A Publication of theTHE

Indianapolis Coin ClubIssue # 452

MONTHLYPLANCHETNewsletter

August 2004

Membership numbers: ANA C-131170, CSNS L-600, ISNA LM 243
The Meetings of the Indianapolis Coin Club are held the fourth Monday ofeach month at the Nora Library at 8625 Guilford Avenue in Indianapolis,
Indiana. The Meetings consist of a business session, an intermission,educational program, and a numismatic auction. Doors open at 6:00pm,
meeting will begin at 7:00pm.

The next meeting will be Monday, August 23, 2004

OH, WHAT A
NIGHT!
ICC

July’s meeting was an exciting night! The evening
started out at 6:00pm with a number of members
bringing in their exhibits to set-up. At 6:30pm it was
looking like we would run out of table space for all theexhibits!
By the time 7:00pm came around we were able to get
all of the exhibits into place. This took some intricate
planning since there was such a demand for exhibit
space. There were so many exciting things on hand toview and discuss that Vinton had a hard time callingthe meeting to order in a timely manner.
There were a total of 15 exhibits and a wonderfulturn out of members. I can’t imagine what next year
will bring! See a complete list of the winners and theirexhibits in the Secretary’s Report on Page 5.

We need to give a special “Thank You” to all of the membersthat were present to help everyone get their exhibits set-up. We
especially have to give a big “THANK YOU” to ICC Secretary
Jim Goaziou for all of his hard work with the organization thatwas involved in this rather large undertaking. If it wasn’t for allof his hard work and effort, this evening would not have been as
successful as it was.

Thanks Jim!

New Advertiser: Orva Detrick with ROMA Coin!

The Monthly Planchet is the official publication of theIndianapolis Coin Club. It is published monthly in Indianapolis,
Indiana. All inquiries should be sent to ICC, P.O. Box 2897,
Indianapolis, Indiana, 46206.

The Monthly Planchet, August 2004

ICC Auction

1234567890

President
Vinton Dove
Vice-President
Dave Reid
Secretary
Jim Goaziou
Treasurer
Tom Ferverda
EditorAmy Eberhardt(fubacoin@aol.com) ph. (317) 837-5682
Past President
Jim LuckeySgt-at-Arms
Jim Warden
Board Member
Lawrence Wistoff
Board Member
Coz Raimondi
Board Member
Charles Alber
Board Member
Karl Kreck
Board Member
Donald Black
Board Member
Allen Dove1234567890

The 2004 Indianapolis Coin Club
Officers and Board Members

Don’t forget tobring your auction
items and some money
to the meeting!

Table of Contents“Oh What a Night” - CoverAdvertisers- Page 2“Two Cent Pieces” - Page 3
Treasurer’s Reports - Page 4
Secretary’s Report - Page 5
Upcoming Shows - Page 5

