Miami Valley Coin Club

What’s it Worth? Coin Club at Huber Heights Library Oct. 13

Got a mess of old silver dollars grandma left you, a bunch of strange foreign money someone brought back from an overseas trip, or maybe a peculiar coin you got in change and have held on to? Want to know what it ‘s worth and learn more about coin collecting? You’re in luck! The Dayton-Kettering Coin Club is bringing it’s very popular presentation on figuring out what your coins are worth and getting started in coin collecting to the Huber Heights branch of the Dayton-Metro library at 6160 Chambersburg Road from 2:00 to 4:00 on Saturday, October 13. Club members will give you a short overview of American coins, answer your questions, and then sit down with you to see what you have and help you figure out it’s value. The presentation is free and open to the public, but seating is on a first come basis.

Token & Medal Show October 12-13 in Englewood

The well regarded Token and Medal Show sponsored by the Indiana-Kentucky-Ohio Token & Medal Society is scheduled for Friday, October 12 from 10:00 AM to 6:30 PM and Saturday, October 13 from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the American Legion Post located at 200 West National Road (US 40) in Englewood (click here for more information). For those of you who already have an interest in exonumia or just want to check out something off the beaten track of coin collecting, this show promises to be fun. See you there!

DKCC Talks Coins at Centerville Library July 14

The Dayton-Kettering Coin Club takes the show on the road on Saturday, July 14 at 1:30 at the Centerville Library,  111 W. Spring Valley Rd in Centerville. We’ll be giving a talk on how to start coin collecting and, the most important part, how to have fun with it. After the talk is done, we’ll have club members who will be happy to talk a look at any coins or paper money you bring and help figure out what you have. Come early to get a good seat and bring your questions and your coins. Click here to upload a copy of the flyer the library prepared for the event.

Great Presentations for May, June and July!

At our May meeting we were lucky to have a presentation by Stephen Petty of Columbus on the fabulous collection of Liberty Seated Dollars he and his late son Mark assembled. Steve shared a wealth of information on this fascinating, and much rarer, precursor to the Morgan series. The Dayton-Kettering Coin Club was lucky to get this quality presentation by this well know expert. Thanks, Steve! You can visit the Liberty Seated Collectors Club to learn more.

 And our luck continues in June and July. Brad Karoleff, noted Cincinnatiarea numismatist and editor of the John Reich Journal, will speak to the club at our June 7 meeting. Brad is also President of the John Reich Collectors Society. The Society is dedicated to American gold and silver coins issued prior to the Liberty Seated series; seems like the club is heading further back in time. Thanks to Dave Heinrich of the Cincinnati Numismatic Association and the Central States Numismatic Society for helping arrange for both Steve’s and Brad’s presentation.

 At our July 5 meeting, John Roberts of ANACS will visit the club. John is the Director of Attribution Services for ANACS and is a noted expert on Morgan Dollars and their varieties. He’ll be switching gears for our club, and will be talking about his own collection of pieces with coining presses on them. It promises to be a very interesting presentation.

When you stop and think about it, it’s pretty amazing that we have this wealth of numismatic talent at our doorstep. Make sure you get to both the June and July meetings – you won’t be disappointed!

Go to a Coin Show

Coin shows are a great way to see a bunch of coins fast and find the items you need for your collection, as well as meet  new friends who share your collecting interests. Beginners are always encouraged and welcome. Collectors in the Dayton area are lucky to have two well attended and well regarded coin shows that are held nearby every month. Put them on your calendar now so you don’t miss any of the fun!  

The first, the Columbus Coin, Stamp & Card Show, is held on the third Sunday of the month from 10:00 to 4:00 at the Makoy Center located at 5462 Center St. in lovely Hilliard on the west side of Columbus (near us!). Admission is a mere $2 for folks 18 and up, free to those younger than that. The show is organized by noted Columbus dealer Dan Rich. If you have any questions, you can reach Dan at 614-785-9967 or at drich@columbus.rr.com .

