Indianapolis Coin Club

March
2003

A.N.A. C-131170 - C.S.N.S L-600 - I.S.N.A. LM 243
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 30103, Indianapolis, IN 46230 Fax: 257-2220

The Indianapolis Coin Club is a non-profit, educational organization founded in 1939 for the purpose of educating people of all ages in the greater Indianapolis community about the coins theypresently own or may wish to collect. We hold eleven monthly meetings each year (presently at the Firemen’s Union Hall, 748 Massachusetts Ave.) during which various programs of an
educational nature are held for the benefit of our membership and the general public. All meetings are open to the public and there is no charge for attendance unless a person wishes tobecome a member of the club. Adult annual dues are $12.00 per year, junior membership dues are $5.00 per year.

THE MONTHLY PLANCHET

2002 Indiana Official First Day Coin Cover Available Now
The 2002 Indiana Official FirstDay Coin Cover (item Q28) is
the 19th in the series, and is
now available through the US
Mint. This limited edition coveronly 75,000 will be producedfeatures two Indiana Quarter
Dollars from the first day ofmintage, July 22, 2002. Eachcover includes quarters fromboth the Philadelphia and Denver mint facilities on a handsome display card with the 37cent United States Flag postage
stamp. The postmark of August
2, 2002, Indianapolis, Indiana,
marks the day the Indiana
Quarter Dollars were first released to the Federal Reserve
Bank and to the public.
Price: $ 19.95

You can order directly from the US Mint on their website www.usmint.gov, or you can call one of the numbers below:
Call Type
Within the 50 United States
Fax
TTY

Phone Number
1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468)
301-918-2039
1-888-321-MINT (6468)

Alabama Statehood Quarter Released March 17
Alabama became the 22nd state to be admitted into the Union on December 14, 1819. The Alabama quarter design features an image of Helen
Keller with her name in English, and in a reduced-size version of braille.
The Alabama quarter is the first U.S. circulating coin to feature braille. An

Continued on page 2
Our next meetings are scheduled for Monday, March 24, and Monday, April 28, at 7:00 PM
at the Fireman’s Union Hall Building, 748 Massachusetts Ave. at College Ave.,
Indianapolis. Parking is available in the lot west of the building and on the streets
north and south of the building.
Officers: President: Jim Luckey, Vice President: Jim Roehrdanz,
Secretary: Chris Clegg, Treasurer: Tom Ferverda, Sergeant-atArms: Jim Warden. Past President: Vinton Dove
Editor/Webmaster: Gail Phillips

Directors: Karl Kreck, Lawrence Wisthoff, Donald Black,Coz Raimondi, Charles Alber, Allen Dove

InsideThis

President’s Report
Secretary’s Report
Treasurer’s Report
Puzzle Page
Kid’s Page
Other News

Shop Amazon.com at: www.indianapoliscoinclub.org
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Issue:
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Treasurer’s Report
March 2003

From Our
President
The February meeting was a better attended meeting than expected, withweather being as bad as it was. Someof the active members forgot we hada meeting. Vinton Dove presented agood talk on Franklin Halves. We hada spirited auction with a new auctioneer who is an old member, but has notbeen attending as of late. More tickets
were passed out for our March 16th
“Coin Show”. Please get out and sellraffle tickets, as they are only meansof making a profit for the show. Pleaseforgive the shortness of this message
as I have a broken left clavicle, making typing quite difficult, especiallysince I’m left-handed. See you at our
Sunday show. Karl Kreck needs help
in setting up with moving in dealers at
7 am and cleaning up after the show
ends.
- Jim

INCOME
Dues
Coin Show Table Sales
Miscellaneous (bank credit error)
Total Income$ 87.00
210.0010.00$307.00

EXPENDITURES
Meeting Hall Rental (Jan. & Feb.)
ANA Dues (2003)
Newsletter Prep., Print, Mail
Total Expenditures$ 75.00
29.00
80.07$184.07

