The Planchet

August 2013

Issue #536

The next meeting will be
Monday, August 26th, 2013
The Meetings of the Indianapolis Coin Club are held
the fourth Monday of each month at theNorthside Knights of Columbus
2100 E. 71st Street 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.

Indianapolis Coin Club Educational ProgramThis months Educational Program will be:‘A Numismatic Quiz’ - by Jerry Lebo / Logansport Coin Club
Next Months Meeting Date & Program:
Monday September 23rd, 2013

“I.C.C. Exhibit Night” - Get your exhibits ready!

For a complete list of 2013 Meeting Dates &Educational Programs see the last page of this newsletter.

$$$$ “ALWAYS BUYING” $$$$PAYING TOP PRICES FOR ALL
U.S. COINS
DON’T SELL WITHOUT GETTING OUR OFFER!!!

LARRY HYLTONBROWNSBURG, IN
ANA, ISNA-LM, CSNS-LM(317) 852-8458

Appraisals
Buy & Sell

Phone(317) 769-6564

David C. Reid

VINTON DOVE
Certified Public Accountant
Collecting U.S. Coins Since 1952
Indianapolis, Indiana(317) 257-1906
Fax(317) 257-2220Jim Fuson
Retired Teacher & Coach

Coins & Stamps“30 Years of Excellent Service”

Collector of old U.S. Coins
And old Sports Cards
Also have some coins and cards for sale

Member
ANA * CSNS * ISNA L.M.
CNA * ONA * ICC L.M.

5795 E. Co. Rd. 350 S., Plainfield, IN 46168
ICC & ANA
(317) 839-5178

Your ad could be right here!

Advertise in the Indianapolis CoinClub Newsletter! The cost is only
$35.00 for a business card size adfor 12 issues!
The Monthly Planchet is the official publication of the Indianapolis
Coin Club. It is published monthly in Indianapolis, Indiana. All
inquiries should be sent to ICC, P.O. Box 2897, Indianapolis, Indiana,46206.

The 2013 Indianapolis Coin Club
Officers and Board Members:
President
Vice-President
Secretary
Treasurer
Newsletter Editor
Past President
Sgt-at-Arms
Board Member 2012-2013
Board Member 2012-2013
Board Member 2012-2013
Board Member 2013-2014
Board Member 2013-2014
Board Member 2013-2014

Donn Wray
Michael White
Vinton DoveMark Eberhardt
OPEN
Jim Roehrdanz
Jim Warden
Jim Fuson
Ron JacksonPaul Vaughn
Dave Reid
Bob Bettcher
Gary ConnerJuly 22nd, 2013 Minutes of the Indianapolis Coin Club Meeting were not available at thetime of the Planchet publication.

Indianapolis Coin Club, Inc. Treasurers Report
General Ledger for July 2013
Receipts:
Dues – Regular @ $12.00 each:$12.00Dues – Junior @ $5.00 each:
Advertising – Planchet @ $35.00 each:Fifty/Fifty Drawing:$28.00stInterest – CD’s – 1 Merchant Bank:
Donations – Auction & Others:$11.00ICC Library Books Sold:
Auction Lots Sheets @ $1.00 per Sheet: $ 6.00
Amazon.com:________

Total Receipts:$57.00

Disbursements:
Dues – ANA:
Insurance – Liability:
Insurance – Treasurer’s Bond:
Computer Website Mainance:
Mail Box Rental:
Office Supplies:
Envelopes:
Postage:
Supplies (Paper, ect.):
K of C Meeting Room Rental:
Exhibitors Night Prizes:
Printing:
Postage:
Paper/Ink Cartridges:
Software:Envelopes:
Club Functions / Promotions:
Christmas Banquet:
Coin Week – April:
Youth Educational Projects:
ISNA Table Setup:2014 ICC Medal (75th Anniv.):$50.00________

Total Disbursements:$50.00Net Gain or Loss for Month:$ 7.00

Check Book:
Starting Balance:
Cash/Check In:
Checks Out:
Ending Balance:$5.559.34$ 57.00$ 50.00$5.566.34

THE OREGON TRAIL HALF DOLLAR
1926 – 1939
By
Michael Schmidt(Reprinted from The Old Fort Coin Club newsletter 'The Chatter' with permission)

The Oregon Trail half dollar is often considered to be one of the finest works in the “classic”
commemorative series. But it was also the issue that marked the beginning of the end of theclassics.
Unlike most of the coins that had come before it, the Oregon was not issued to help fund acelebration or event. The driving force for the Oregon came from The Oregon Trail MemorialAssociation. A group that was not from the West or from anywhere along the trail. It was incorporated in New York. And the stated purpose of the coin was “to commemorate the heroism of
the fathers and mothers who traversed the Oregon Trail to the Far West with great hardships,
daring, and loss of life.”
That’s nice, but what was the money being raised to be used for? “To rescue various important
points along the trail from oblivion, and to raise suitable monuments along the trail or elsewhere.” A pretty vague explanation. A better explanation might be found in the fact that the different releases of the coins were named after people who had traveled the trail, and the first one
was named for Ezra Meeker and it was released on the 75th anniversary of his starting out on
the trail. And who was Ezra Meeker? Why he just happened to be the President of the Oregon
Trail Memorial Association! In effect he had managed to get a commemorative coin issued tocommemorate himself. And as far as I know very little of the money raised was ever spent on
the trail, so most of the fundraising probably went to line the pockets of the Association’sBoard.
The Association must have really had some influence over Congress though. Even with themodest sales for even relatively moderate mintages of previous coins, the Association managed
to get Congress to authorize the production of six MILLION Oregon Trail half dollars. This
was the largest authorization of any commemorative to date. The act became law on May 17th,1926.