The second is the popular Greenhills Classic Coin & Stamp Show held every month on the last Sunday beginning at 10:00. Admission is free, but you can get a jump on everyone else by paying $10 for early bird admission at 8:30.  The show is held at American Legion Post 530 located at 11100 Winton Rd. in Greenhills on the north side of Cincinnati (near us!).  The show is organized and hosted by DKCC’s good friend Jim Huffman of Xenia Coin; you can reach him at 937-376-2807 or at sales@xeniacoin.com .

Club Purchases Dollar Coins for Members

Late last year, the Treasury Department bowed to reality, and bulging vaults, and announced that they would no longer be minting the dollar coins for circulation. For collectors used to going down to their bank for fresh rolls of coins as they were issued, this was disappointing news.

The Dayton-Kettering Coin Club feels your pain. The good news is that the mint is still making the coins – you just have to order them directly from them and pay a small premium, as well as shipping. The per coin cost is smaller if you buy in bulk. So, on an experimental basis, we’re going to try and do something to solve our members’ dilemma. 

Beginning with this year’s first Presidential dollar honoring Chester Alan Arthur, as well as the soon to be released 2012 Native American dollar, the club will purchase 10 rolls of each new dollar from both Denver and Philadelphia. We’ll make them available at the club meetings to the members who attend at our cost; we’re estimating that it will be about $29 per roll. For those of you who want just one or two, we’ll break open a roll if we have any left over.  If there’s sufficient demand, we’ll order more in future.

The mint will resume taking orders for the Arthur dollar in early May, and the new Native American dollar is available April 26. We anticipate having the coins in time for the June meeting. The catch is you’ve got to come to the meeting if you want to pick up the coins. If you’re interested in reserving a roll now, send us an e-mail at daytonketteringcoinclub@gmail.com.

Dollar Bill or Dollar Coin?

NPR recently ran an interesting story on the economics of keeping the dollar bill versus replacing it with the unloved dollar coin. In recent decades several countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom, have dropped their lower value bills in favor of coins. You can hear the NPR story here; what do you think?

Old Nickels

The nickel five cent piece has been around since the Civil War. Its almost century and half long run, however, might be coming to an end, at least with its current composition of 25% nickel and 75% copper. The metal in each coin is now worth more then the face value of the coin – it currently contains $0.0546 worth of copper and nickel. The U.S. Treasury handed down regulations several years ago prohibiting the melting and exportation of the coin, but the Treasury has also been authorized to explore making the coin with other materials. Speculation is that we might eventually see a steel nickel (or would that be a stickel), much like its Canadian counterpart north of the border.

 If the day ever comes when the current coin is replaced with a new metal, it’s safe to say that the common Jefferson nickel we’re all familiar with will begin to disappear into the melting pot, becoming less common in the process. This would deprive us of one of the more interesting series for new collectors. TheJeffersonwas first introduced 1938 and, when compared to our other circulating coins, seems to have a larger number of older pieces in circulation. Just how many, though, we don’t know.

 One of our members did a recent survey to find out. He picked up rolls totaling 4,160 coins from local banks to see what they contained. Because the series represents almost 75 years of issues, he decided to only look for coins made prior to 1970, focusing on the first 30 years of the series. Here’s a list of what he found 

He found 298 coins dated before 1970 in the sample, or 7.16% of the total. Nickels were found from each of the four decades, including a Fine first year of issue 1938 and two well well worn silver war nickels. The most common nickels were the 1964 and 1964D issued over a couple of years during the mid -1960s coin shortage. Those two dates alone made up over half of the coins found.

 So what does all this mean? Well, it would seem to say that you still have a pretty good shot of putting together a collection of most Jefferson nickel issues from circulation; it’s neat to think that you can even find silver war nickels after all these years. It also shows you what we can lose if we ever do see the melting of these coins. I doubt they will ever be rare, but you will see them vanish from your pocket quickly. Might be a good time to start working on that collection…

New Quarters

Coin collectors have observed that one of the ways to measure the economy’s health is to take a look at the coins in your pocket. If you have new, shiny coins it probably means good times – expanding economies need generate a need for more coins and currency. Conversely, bad times have meant not so many new coins in circulation; historically, some of the lowest mintages have occurred when the country was deep in a recession or depression. When people aren’t spending, the old coins on hand will be more then sufficient for their needs.