Page 2

Two Cent Pieces 1864-1873
By....Mike Schmidt"What if our Republic were now shatteredbeyond reconstruction? Would not the antiquaries ofsucceeding centuries rightly reason from our pastthat we were a heaten nation?" This was part of aletter written by Rev M R Watkinson to theSecretary of the Treasury Salmon P Chase in 1862.
In it the Rev maintains that being a "Christian"nation some statement of "our faith in God" shouldappear on the coinage. He suggests "Our God andOur Country". Secretary Chase agrees that this is agood idea. At the time the mint was working on a new coin, a two cent piece. Made from "french bronze"the new two cent piece, along with the new cent made from the same composition, would hopefully go a long
way towards relieving the country from the coin shortage it had been suffering from since the war had begun.
With the exception of the silver 3 cent piece all US coins before 1864 carried their full value in the metal
content. The continued circulation of the private issue bronze civil war
tokens convinced the government that a fiat coinage was practical and thatthe government stamp could confer value to the coin as well as the metal
content did. Along with the adoption of bronze for the one cent piece,legislation was passed for the creation of a two cent coin to be made ofbronze as well. Several major designs were tested but the final choice wasa design by the chief engraver James Longacre. The obverse shows a pairof crossed arrows behind a large US shield. Across the top of the shield isa ribbon bearing the new motto. Several mottos were tried including "OurGod Our country", "God Liberty and Law", "God Our Trust", and thefamiliar "In God We Trust". (This motto was probably inspired by thefourth verse of the Star Spangled Banner which contains the line: "And thisbe our motto In God Is Our Trust") Surrounding the shield is a wreath of laurel. The date is situated at thebottom below the shield. The Reverse consists of a wreath of wheat tied
by a ribbon at the bottom which encloses the denomination 2 Cents.
Between the wreath and the outer rim is UNITED STATES OFAMERICA. This reverse was very similar to one of the rejected patternreverses. The two major differences between the two are the ends of theribbon tying the wreath and the curvature of the word "cents". On theregular issue the denomination is gently curved while on the pattern die
the word is bent almost into a U shape.
The first year of issue saw, what was for the time, an immense
coinage. Over 28 million coins were struck. The coin was a success andwas followed by large but declining mintages for the next two years. By
1867 the high coinages of the base metal coinages were finally supplying enough coins for general commerce.
Production of two cent pieces began a steep decline dropping to under a million by 1869 and to only 62,000

The Monthly Planchet, August 2004

Page 3

by 1872. The coinage act of 1873 called for the discontinuance of several denominations that had outlived
their usefulness. The two cent piece was one of those, but not before 300 proof coins were struck, all with aclosed 3 logotype in which the 3 closely resembles an 8. Later collector demand for this caused the mint tomake a clandestine restriking of the coin for sale to the collectors. This later restriking was easily identified
though by the use of the open 3 logotype. Mintage of the restriking is uncertain but was somewhere between
300 and 600 coins.
There are several interesting varieties to be found in the two cent series. The most famous is the 1864
small motto. This coin is actually a mule and may not actually be a regular issue, the proof version almost
certainly is not. The small motto obverse was actually a die intended for pattern coin use only. It comes, as apattern in various alloys, mated with both the strongly curved "cents" reverse and the adopted design reverse.
It also comes in the adopted bronze alloy with the strongly curved reverse. If it was combined, the adopted
reverse in this alloy would be the small motto variety. As it is the only 1864 variety out of the 30 or so thatare known that is truly scarce, and it never shows any signs of die deterioration which would account for thescarcity, this is quite likely the case.
Treasurer’s Report - June 2004

Treasurer’s Report - July 2004

Income:Income:Membership
50/50$26.00Membership(3 members)
50/50$13.00$12.00$38.00$ 72.03$120.00$162.00$ 22.59$ 24.31$ 24.05$ 12.25$437.23

Net Monthly Loss($399.23)

Checking Account Balance$4,792.26

Respectfully Submitted by
Tom Ferverda, Treasurer

Don’t forget the ANA
Meeting in Pittsburgh, PA
August 19-22!!
The Monthly Planchet, August 2004

$49.00
Expenses:

Expenses:
Funeral Flowers
Website Maintenance
Exhibition Night Awards
Refreshments
News Letter PrintingNews Letter Postage
Texas Quarters$36.00Newsletter
Supplies
Quarters-Florida$16.80$11.64$20.00$48.44

Net Monthly Gain

$0.56

Checking Account Balance$5,191.49

Respectfully Submitted by
Tom Ferverda, Treasurer
If anyone would like to submit an article for theMonthly Planchet, please let me know. We arealways looking for educational articles on any
Numismatic material. There is a lot of knowledge
among the members of the club and we would likefor you to share your knowledge or story about thiswonderful hobby! All submittals need to be to me
by the 10th of each month.
Thanks, Amy Eberhardt (Editor)
P.O. Box 67
Plainfield, IN 46168(317) 837-5682