Page 1 of 2(continued from page 1)

The coin was designed by Laura Gaudens Fraser. The obverse is dominated by the standing figure of an indian facing the viewers right with his left arm outstretched and his hand held up as if
to say “Halt!”. Behind the indian is a map of the United States. The indians bow is held horizontally and it seems to link the east and west coasts together. Behind him on the map is a small
train of covered wagons following the trail. Also across the map in the background is UNITEDSTATES OF AMERICA with the denomination at the bottom. The reverse is again dominatedby huge figures; a Conestoga wagon pulled by oxen traveling west into the setting sun (And avery large sun it is). The front flap of the wagon is pulled back showing a mother and child riding while the father walks driving the oxen. IN GOD WE TRUST is along the top of the coin.
OREGON TRAIL MEMORIAL is on the hill the wagon is on while the date appears at the bottom. There are five stars below OREGON TRAIL MEMORIAL but they do not appear to haveany symbolic meaning.
While the law called for six million coins, since it wasn’t targeted on a single specific timed
event the organizers decided to spread out the production over multiple years. 148,000 halves
were struck in 1926, 48,000 at Philadelphia and 100,000 at San Francisco. The Philadelphia
coins sold well with nearly the entire mintage selling out quickly at $1 each. The S mint coins
were a little slower. In 1928 another 50,000 coins were struck but the government refused torelease them until the 1926 coins were gone. This kept the 1928’s in the vaults until 1933. That
year the last 17,000 1926-S coins were returned to the mint for melting and the 1928 coins werereleased. The delay of five years didn’t seem to have done much good, because the new 1928
dated coins weren’t doing much better and soon 44,000 more coins were being sent back to themint in relatively short order.
They seemed to have learned something from this though. The market seemed to now have asaturation point of around five thousand or so of each new date issue. So even though they had
just sent back 44,000 coins they ordered 5,000 more 1933 halves from Denver. Those sold out
too even though the price was raised to $2 each.
This started a trend with 7,000 1934 D’s being struck and sold, followed by 10,000 1936 and5,000 1936-S coins. Those eventually sold but a little more slowly causing the Association torethink their business model. For starters they dropped the mintage down a little to 12,000 coinsin 1937, but this time all from one mint. That was a mistake. You might be able to sell 12,000
coins - half from one mint and half from another because a collector might buy one of each. But
there weren’t enough buyers to absorb 12,000 from one mint. It also did not help that the Association decided to get rid of their marketer, Scott Stamp & Coin. Scott had a pipeline directly
into the coin market while the Association had to deal with the general public.
In 1938 and 1939 the association tried to market three mint sets of the coins, 6,000 sets in 1938
and 3,000 sets in 1939, but even with a lower cost of $1.60 per coin the Association still had
sets left as late as 1945.
Finally in August of 1939 Congress passed an act ending this issue after 202,928 of the6,000,000 authorized coins had been sold over a period of 14 years.

Page 2 of 2

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Indianapolis Coin Club2013 Meeting Dates & Educational Programs
January 28, 2013 - 'The "Next Gen" $100 Federal Reserve Note' - by Joseph Boling*Prize sponsor: Mark Eberhardt

February 25, 2013 - 'Coin Knowledge Quiz' - by Mark Eberhardt*Prize sponsor: Vinton Dove
March 25, 2013 - 'MPC Fest Recap' - by Joseph Boling*Prize sponsor: Ron Jackson

April 22, 2013 - 'Early U.S. Mint Sets' - by James Warden*Prize sponsor: David Reid

May 20, 2013 - 'Canada & Newfoundland Coinage' - by Dave Reid & Paul Vaughn*Prize sponsor: Michael White

June 24, 2013 - 'Franklin Half Dollars-The Rodney Dangerfield of Coins' - by Jim Roehrdanz*Prize sponsor: Donn Wray

July 22, 2013 - 'From Crowns to Cartwheels; 1800's-1900's Silver' - by Michael White*Prize sponsor: Jim Roehrdanz

August 26, 2013 - 'Numismatic Quiz' - by Logansport Coin Club
*Prize sponsor: Shannon Spears

September 23, 2013 - I.C.C. Exhibit Night*Prize sponsor: ‘Hoosier Gold Buyers’ (Joe Gardner)

October 28, 2013 - 'Small Size Type Currency' - by Donn Wray
*Prize sponsor: OPEN - ‘Hoosier Gold Buyers’ (Joe Gardner)

November 25, 2013 - “State of the Hobby” by Mark Eberhardt*Prize sponsor: ‘Hoosier Gold Buyers’ (Joe Gardner)

December (?) 2013 – NO MEETING - I.C.C. Holiday Banquet – Details TBA
TBA = To Be Announced*For 2013 we are introducing an 'Attendance Prize' drawing at each monthly meeting as an added incentive for all I.C.C. members to attend as many meetings as possible and to encourage new membership. Everyone attending each regular monthly meeting will receive a prize ticket when they arrive atthe meeting and sign in at the greeting table. The prize each month will be a 90% silver U.S. Half Dollar (or equivalent 90% silver content coin) The I.C.C. Board members and officers as well as several
I.C.C. members chose to act as sponsors and donate the monthly prizes rather than funding them fromour budget. You'll find the monthly prize sponsor listed below each monthly meeting date above.
You'll just have to show up to see what you may win!
Please keep this in mind each month; regardless of who is giving the monthly program and/or the topic, we owe it to that person and themembership to remain quiet and pay attention during the program. It’s important that we respect the knowledge that is being sharedwith us as well as the time and effort the speaker is donating to our club.
The same rules should apply to our monthly auctions; please remain quiet and pay attention.
Thank you.