Net Income$123.93

Balance in Checking as of 3/1/03 - $6,199.88
Balance in CD Account - $15,017.19

Secretary’s
Report
The meeting was called to order by our president, Jim Luckey. The secretary’s report wasread. We had attendance of 24 people, including dealers. A presentation on Franklin
Halves was given by Vinton Dove. The puzzle
contest was won by Allen Dove, and the 50/
50 drawing was won by Buddy Boyce. An
announcement was made concerning loss ofmembership status for non-payment ofdues. We had an auction, with Rolland
Kontak serving as auctioneer.
- Chris Clegg

Continued from page 1
Alabama long leaf pine branch and magnolias grace
the sides of the design, and a “Spirit of Courage”

banner underlines the central image.
Helen Keller was born at “Ivy Green” in Tuscumbia, Alabama, in 1880. When she was a small child, an illness
destroyed her sight and hearing and, consequently, depriving her of the senses by which we normally learn tospeak. Despite her disabilities, Helen Keller learned to
speak and read using the raised and manual alphabets,
as well as Braille. Miss Keller also graduated with honors, receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree from Radcliffe.
She went on to publish numerous books, articles andessays. Helen Keller lived out her life addressing social
issues for disabled persons and women. Every year at“Ivy Green,” a weeklong celebration is held to commemorate her lifetime of accomplishments and her “Spirit of
Courage.”
In January 2001, Governor Don Siegelman announced
a statewide competition for Alabama schools to submit
concepts for the Alabama quarter. Of the thousands ofconcepts submitted, Governor Siegelman forwarded
three to the United States Mint: Helen Keller, Alabama’srole in social movements, and Alabama’s social and economic history. The United States Mint returned five candidate designs to the Governor’s office where the final
selection of Helen Keller, “Spirit of Courage,” was made.

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PFRP
This month’s puzzle is a
cryptogram, where letters
are substituted, one for another, until the puzzle issolved. If you think that one
letter equals another, it will
equal that letter throughout
the puzzle. Single letters,
short words, and words using an apostrophe give you
clues to locating vowels.
Solution is by trial and error.

CGESI

ASEI,
OP

O

PRDQL,
FSRNA

LROA

OP

O’DD

EGP

GEBS:

“JGGAMIS”.

,
:

,
.

There will be a prize drawing from correct entries.

In this puzzle,
P equals T.

The moon didn’t
appear on a US coin
until 1971, after the
first moon missions.
When did the sun
first appear on a US
coin?

Coin World Trivia:
1. A collector of “copperheads” collects
what type of tokens?
2. What inspired the bovine obverse of
the Old Spanish Trail commemorative?
3. A coin bearing a ‘P’ mint mark was
struck at what U.S. Mint?
4. Two obols equal what denomination of
medieval European coin?
5. What do we call a coin, token, or
medal struck from unmatched dies?

Allen Dove was the winner oflast month’s puzzle contest. He
won a yo-yo, customized by
Doc Gerth, and a deck of cards
from a casino in Las Vegas!
Congratulations, Allen!

February Puzzle Solution

There was a time when a fool andhis money were soon parted, but
now it happens to everyone.
- Adlai Stevenson
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NICKNAMES FOR PAPER MONEY- by Gene Hessler
Most of us have grown-up witha nickname or two. Some of us
still carry them today. And our paper money is no different!
The $10 bill issued in 1901 hada battleship as its central design,until an American buffalo replaced
it. As you might guess, this extremely popular note is often referred to by collectors as the "buffalo bill."
Five years earlier, another $10
bill was issued with the portrait ofThomas Hendricks. Hendricks had
been Grover Cleveland’s Vice President for nine months until he diedin office. As a gesture to honor
Hendricks, his portrait appeared on
a $10 silver certificate. The portrait is set in a frame that resembles a tombstone. And thisnote is called the "tombstonenote."
The $10 bill first issued in 1869
features a small eagle at the lower
center. When the note is turned
upside down, the eagle resembles
a donkey's head. Collectors callthis the "jackass note."
The $100 and $1000 bills were
issued back in 1890. On the backof each, the denomination appears
in large numerals. The broad zeroes are decorated with lines that
resemble a melon, with a red interior, and these are called "watermelon notes."
And then there's the first paper
money ever issued by the federal
government. It was in 1862 andit was issued to help pay for the
Civil War. The backs of the bills
were printed with green ink. The
green ink was a counterfeit deterrent, since no one outside the government has ever been able to perfectly duplicate the ink's formula.
It’s from this green ink that we get

