado lasted 35 months, the New Cruzado lasted 15 months, the Cruzeiro name was reused for 41 months, to be followed by the Cruzeiro Real for 23 months. From 1995 to the present, the Real has been used.

Although the Cruzeiro was first mentioned in 1926, action was not taken until 1941. The transition period lasted for years, with some Mil Reis issues stamped as Cruzeiro in 1942. The Mil Reis pieces were recalled in 1952, and had no value by 1955.

The Cruzeiro notes are in 12 denominations: the 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, and 1,000 were introduced in 1942, the 1, 2, and 5 were introduced in 1944, and the 5,000 and 10,000 were introduced in 1966. The American Banknote Company produced notes starting in 1942, Thomas De La Rue of London started in 1949, with the Case de Moneda in Brazil producing only the 5 Cruzeiro of 1961-1962. Waterlow was mentioned but never used.

Until 1950, the notes had the large signature of the Minister of Finance printed diagonally across the central portrait on the front. Starting in 1951, two small signatures (of the Minister of Finance and of the Director of Amortization) appear low, flanking the central portrait. The transition of the Valor Recebedo legend under the central portrait to Valor Legal occurred in 1954.

The Marquis of Tamandare, a well known admiral, appears on the 1 Cruzeiro note. The Duke of Caxias , a field marshall and patron of the army, appears on the 2. The Baron of Rio Branco, the Minister of Exterior from 1902-1912, appears on the 5. Getulio Vargas, president of the republic from 1930 to 1945, appears on the 10. Marshal Manuel Deodoro, proclaimer of the republic in November of 1889, appears on the 20. Princess Isabel, former heir of Don Pedro II, appears on the 50. Don Pedro II, second emperor of Brazil, appears on the 100. Don Pedro I, first emperor of Brazil from 1822-1831, appears on the 200. Don Joao VI, king of Portugal and Brazil 1815-1822, appears on the 500. Admiral Pedro Calgral, Portuguese discoverer of Brazil on April 22, 1500, appears on the 1,000. Lieutenant Joaquim da Silva Xavier, an early martyr for liberty, appears on the 5,000. And Santos Dumont, a famous aviator of the early 20th century, appears on the 10,000.

The back of each note typically features a scene that is related to the person portrayed on the front. The standard reference, by del Seppa, details when each estampa number was used and provides other information on this series. As part of the transition to the Novo Cruzeiro, old notes were reissued stamped with a new value. Mark mentioned that the 50 Cruzeiro was revalued to 5 centavos. The notes with a single signature are harder to find, and the perfect alignment of the color plates make for beautiful pieces.

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Show and Tell

Items shown at our January 14, 2009 meeting.

