Letters to the Editor (June 13, 2017)

Healthy bank note sales benefit to local club

Can’t thank you enough for running the information on the Fremont bank note by the Fremont Coin Club. They have already sold 85 notes! Thank you for helping support local clubs. The sales of this note helps them immensely.

Mitch Ernst
Omaha, Neb.

Two shows offer different attendee experiences

I try to attend the local coin shows and do so several times a month. I especially try to never miss the larger regional coin shows such as the Bay State Coin Show in Massachusetts or the Manchester Coin Show in New Hampshire. Curiously this year, the first show was held two weeks before the second. The Bay State show cost $6 to get into, parking was free and the show was a very lively affair with literally something for everyone. It was a good time.

The Manchester show was another scene entirely. On approaching the parking lot, the road was blocked by a police car and barriers. I was forced to turn left and managed to find the rear entrance to the parking lot but did not go in. The show had only a couple hours to go. A bold sign over the normal parking rates announced “EVENT PARKING $20.” Usually, parking is $6 when validated. The show also charges around $4 admission unless lucky enough to have a pass, which I did not. If this is the treatment collectors receive, I predict the Manchester show will not continue. I’m hoping the show sponsor will respond to this letter and explain what was going on May 6.

Name withheld

90-year-old cent found at convenience store counter

A few days ago, while buying my morning coffee at 7-Eleven, while getting ready to pay for it, I noticed a wheat back 1-cent piece in one of those “leave a penny, take a penny” trays on the counter. I picked it up and replaced it with a nickel I had in my pocket. When I got back to my car, I looked at the obverse and saw it was dated 1919, and most likely was in about Very Fine condition. A nice find considering that penny is nearly 90 years old. Not worth a heck of a lot, but cool to find anyway. You can’t help to wonder how many times it exchanged hands, what it has purchased, and where has it been? Has it been circulating all of this time, or was it in some coffee can or drawer for many years? We will never know. But for now, it will rest in my “found in circulation” collection until one day someone puts it back, and returns it to trade hands and travel the country again. That is, if we don’t abolish using the cent.

Philip M. Lo Presti
East Meadow, N.Y.

Volunteers have good South Shore show experience

The South Shore Coin Club (www.ssccmke.org) hosted its 53rd Annual Coin Show April 7-8 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, located near 13th and College Avenue, in Milwaukee, Wis. The SSCC event is the largest coin show in Wisconsin. The show had 47 dealers and set up 95 tables. Many dealers had multiple tables.

Attendance at the two-day show was 600. Though the club charges a small admission, but the first 50 veterans and seniors 62 or older were admitted free on both days.

We want to thank Show Chairman Joe Bartoszewicz, Co-Bourse Chairmen Michael McAndrew and Howard Thorpe, President Jim Taylor and all the members of the SSCC for providing the American Numismatic Association with a free table. We signed up or renewed 14 members for the ANA. We also received a donation of $50 from Milwaukee area dealer Andrew Kimmel of Paragon Numismatics for the shipment of the coin show kit.

The hard-working members of the SSCC handled the registration, sold raffle tickets and gave out special wooden nickels that were made for the show. The show also had an hourly door prize drawing. The competitive exhibits were chaired by Darrell Luedtke.

The Crowne Plaza is an excellent location for a coin show with its free airport shuttle and parking, a well-lit and carpeted convention hall, a very nice restaurant and the interstate within blocks of the hotel. Security was very good and nothing was reported lost or stolen. The dealers appeared to have good shows. This location also has many other hotels within walking distance.

The Milwaukee Numismatic Society (www.milwaukeenumismaticsociety.com) held its 37th Annual Boy Scout Coin Collecting Merit Badge Clinic in conjunction with the show on Saturday. The clinic was coordinated by Leon Saryan, PhD, along with members of the MNS. Speakers for the clinic were Saryan, Bruce Benoit and Lee Hartz. Justin Perrault handled the computer, and other assistants for the clinic were Gary Bieringer, Josh Whitehall, Howard Thorpe and David Herrewig.

Before the clinic ended, Benoit took the Scouts and their family members on a tour of the bourse and exhibit area. Out of the 31 Scouts who took the clinic, 28 passed all requirements. The MNS also thanked Crowne Plaza Hotel Banquet Director Michelle for her timely support for the clinic.

The MNS Boy Scout clinic was started in 1981 by Lee Hartz and Tom Casper. The clinic was revamped by Bruce Benoit in 1985. Several national organizations have adopted the MNS Boy Scout Coin Collecting Merit Badge Clinic.

We look forward to attending next year’s 54th coin show at this same location April 13-14.

Yours in Numismatics,

John and Nancy Wilson
ANA National Volunteers

No value to be found in Heller’s commentary

This is in regards to the Viewpoint article by V. Kurt Bellman in the May 30 issue. Over the years I too have felt like commenting on Mr. Patrick Heller’s columns but hesitated to do so. Since he is a regular contributor I figured he was a “sacred cow.”

My observations have been that half the time he quotes statistics that are over the head of the average person, and the other half of the time he makes prognostications as to the future prices of gold and silver, sometimes contradicting previous predictions, and sometimes tempering the contents with something on the order of “maybe it will happen and maybe it won’t.” Other than pushing the sale of precious metals, which the average person probably should not be dabbling in and most likely can’t afford, and demonstrating a command of esoteric facts and figures, to me it’s all just a lot of words.

Peter Glassman
Schaumburg, IL

Design innovation creates more coins, collectors

I read with interest the responses to the question, “Should the cent and nickel be abolished?” While some of the responses were sharp and pointed, others seemed to miss the mark.

As a longtime coin collector, I don’t favor any bill that would reduce the number and type of coins I can collect. In fact, I would like to see more. We all know that the $1 and $2 bills should be eliminated and replaced by $1 and $2 coins. Imagine being able to find these in change!

Being made from silver doesn’t matter; those days are long gone. If you need silver and gold, guess what? The Mint still makes them.

There are still many interesting coins to find. And isn’t that what it’s all about?

I have heard way too many fellow collectors bemoan the fact that they are tired of seeing the same old United States coins. You want new collectors? Add new coins that actually circulate in people’s pockets and new collectors will be created. If all we have is the dime and quarter, that will not generate any new collectors. Circulating a cent, nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar, $1 and $2 coin with new and innovated designs would be wonderful and certainly add to what is collectible. Any number of circulating designs, commemorative issues, bi-metal and special coins could be minted.

As a consumer, eliminating the cent and nickel would disrupt commerce. All the various reasons were spelled out in the letters section with one exception: sales tax. How would sales tax be calculated and who would get the additional money? The store or the state government?

Ray Fiorini
Auburn, Wash.

More Collecting Resources

• More than 600 issuing locations are represented in the Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800 .

• With nearly 24,000 listings and over 14,000 illustrations, the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money, Modern Issues is your go-to guide for modern bank notes.