the term "greenback," a nickname
still used today for our paper
money.
This article was written by Gene Hessler,for “Money Talks”. "Money Talks" is produced and underwritten by the American
Numismatic Association, in Colorado
Springs, America's coin club for over a century.

THE 1893-S SILVER DOLLAR AND
THE SHERMAN ACT- by Mark Van Winkle

Over a hundred years ago, oneof the rarest silver dollars everminted was produced. It was rare
not because of a lack of silver, butrather because of an overabundance of it!
Today we'll read about how thegreed of the silver lobby in Congress created this very rare coin.
The silver mining interests werequite influential in Congress during the late 19th century. In 1878,
this group used its influence topass the Bland-Allison Act, which
required the government to purchase at least two million ouncesof silver every month from theWestern mines. But the government already had plenty of silver,
and it didn't buy silver every
month. This caused the price ofsilver to drop for the next 10 years.
The powerful Western silver interests put pressure on their Congressmen to "do something." They
did, but the cure ended up being
worse than the illness. The curewas the Sherman Silver Purchase
Act of 1890, which directed theTreasury to now purchase evenmore silver each month. The silver mine-owners were paid in government notes that were redeemable in gold. Three years later, thenation's gold supply was severely
depleted. There were doubts about
the United States meeting its international obligations that were
payable only in gold. Wall Street

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went into a panic. When the dust
finally cleared, more than 400
banks had failed, 8,000 businesses
had gone bankrupt, and 156 railroads had fallen into receivership.
President Cleveland persuaded
Congress to repeal the Sherman
Silver Purchase Act, passed only
three years earlier. Since thenation's vaults were bulging withsilver dollars that no one wanted,
there was little demand for themin 1893. As a result, only a small
number of silver dollars were madein the San Francisco Mint that year.
This article was written by Mark Van
Winkle. "Money Talks" is produced and underwritten by the American Numismatic Association, in Colorado Springs, America's
coin club for over a century. To hear more
"Money Talks" scripts, or to obtain a transcript, log on to the ANA's website atwww.money.org.

IS ALL THE GOLD IN FORT KNOX?
- by Mark Van Winkle

It's been said when someone is
asked to do something we want nopart of: "Not for all the gold in
Fort Knox!" But, how do we evenknow there is any gold in Fort
Knox?
In the early days of the UnitedStates, the mint in Philadelphia
was guarded by a vicious dog anda night watchman, who rang a bell
periodically to let citizens know themint, and all its bullion, were stillsecure. After gold was removed
from U.S. coins in 1933, and citizens were required to turn in nearly
all their gold coins . . . the gold
was melted down and turned into
small bars. In 1937, most of thenation's gold reserves were moved
to the new Fort Knox facility near
Louisville, Kentucky.
Security is so tight at Fort Knoxthat no one person is entrustedwith the complete combination to
the twenty-ton vault door. Except
for authorized personnel, the only

Continued on page 5Continued from page 4
person to ever enter the facility
was President Roosevelt, who paida visit in 1943. Since no one, otherthan those who worked there, hadseen the gold for thirty years . . .
rumors began spreading that thegold bullion was either partly, orcompletely, missing. Illinois Congressman Philip Crane discussed
that rumor with Treasury Secretary
Simon in 1974. And, 26 years ago
today, a seven man congressional
inspection team, and nearly 100
reporters entered the vault. Later,
the General Accounting Office andthe Treasury Department conducted a special audit, and all thegold was accounted for. Since
then, visits have become more frequent, along with regular government audits.
For those who wish to believein conspiracy theories, probably
nothing short of a personal visit
would persuade them the nation's
gold stocks are secure. But it does
appear that the granite, concreteand steel structure known as Fort
Knox has held the nation's gold
since 1937 . . . and it's still doing
so today.
This article was written by Mark
VanWinkle. "Money Talks" is produced andunderwritten by the American Numismatic
Association, in Colorado Springs, America's
coin club for over a century. For information about educational seminars on coin collecting and grading, call 1-800-367- 9723
and request a brochure.