1. Richard Lipman showed a range of items:
   • Three sets of four U.N. postage stamps from the Flag and Coin program. A set is issued each year from each of New York, Geneva, and Vienna. Each stamp includes the flag and a coin from a U.N. member nation.
   • A few small souvenir folders from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, each containing a mini sheet. The lowest note of each mini sheet shows the last few digits of the left serial number lower than the digits to the left. No one else remembered seeing such a thing, but it is subtle. Could there be more out there?
   • A group of slabbed Morgan silver dollars with odd coloring. The coloring appeared flat on the projected image, looking much better on the actual coin.
2. Mark Wieclaw
   • Among other interests, likes coins with Pegasus — Usually found on Corinthian staters, flying to either the left or right, with the front and hind legs forward. The hind legs are to the rear on the reverse of a piece from Leucus. The upper case lambda under Pegasus identifies this coin as from Leucus. The obverse shows a helmeted Athena with a ladel behind.
   • A gold pentekontadrachm weighing 13.8 grams, with Ptolemy II and his wife on the obverse. The reverse shows their two children.
   • A gold octadrachm with Ptolemy III and his wife.
3. Marc Stackler brought two cast pieces from the Mexican Revolution:
   • A legitimate 1813 8 reales piece from San Felipe de Chihuahua. Lacking minting equipment but possessing silver, they cast coins after making molds with real coins. Two single-character counterstamps flank the bust on the obverse. The “used” coins carried letters for the issuing town and for the assayer, so this piece used CA for the town and shows the local assayer’s initials. They had equipment to edge the coins, so the edges are correct.
   • A fake SUDS piece — a cast copper copy of a silver cast 8 reales coin from 1811.
4. David Gumm showed a range of small denomination coins from British India:
   • A 1914 ½pice, a 1944 1 pice, a 1932 1/12 anna, a 1933 ¼ anna, a 1942 ½ anna, a 1944 1 anna, a 1945 2 annas, and a 1919 4 annas.
5. Steve Zitowsky showed a range of items:
   • A Wedgwood ceramic version of the “Am I Not a Man and a Brother?” anti-slavery token from the 19th century. This piece, with black devices on a white surface, probably was made within the last 50 years.
   • An 1838 US copper token, large cent sized, “Am I Not a Woman and a Sister?”
   • A British copper token memorializing George IV, well worn and beaten, possibly from 1837. The reverse wording includes “Abolished Slavery 1831.”
   • A lovely, silver dollar sized, 1793 1 guilden from Utrecht, one of the seven provinces that formed the Netherlands.
   • A 1634 lion dollar from West Friesland, another of the seven provinces. In poor shape, with clipping and corrosion, Steve acquired this silver piece on the street, long ago in eastern Africa.
6. Bill Burd showed the book The Medals of Johann Carl Hedlinger written by Chretien Mechel in 1776-78. Two volumes in one, consisting of 64 pages and 40 well-executed engraved plates. Hedlinger, a Swiss medalist, served as the chief engraver at the Stockholm Mint in the mid 1700s.
7. Lyle Daly showed some paper pieces:
   • Multiple notes from South and Central America, made by De La rue and American Banknote: some from Brazil to complement the evening’s featured speaker, a Cuban 20 peso by ABC, a Mexican 5 peso by ABC, and a Mexican 1 peso featuring an Aztec design element.
   • A U.S. $5 of series 1977A, with a small gutter fold on the obverse but full printing on the reverse.
   • A ticket or admission receipt to the World’s Columbian Exhibition, good for October 9, 1893, Chicago Day. The name E.S. Woolbridge is written in ink in a margin.
8. Clifford Mishler showed some unusual items acquired at the recent FUN show:
   • A cellophane wrapped U.S. 1935D series $5, marked Naval Air Reserve of Lincoln, Nebraska. This type of item was produced from the late 1940s through the early 1960s, and showed the effect on the local economy of a payroll.
   • From the outside, it appears as a large currency gift envelope made from heavy card stock. The printed “Merry Christmas,” “Happy New Year,” and “New Holland” are not unusual on the cover. But open it, and you see 10 uncirculated 1923 Peace dollars. Cliff is uncertain as to when this was made for New Holland Implement, but the printing style appears to be from after the 1920s.
9. Robert Feiler started with a recent article on counterfeit coins, and then showed an assortment of 11 counterfeit coins. However, Marc Stackler identified one of the crude pieces as a cast provisional Mexican piece. We can be a rough crowd, denouncing your prized coin as counterfeit, or, as in this case, denouncing your prized counterfeit as genuine.
10. Robert Kulys showed a 2008 gold proof 100 litas from Lithuania, issued to commemmorate the 1,000th anniversary of the name of Lithuania. On the reverse, small characters are used to list important events and dates in Lithuanian history.
11. For six weeks in late 2008, two sellers on eBay listed a total of 400 scarce to rare elongated coins. Robert Weinstein showed what he obtained:
    • A Liberty nickel from the Trans Mississippi Exposition in Omaha.
    • A holed “My Lucky Cent” on an 1856 Large Cent. The design appars to e from the early 20th century.
    • A 1911 Liberty nickel honoring the New Orleans, the first steamboat on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Fulton’s partner was a Roosevelt (uncle to Teddy), and, while waiting at Louisville for the river to rise over some rapids, the boat made money with daily upriver excursions.
    • A 1911 Liberty nickel with a Lucky Cent design dated Nov 1912, from the No-Tsu-Oh carnival in Houston. (That is Houston spelled backwards.) Bob mentioned that contemporary newspapers expressed the hope that this corny, hick event would soon disappear from the modern, growing city. And it soon did.
    • New York World’s Fair on a Jefferson nickel. One general design from this fair is very common, with the designs for individual attractions nowhere as common. This design is for the 1940 Merry Jitterbugs attraction.
    • Another design from this fair, the 1940 Music Building on a 1940 Washington quarter.
    • From a later New York World’s Fair, the 1965 Masonic Center on a Jefferson nickel.
    • An 1893 Columbian Expo on a 2 Cent piece, a hard denomination from that event.