Page 4

Secretary’s
Reportfor the meeting on
July 26, 2004
President Dove opened themeeting promptly at 7:00 PM bywelcoming 27 in attendance.
After presentation of theSecretary’s and Treasurer’s reports, attention
was directed to “Exhibit Night.” This was the
8th consecutive annual Exhibit Night held by theclub.
Jim Goaziou outlined the exhibit categories,
the trophies to be presented in each category
and introduced the judges for the event. Judges
were Donn Wray, Karl Kreck and Mark
Eberhardt. The judges did not have exhibits.
Each participant received a 2004 Silver Eagle asa participation award. Fifteen exhibits wereentered by thirteen exhibitors, including Junior,
Kurt Miller, who brought two exhibits.
Cos Raimondi provided cases for the evening.
There were several three case exhibits and one
6-case display by Wendell Wolka. After thejudging was completed, awards were presented
in each category - 1st thru 4th in US and 1st and2nd in Exonumia, World and Juniors. The eachexhibitor was given the opportunity to explain
their exhibit for the Club.
A listing of each exhibitor and the title of theirexhibit follows:
John Sundt / May 10th 1837 Hard Time Tokens
Jim Luckey / Franklin Half Dollar Bell
Wendell Wolka / Luther Medals
Lawrence Wisthoff / Susan B. Anthony Dollars
Robert Gerth / US Dimes - 1796 - 2004
Lyle Pelkin / US John Reich Coins
Lyle Pelkin / Newfoundland Coins
Jim Fuson / 2 sets of Indian Head Cents
Allen Dove / Mercury Dimes
Kurt Miller / World War II Coins
Kurt Miller / American Coins
Keith Carver / Silver Dollars
Jim Goaziou / Washington Quarters
Vinton Dove / Lincoln Wheat Ear Cents
Charles Alber / Numismatic Aviary

The Monthly Planchet, August 2004

Trophies were presented to the following members
based on the judging results:
U. S. - 1st Place - Jim Goaziou- 2nd Place - Robert Gerth- 3rd Place - Vinton Dove- 4th Place - Lawrence Wisthoff
Junior - 1st Place - Kurt Miller- 2nd Place - Kurt Miller
World - 1st Place - Charles Alber- 2nd Place - Lyle Pelkin
Exonumia - 1st Place - Wendell Wolka- 2nd Place - John Sundt
There was a dealer bourse at the meeting. The
auction was called by Mark Eberhardt. Bill Halsman
won the 50/50 drawing. The Club handed out a Mint
State Texas “D” quarter to each person present. Themeeting was adjourned at 8:45 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,J. W. Goaziou, SecretaryUPCOMING SHOWS
August21st “Comfort Suites” South Bend IN, off of SR 31/33 North andCleveland Rd. Hrs: 10am-5pm
22nd “Wabash Valley Coin Club” Terra Haute IN, The Hulman
Center 200 N. 8th St. Hrs: 9am-4pm
27th-29th “Ohio Coin Exposition” Cleveland, OH Holiday Inn/Independence, 6001 Rockside Rd. Hrs: Fri. 1pm-5:30pm, Sat.
10am-5:30pm, Sun. 10am-3pm.
29th “Cincinnati Greenhills Classic Coin & Stamp Show” GGreenhills, OH American Legion Post 530, 11100 Winton Rd.
Hrs:10am-4pm.
September
3rd-5th “Ohio State Coin Show”, Columbus, OH Clarian Hotel
Dublin (was the Wyndham last year) 600 Metro Pl. North.
Hrs: Fri. 10am-6pm, Sat. 10am-6pm and Sun. 10am-4pm.
12th “71st Street Coin Show” Indianapolis, IN K of C Hall
2100 East 71st St. off Keystone Ave. Hrs 9am-3:45pm
18th “Comfort Suites” South Bend, IN off of SR 31/33 North
Exit 77 off Toll Rd, North of Roseland. Hrs: 10am- 5pm.
19th “Blue Ribbon Monthly Coin Show” Toledo, OH St.
Clements Hall 3030 Tremainsville Rd. Hrs: 9:30am- 3:30pm.
25th “Putnam County Coin Club” Greencastle, IN 4-H Fairgrounds just North of Greencastle on Hwy 231. Hrs: 9am4pm.

Page 5