FINANCIAL PANIC OF 1873

- by Gene Hessler

Many people have been closely
watching the recent activity on
Wall Street. No matter how bullish or bearish the stock market
gets, at least we know it will always be open. But 130 years ago,
the New York Stock Exchange shut
down and didn't open again for ninedays.
On September 19th, The New

York Times reported, "It was a mild
day in Wall Street yesterday." And
Jay Cooke, head of the largest
banking house in the westernworld, was telling reporters he felt,
quote, "an unfailing confidence in
God in whom we put our trust; I
do not believe He will desert us."
Cooke's optimism was as hollow as the pockets of millions ofinvestors were to become. The
Civil War . . . which ended eight
years earlier . . . left the nation
deep in debt. In an attempt to stabilize rampant financial speculationand inflation, President Grant had
reluctantly agreed six months earlier to a gold standard which curtailed the paper money supply.
But it didn't work. To pay forthe continued expansion of the railroad, the Stock Market was manipulated with speculators borrowing from one source to pay off another. This chain of borrowing
broke in September of 1873.
Eighty-nine American railroads
went bankrupt; 5,000 businesses
failed, and unemployment topped
one million.
On September 21st, Cooke wasforced to close his banks, and 22
other institutions immediately did
the same. The Stock Market closed
the next day, and didn't reopen for
nine days. Cash payments weresuspended and businesses everywhere failed. New York banks lost
35 million dollars in cash. To settle
debts, paper scrip was issued.
October 2nd was the first day
that the news of the financial panic
didn't dominate page one of theTimes. The next day, the panic wasover . . . and the headline in theTimes told readers it was a "Dull
Day in the Street."This article was written by Gene Hessler.
"Money Talks" is produced and underwritten by the American Numismatic Association in Colorado Springs. America's coin clubfor over a century.

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LORD NELSON, THE HERO
- by Arthur M. Fitts III
Few names in history are as wellknown, and fewer still are as treasured as Lord Nelson. According
to his own account, he purposely
set out to become a hero and braveevery danger he would face. And
he did . . . becoming a legend in
his own lifetime!
Horatio Nelson, the son of acounty parson, was born in 1758.
He went to sea at the age of 12,
and quickly learned how to leadmen. By the age of 20, he was apost captain in the British navy;
by 40, he was a rear admiral.
He was a masterful tactician-loved by his men, whom he inspired, resented by his superiors,
whose orders and traditions he ignored, and feared by his enemies-whom he destroyed in battle. He
lost an arm, later an eye and, eventually, his life--all in battle. Ironically, it was at his greatest victory-Trafalgar, off the coast of southern Spain--that he died. While pacing the deck, shouting orders to
his men, he was shot in the spineby one of Napoleon's sharpshooters.
For collectors, the Age of Nelson
is rich. The British Government
couldn't afford to issue enoughcoins to satisfy even the needs ofcommerce. But private firms andindividuals issued tokens and medals, often designed by the leading
sculptors of the day, commemorating everything from births todeaths--and battles, and the heroes that emerged from them.
Eight different medals honoring"Nelson of the Nile" were issued
for his victory over the French fleetin Egypt. Typically, Nelson's portrait graces one side, while the reverse might show the alignment of
the fleets, or give statistical ac-

Continued on page 7

Helen Keller
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Historic Highlights - A Mint TimelineW