Chicago Coin Club 90th Anniversary Committee
Minutes of January 21, 2009

The fifth meeting of the Chicago Coin Club’s 90th Anniversary Committee was held January 21, 2009 at Connie’s Pizza, 2372 S. Archer Ave., Chicago. Chairman Mark Wieclaw called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM with seven committee members present: Kevin and Sharon Blocker, William Burd, Elliot Krieter, Gene Freeman, Robert Feiler and Carl Wolf.

Carl Wolf passed around several pieces of literature concerning the year-long anniversary celebration honoring Lincoln’s birth. Among the packet were pamphlets from the Chicago History Museum and a recently published article from Coin World.

Authorization was given to Sharon Blocker to order invitations for the Saturday evening April 25th banquet at Giannotti Italian Restaurant, 4926 N. River Road, Schiller Park.

Trays of medals were passed around to much discussion. Carl Wolf presented an initial proposal on die-struck anniversary medals at the following cost:

1. 2-3/8” X 4” X .204” Thick Solid Brass Two Sided Medallion — Tooling Front: $1300.00; Tooling Back: $365.00
2. Engrave Consecutive Number: Included; Engraving Set-Up: Included
3. Production Time: 8 weeks after art approval
4. Freight: FOB Indiana
5. Oxidized Bronze: 100 @ $17.00 each; 250 @ $12.90 each
6. Process Set in Bronze: $45.00 for set of 3 medals; does not include final oxidized piece or blank
7. .999 Silver ($11.50/troy ounce): 25 @ $250.00; 50 @ $225.00; 100 @ $215.00
8. 10K Gold ($849.25/troy ounce): 1 @ $6,200.00; 2 @ $6,100.00

After a discussion, the committee decided to ask for more information on:

1. Go back to the mint and clarify the 10K gold price.
2. A medal price on nickel-silver
3. An estimate on freight from the mint to Chicago
4. An estimate on receiving 10 lead trial strikes
5. The cost of a gift box

Chairman Wieclaw announced donations of $1,000 to cover tooling costs. The following decisions were made:

1. Authorization for the mint to begin engraving the dies showing Lincoln facing right. Background to be faint images of trees from the park.
2. Rearranged the proposed alpha copy of the back.
3. Make arrangements to sell the oxidized bronze at $20.00 pre-order; $25.00 after; .999 silver $265.00 on pre-order basis only.
4. Prepare to order Process Sets, but additional pieces need to be added before a final price is determined.

The committee strongly favored a souvenir booklet with updated Club history. Bill Burd promised to look into costs and selling advertising. Bob Feiler agreed to begin writing a press release.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:12 PM and will reconvene at the same location February 18th.

Respectfully Submitted,
Carl F. Wolf, Secretary

Our 1082nd Meeting

Important Dates

Birthday and Year Joined

Chatter Matter

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CHICAGO COIN CLUB
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