Miami Valley Coin Club

Franklin Halves at March 3 DKCC Meeting

Old Ben and his half dollars will the subject of the presentation at the March 3 meeting of the Dayton-Kettering Coin Club. Our speaker will share his knowledge of the half dollar issued between1948 and 1963 – do you know what FSB’s are?

We’ll have an opportunity for show and tell as well, so bring your recent aquistions or other material from your collection that club members might find of interest. Finally, the club president will be handing out examples of the latest National Park quarters honoring Gettysburg. See you there!

New Web Exhibit on Colonial Coinage

Colonial Williamsburg has inaugurated a new web exhibit on the coinage of Colonial America. It’s an extremely well done piece of work featuring coinage (and currency) from the era of Columbus through the Revolution from the collection of the late Joseph R. Lasser. Fascinating stuff – the link is on the right in the Coin Links section of the web page.

New Army Commemoratives from the US Mint

The Mint has started marketing the new US Army Commemorative Coins – what do you think of them?

2011 United States Army Commemorative Coins

Mint Vending Machines

One of the club members sent this photo from his phone. Seems he was in Washington, DC on business earlier this week and was staying about a block away from the headquarters building of the United States Mint. He stopped by the lobby to visit the sales counter and noticed the the change machines shown in the picture. In exchange for your $1, $5, $10, or $20 bill the machines will spit out the appropriate number of current Presidential gold dollars, Sacejewa gold dollars, or National Parks quarters. Right now the machines are stocked with the Lincoln gold dollar, the new 2011 Sacagawea dollar featuring the Wampanoag Treaty reverse, and the Gettysburg quarters. The coins are all nice uncirculated, and a mixture of Denver and Philadelphia issues. Our member has promised to provide on of the Gettysburg quarters to everyone in attendance at our next club meeting on March 3.

A (Canadian) penny for your thoughts

An interesting article from our friends north of the border about the future of the Canadian cent. With the US and Canadian dollars near parity, much of the article is applicable to our situation. Lots of interesting info, but particularly impressive is the fact that the cent is only worth 1/20 of its value in 1908; in a little over a century, the coin has lost 95% of its purchasing power.  In 2011, that’s equivalent to the smallest coin in circulation being worth 20 cents.

MacLeans – A Penny Dropped

New Post from Old News

Interesting the things you can dig up on the internet. Attached are a couple of articles from the New York Times archives.

The first, dating from 1882, describes the destruction of silver three cent pieces. It’s a good illustration of how common coins become uncommon. Anyone care to estimate how many three cent coins you need to make ten tons?

The second one reminds me of how some folks like to look backwards instead of forwards. A collector tells how the hobby isn’t what it used to be, dealers have taken over, and you can’t find coins in pocket change that are worth anything. Of course, the article’s from 1901…

Silver 3 cents melting NYTimes 1882

Curious Coins NYtime 19011020

January 9th Club Coin Show Great Success!

Our annual coin show for 2011 is now history. Despite a cold day, almost 40 dealers were in attendance with a busy crowd of customers buying and selling. Collectors came from across the region, with numismatists from Kentucky, Wapakoneta, and Columbus coming in to peruse dealer’s stocks. A good day for coin collecting.

Three prominent dealers took time from their work to give their impressions of the current coin market. Interviews with Evan Brill, Jim Huffman, and Dan Rich are posted on the club’s YouTube page. You can access the videos by clicking on their names.

Numismatic Art for your walls

Kimberly A. Godinho is a California artist who has created a compelling series of paintings based on classic American coins. Unlike a lot of coin art that comes across as pretty kitschy, Ms. Godinho’s pieces are well done renderings that that really bring out the best of the original designs. If you can’t afford the paintings or prefer to spend your money on the coins themselves, prints are available. Check out her web site.

by Kim Godinho

Frank Gasparro and the Lincoln Memorial Cent

As we end 2010 and the first year of the shield reverse of the Lincoln cent, it might be interesting to remember the designer of its predecessor the Lincoln Memorial cent, Frank Gasparro. NPR did a story about Gasparro a number of years back following his death. Click here to get access to both the print and audio version.

Frank Gasparro

1933 Double Eagle on Smithsonian On Demand

If you have access to the Smithsonian On Demand HD station (channel 1420 on Time-Warner in the Centerville area), check out the show on the 1933 Double Eagle, entitled (drum roll, please) “Double Eagle”. It’s a pretty accurate telling of the story of the world’s most valuable coin.

Dealing with PVC ick

Most collectors have had an unhappy run-in with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) during their collecting career.  PVC is a chemical softner that makes plastic pliable, but it also leaves a nasty green residue on coins that come into contact with it. I’ve added a link on the right that details how to fix it. I haven’t used it myself; leave a comment letting everyone know how it works if you try it.

Holiday Dinner Great Fun!

What a turn out! The DKCC held its Holiday Dinner on December 2 at the Tumbleweed Southwest Grill on Dorothy Lane in Kettering. We filled up the party room; 33 members and their guests attended. The club president congratulated the members for a good year, thanked the various spouses and significant others for putting up with the various things numismatic in their lives, and predicted great things for the coming year. We all proceeded to consume a fair amount of steak and other good stuff. So good bye to 2010, and hoping you have a wonderful 2011.

What’s in your pocket?

One of the DKCC members recently spent an hour or two looking  through a quantity of quarters obtained from change and a quick trip to the bank. The attached Excel spreadsheet shows the distribution our member found among 650 coins. Very interesting look at what’s in (and what’s not in) circulation here in Dayton during the Great Recession.

quarters

Sometimes the only thing you can say is “WOW”

The latest issue of the E-Sylum, the weekly e-mail newsletter of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society, has amazing news of the discovery of the long lost inventory of the coin collection of Col. E..H.R. Green, son of Hetty Green, the famous “Witch of Wall Street”, and the possesor of one of the most fabulous coin collections of the 20th century. At one time, Col. Green owned all five of the legendary 1913 Liberty Head nickels (they later made a brief appearance in Dayton, but that’s another story). Read the article at the link below and, while you’re at it, sign up for the free weekly e-mail. It’s one of the more interesting coin related newsletters out there.

http://coinbooks.org/club_nbs_esylum_v13n41.html#article11

New Club Poster

Want to help the club attract new members? Of course you  do! Then print up a bunch of the attached club posters and put them up in your local library, grocery store, school, offices, or any other place that has a bulletin board open to the public. This is a great way to reach collectors who haven’t heard of us; you’ll be surprised by how many people will stop and look. It helps give that person who’s looking for a hobby home the nudge they need to join.

P.S 

Remember to pre-cut between the tear offs at the bottom of the poster. Makes it easier for people to tear them off.

coin club flyer

Welcome to the Dayton-Kettering Coin Club

The Dayton-Kettering Coin Club was founded in 1938 to promote numismatics (coin collecting) and to foster friendly relations among collectors. Through good times and bad, peace and war, the club has given collectors from across the Miami Valley a place learn more about the hobby, see interesting examples of coins and currency from across the world, and to enjoy the company of like minded individuals. As we approach our 75th anniversary, we would love to have you attend a meeting and become a member.  Come, have fun, and enjoy the “King of Hobbies”.