Moving Forward
1865: After the Civil War ends, many mint offices open for a time in cities like Carson City,
St. Louis, Seattle, and New York.
1873: The Mint moves its Headquarters from
Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. and becomespart of the Department of the Treasury, as it istoday.
1874: The new San Francisco Mint building
opens, known as the “Granite Lady” because it
looks like an ancient Greek temple.
1898: The United States wins the SpanishAmerican War and begins making coins for foreign countries. Congress directs that all the restof our silver bullion be made into coins. 1 8 9 9 :George Washington appears for the first time
on a coin: the commemorative Lafayette dollar.
Building and Rebuilding
1900: The United States officially accepts thegold standard—backing all its money by gold.
1904: The Denver Assay Office (where gold istested and weighed) becomes a mint (where coins
are made).
1906: The San Francisco Mint building serves
as the city’s banking center because most of thecity is destroyed by a great earthquake and fire.
Also, the Denver Mint moves into its new building.
Presidents and Peace
1909: The new one-cent design features
Abraham Lincoln on the 100th anniversary of
his birth. It is the first circulating coin that showsa real person.

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ANNE SULLIVANBRAILLEFINGERSPELLINGHEARINGHELEN KELLERIVY GREEN
RADCLIFFE
SIGHT
TUSCUMBIA
WATER

1913: The United States stops printing bills that can be exchanged forgold coins.
1918: Congress buys 40,000 acres of land at Camp Knox, Kentucky,
for a training center.
1921: The Peace Dollar is issued to commemorate peace between
the United States, Germany, and Austria after World War I.
We begin to back our money with gold bullion instead of gold coins.
1932: The new quarter dollar depicts George Washington, his second coin appearance.
Congress changes the name of Camp Knox to Fort Knox.
1933: As one way to fight the Great Depression, people are no longer
allowed to own gold. The Mint stops making gold coins. Silver coinsand certificates are used instead.

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Continued from page 5

counts of prizes taken, or ships
sunk. More than 25 medals were
produced to honor Nelson after thebattle of Trafalgar, which ended Napoleons' global ambitions.
This article was written by Arthur M. Fitts,
III. "Money Talks" is produced and underwritten by the American Numismatic Association in Colorado Springs. America's coinclub for over a century.

COMMON MYTHS ABOUT U.S. MONEY- by Charles Surasky

In this article, we'll look at someof the most frequently-heard
myths about our money:
Myth number one: If a coin isold, it's valuable. Actually, age has
little to do with a coin's value. It
really depends on supply and demand. Many coins that are 2000
years old or older, can be purchased for less than $25, whilesome 20th century coins may sell
for hundreds or even thousandsof dollars. Why, there was even a
2000 golden dollar that recently
sold for more than $40,000.
Myth number two: If a coin,produced in error, escapes the U.S.
Mint, it's worth a lot of money. On
a percentage basis, few error coins
ever leave the Mint--but even atiny percentage of billions of coinsmeans a large number of error
coins do reach circulation. And
although they're interesting-many of today's error coins areworth less than $10.

Like the story of the cat in theMyth number three: "Silver
microwave, myths about money Certificates" are valuable. Before
often take on a life of their own.
1968, the government redeemed"Silver Certificates" with silver bullion or silver dollars. That's whatmade them valuable. The government hasn't done this since 1968
. . . and today, most "Silver Certificates" are worth only their facevalue.
Myth number four: The dateon paper money indicates the year
it was printed. Actually, the "Series" year on each bill identifies
when that design was adopted. A
small letter under the "Series" year
indicates that a minor change wasmade . . . usually a signaturechange.
Myth number five: A serial
number is used only once on U.S.
currency. Actually, serial numbers
are used again and again. The
government merely advances theletter after the eight-digit number,and recycles the numbers.
This article was written by Charles Surasky.
"Money Talks" is produced and underwritten by the American Numismatic Association, in Colorado Springs, America's coin clubfor over a century.

Collecting U.S. Coins Since 1952

indexcoin@aol.com

Coin World Trivia Answers: 1. Civil War Tokens 2. Cabeza de Vaca
(literal translation for “head of a cow”) 3. Philadelphia Mint 4. Denar/denier 5. Mule

This month’s educational program will be presented by Wendell Wolka on “Dysfunctional Commerce, 1850’s Style”, with audience participation
participation..
Don’t miss it!

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