Indianapolis Coin Club

November
2002

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 PLANCHETISNA SHOW A GREAT SUCCESSThe ISNA (Indiana State
Numismatic Association)Show was, as usual, very
exciting. There were 62
dealers, by my count, and I
looked at almost every coinin the room, or at least it
felt like it by Saturday
evening. The prices werehigh, low, and reasonable,
depending on your point ofview. But there were many,
many coins, some of whichwere very high priced (valuable).
The ICC had a table in themain room, courtesy of the
ISNA. Thanks, ISNA!! Several of our members wereon hand to man the table,
including Richard Kinnett,
Jim Luckey, Karl Kreck, Doc
Gerth, and Allen Dove, andthose were just the ones
that I saw. There were others, including those of ourmembers who had dealer
tables. Another of ourmembers attending was
Patti Finner. She was sobusy with her ANA and otherduties that I was only able
to talk to her for a few minutes. It was great to see allof our members who attended.
In my humble opinion it wasanother great show.
- Vinton DoveDoc Gerth Takes Second Place at ISNA Show
Every year at the ISNA
Show, there is an Exhibit
contest with categories forboth adult and junior members. This year, one of ourvery own illustrious collectors, Doc Gerth, narrowly
missed best of show (by .08
of one point!) with his threeand five cent display. His

exhibit included both coinand paper currency in thesedenominations. For his display, he received a silverbullion piece mounted in aplaque. First place was won
by Rollie Finner, with a display of many pieces of theForbes silver collection.
Rollie Finner’s wife, Patti, isalso an ICC member. His
prize was a 1/10-ounce gold
eagle.
Adam Asbery, one of ourjunior members, received aparticipation award for his
display on Buffalo Nickels,
also.
Good work, everyone!

Remember to send in your dues and banquet money!
Fill out the form on the last page of this issue!
Our next meetings are scheduled for Monday, November 25, and Monday, December 2(banquet), at 7:00 PM at the Fireman’s Union Hall Building, 748 Massachusetts Ave. atCollege Ave., Indianapolis. Parking is available in the lot west of the building and on thestreets north and south of the building.
Officers: President: Jim Luckey, Vice President: Jim Roehrdanz,
Secretary: Allen Dove, Treasurer: Vinton Dove, Sergeant-at-Arms:
Jim Warden. Past President: Vinton Dove
Editor/Webmaster: Gail Phillips

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

InsideThis

Issue:

President’s Report2
Secretary’s Report2
Treasurer’s Report
2
Kid’s Page
6
Other News
3,4,5,7
Dues Payment Coupon 7

new website links! at: www.indianapoliscoinclub.org
1Treasurer’s Report

From Our
President
The October meeting turned out withmore attendance than in months past. It
probably was the coin auction which will
be a monthly event starting in January.
Dave Reid will draw up a set of rules which
will be agreed upon by the other two auctioneers. Hopefully, this will add attendance to the meetings. Tom Ferverda andKarl Kreck filled us in on the Christmas
Party and the 2003 Coin Show, which they
are chairing, respectively. Both are looking for helpers to assist them. The Christmas Party, which will be catered and haveentertainment, will be December 2nd, at
our meeting hall, at 6 pm. Please get yourname in so Tom can plan for enough food.
The November meeting is election nightfor our officers for 2003. If you have an
idea for a program in 2003, get in touchwith Jim Roehrdanz.
Jim Luckey

Secretary’s
ReportReceipts:
50/50 Drawing$
16.50
Edward Jones CD - Interest
449.23- Principal 14,000.00——————————————
Total Receipts$14,465.73——————————————
Disbursements:
Newsletter - Printing
51.89- Postage
21.09
2003 ICC Show - Advertizing
50.40- Room Deposit 200.00
Statehood Quarters Mississippi P & D
18.00————————————————
Total Disbursements$341.38————————————————Net Receipts$14,124.35====================
Balance in Checking - Nov. 5, 2002: $17,013.19

ICC Meeting Minutes for 10/28/02
The meeting was called to order by ourpresident, Jim Luckey. The total attendance
was 34.
The Secretary’s and the Treasurer’s reports
were read.
Tom Ferverda and Kurt Miller discussed theChristmas Banquet, December 2 nd, at themeeting hall. They passed around a sign-up
sheet and said that Gail Phillips, Newsletter
Editor, has lined up the entertainment.
Karl Kreck discussed the 2003 ICC Coin Showand distributed fliers.
Jim announced that beginning next year, we
will have a 30 minute auction every meeting.