 The recent Great Recession officially began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009. The strong aftershocks, though, have been with us for some time; it looks like the economy is only recently showing sustainable strength. How has that been reflected in our circulating coinage?

 In September 2010 one of our members did a survey of some 650 quarter dollars then in circulation. He found that quarters dated 2008, including the final state quarter forHawaii, were well represented. There were 48 2008 quarters, or almost 7.4% of the total. Beginning with 2009, though, the numbers shifted. There was only one quarter for 2009, the year of the DC and Territorial quarters, in the sample, or 0.15% of the total. There were no quarters from 2010, the first year of the ten yearAmericathe Beautiful quarter program (you can find a complete description of what was found here).

 In March 2012 the same member recently surveyed another, larger sample of quarters, looking at 1600 different coins. The emphasis on this search was to see how many 2009 to 2012 quarters were in circulation. A higher percentage of coins in circulation would indicate a relatively healthier economy.

 12 quarters dated 2009, 2010, or 2011 were found in the sample, equaling .75%. No quarters dated 2012 were found. While the percentage was up from the earlier sample, it still pales when compared with the final year of the state quarters. This would seem to indicate that economic growth is not yet robust enough to pull newer quarters out of storage and into circulation.

 Here’s a list of what was found in the newer sample:

 2009: DC-P (2), Puerto Rico-D (1), Guam-P (2)

2010:Mt.Hood-P(1),Mt.Hood-D(1), Grand Canyon-P (1), Yosemite-P (1)

2011: Glacier-P (2), Gettysburg-D (1)

Time To Get Ugly!

Roll out the red carpet – it’s time for the Dayton-Kettering Coin Club’s third annual Ugly Coin Contest! The premier contest of its kind in northern Southwestern Ohio, the DKCC-UCC strives to find the nastiest, scariest, most MS-Ugly numismatic item around – sort of an April Fool’s commentary on registry sets, none graded higher, etc. At our April 5th meeting, we’ll be awarding prizes for both the ugliest coin, as well as the ugliest short set (cent, nickel, dime, quarter – don’t have to be the same dates). The rules are pretty simple:

 – Coins must be found in circulation (parking lots, backyards, couch cushions, piggy banks, rolls from the bank, etc. all count)

– You can’t damage it more – no making it worse then it already is!

The judges will be awarding up to 5 points in each of the following four categories: severe wear (slick is best), mutilations (drilled, hacked, bent, etc.), corrosion (just how long was that thing buried), and discoloration/gunk (eww, that looks like my dog ate it). So that’s a maximum of 20 ugly points per coin; grades for the set will be an average of the four coins.

So start looking for your entries now – you could be the 2012 Ugly Winner!

Coin Books at Dayton Metro Library

For the second year in a row, the Dayton-Kettering Coin Club is getting ready to donate numismatic books to the Dayton Metro Library. Using a program funded by the Central States Numismatic Societywe’re able to buy books and make them available to the public through our great local library system, helping people learn more about their coins and promoting involvement in the hobby. Last year, we contributed books like the Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins, Numismatic Art in America,  The Authoritative Reference on Commemorative Coins, 1892 through 1954, and others. The Dayton Metro Library already had a good selection of books; we want to make it stronger.

The books we’ve donated are housed at the Wilmington Stroop Branch of the library, while other books are spread across the system. You don’t need to travel, though – the library is happy to bring the books to your local branch. Go on line at daytonmetrolibrary.org and look up the book you want want in the online catalog (might start with a search for coin collecting). You can then reserve the book and have it delivered to any one of the 20 branches across Montgomery County. If you don’t have a card, hustle down to the branch nearest you and pick one up, and then get ready to do some serious numismatic reading.

Hank Spangenberger Dies

Long time Dayton-Kettering Coin Club member Henry “Hank” Spangenberger died this past week. Hank joined the club as a 15 year old back in 1947 and was Member No. 121. Locally, he  served a number of roles over the years with the club, including at least one stint as President. Hank’s numismatic career covered a great deal of ground. He was a prominent dealer, noted author, important leader of the American Numismatic Association, and the only Daytonian to serve as a member of the United States Assay Commission. While his health prevented him from fully participating in the club in recent years, his years of service leave a proud legacy. Our condolences to his family and many friends. You can read Hank’s obituary here.

Do You Know What Barbers Are?

No, not the guys who cut hair (well, maybe yes, but that’s not part of our hobby). Barber’s are the dimes, quarters and halves designed by Charles Barber, Chief Engraver of the U.S. Mint and issued from 1892 to 1916. The term can also be extended to include the Liberty nickels produced from 1883 to 1912. These turn of the last century series were eclipsed by the coinage of the “American Renaissance”, but have developed a loyal following of their own over the years. We’ll hear a presentation on these interesting coins, minted during the years of Free Silver, Remember the Maine, and The Square Deal, at our meeting on March 1. If you’ld like to do some homework prior to the meeting, I would recommend that you consult the free literature at the David Lawrence Rare Coins Blog site, a treasure trove of info for the Barber enthusiast.

Next Club Auction Almost Here!

Our next club auction is scheduled for our next meeting on Thursday, March 1. Here’s your opportunity to pick up some interesting coins from your fellow club members at interesting prices. To participate in the auction, you need to:

1 – be a member of the club (you can join at the meeting).

2 – be prepared to pay at the conclusion of the auction..

Remember, the club keeps 10% of the proceeds to help fund activities such as the book purchase.  Come, be a part of a fun meeting, and add some great items to your collection.

US Mint TV

The United States Mint has put together a number of videos highlighting goings on within the nation’s coin factory. This one highlights the Mint’s assaying operations; pretty interesting from a technical point of view. There are currently eight of them on YouTube and are well worth watching.

Don’t Do This!

So, if you had one of these would you try and spend it? Really..? Really…? No, I didn’t think so, but you’re smarter than that. Here’s a story about someone who isn’t.

The Big Club Show is on January 8!

It’s less then a month to the biggest coin show held in the Dayton area! The Dayton-Kettering Coin Club Show is scheduled for Sunday, January 8, 2012  from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the I.U.E. Hall at 1675 Woodman Drive in Dayton. This is the area’s premier numismatic event, with vendors from across the region coming to town to buy and sell. Whether you’re a veteran collector or a newbie, someone who’s into American or foreign material, love banknotes or medals, you’ll find something to bring a big collecting grin to you face. You can find more information about the show here; DON’T MISS OUT!

P.S. Dealers, it’s still not too late for a table. contact our friend John Eckman of Dixie Coins and Stamps  to get an application and guarantee your spot -you can reach John at 937-294-0601, dixiecoins@aol.com

An Infamous Date

December 7, 2011 marked the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. As fewer and fewer people have first hand memories of the global disaster that was World War II, it’s interesting to learn something of the fear and panic, as well as the anger and grim determination, that gripped the United States in the opening months of our involvement. For a numismatic perspective, you can find out how the federal government, fearful of a possible Japanese invasion, called in all US currency in Hawaii and replaced it with new, specialized bank notes. For a broader perspective of World War II numismatics, take a look at Schwan and Bolling’s excellent book on the subject, World Ward II Remembered, History in Your Hands.

Buy the Book…

Over a year ago, we posted a story about the discovery an original inventory of the famed Col. E.H.R. Green Collection. At the time, the discoverer wondered what that document might be worth. Well, now you can find out. That inventory, along with a wide range of numismatic literature and related items will be offered by the firm of Kolbe & Fanning, Numismatic Booksellers, at their January 7 auction in New York. Visit their website for a PDF copy of the catalog and check out page 84 for the story (and estimated price) behind this important numismatic document.

Isn’t it interesting that one of the premier dealers in numismatic literature is located just up the road in Gahanna, Ohio?

Holiday Dinner Thursday, December 1

The DKCC’s Annual Holiday Dinner is Thursday, December 1 at 6:00 at Tumbleweed Southwest Grill located at 2030 East Dorothy Lane in Kettering (click here for map). All members and their guests are invited; this is our chance to share a little conviviality during this busy time of year. Hope to see everyone there!