We will have a set of rules drawn up.
ISNA’s state coin show is Friday and Saturday,
November 1st and 2nd. There will be exhibits andthe ICC will have a table. A sign-up sheet was
distributed.
Vinton Dove read the nominations for next year’s
officers.
Dave Reid conducted the auction.
Mississippi P & D quarters were distributed.
The winner of the 50/50 drawing was Thom Dixon.
Gail announced that the winner of the rebus puzzle
challenge was Vinton.

2phone (404) 498-8500.
The 20-page booklet, published in 2000, describes
the types and features of current paper money andcoins, tells how money is made and how it is placedin circulation. It also offers tips on how spot a counterfeit bill. It is readable via the Internet at the address listed in the box.
The Boston Federal Reserve Bank offers a glimpse
at the fragility of the economy before the nation’scentral bank was established; contact the Boston
Fed at 600 Atlantic Ave., Boston, MA 02106, or telephone (617) 973-3000.
Panic of 1907, a 20-page booklet, describes how
the banking panic developed, spread and was eventually resolved. Even as the nation’s millionaires
pledge their fortunes to the economy, weary workers lined up outside New York City’s tottering banks
to withdraw their cash. The information can be located at the address listed.
Since at least the 1970’s, the Federal Reserve System has published a series of surprisingly interesting comic books about cash, credit and the economy.
Two notable ones, both offered by the New Yorkbank, are The Story of Money and Once Upon a
Dime.
The 24-page The Story of Money explains the purposes of money, the qualities that distinguish moneyfrom non-money and how the banking system creates money. Once Upon a Dime, a personal favorite
last revised in 1990, presents a fable about how
the island kingdom of Mazuma grew from a barter
economy to a sophisticated modern system, with
its own central bank. Write to the Public Information Department, Federal Reserve Bank of New York,
33 Liberty St., New York, NY 10045.
In addition to an extensive list of free publications,the individual Federal Reserve Banks also publish
free quarterly “reviews”. While largely technical, thereviews also occasionally publish historical articles
of interest to collectors.
In spring 2000, for example, Minneapolis printed
an article about how Boston banks weathered the
Panic of 1837, an event that ushered in the Hard
Times. All of the Fed banks can be accessed at
http://www.federalreserve.gov/otherfrb.htm.

Getting ‘free’ stuff
Government, Fed offer hobby-related info

The government or Federal Reserve won’t give you
money for free, but they will send you a wide variety ofnumismatic information, ranging from coin comic books
to a video. The items come courtesy of the General
Services Administration and the Federal Reserve System.
“Don’t get ripped off” is the message behind A
Consumer’s Guide to Investing and Collecting U.S. Currency, prepared by Treasures of Antiquity, Inc. and theUnited States Postal Inspection Service.
The 24-page booklet, prepared in 1996, shows how todetermine the value of paper money and discusses bestpractices for buying, selling and storing currency. It isavailable from the Federal Consumer Information Center in Pueblo, Colorado. You can telephone toll -free(800) FED-INFO between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Eastern
Time, or access the information directly on the Internet at the Web address located in the box ant the bottom of this page.
CBS News “Sunday Morning” anchor Charles Osgood
narrates, “The Fed Today”, a 13-minute video, available free from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank.
Osgood explains the workings of the Federal Reserve
System and recaps its history form its founding in 1914.
The Philadelphia Fed also offers an illustrated 14-pagebooklet on Coins of the Ancient Mediterranean World.
The booklet, based on the Federal Reserve Bank’s coincollection, traces the development of early coin economies from 700 B.C. to 100 A.D. You can write the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, 10 Independence
Mall, Philadelphia, PA 19106-1574, or telephone (215)574-6000. Information on how to obtain the video canbe obtained at the address listed in the box; the booklet is posted at another Web address, also listed.
The New York Federal Reserve Bank will give the Key to
the Gold Vault to anyone who asks; contact them at 33
Liberty St. New York, NY 10045, or telephone (212)720-6130. The booklet, revised in 1998, discusses thelegendary vault’s past and reveals its daily operations.
The fully illustrated catalog can be accessed via theInternet at the Web site listed in the box.
The Atlanta Federal Reserve home to a fascinating
money museum, offers Dollars and Cents: Fundamental Facts about U.S. Money; contact the bank at 1000 Reprinted from the Monday, July 15, 2002 Coin World article byGerald Tebben, an editor for the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch.
Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta, GA 30309-4470, or tele-

Web addresses for information
Consumer guide booklet: http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/press/nfcpubs/uscurrenc.txt“The Fed Today” video: http://www.phil.frb.org/education/moneyconnection.html
Ancient coins booklet: http://www.phil.frb.org/education/medcoin.html
New York Fed catalog: http://www.newyorkfed.org/pihome/addpub/goldvaul.pdf
Dollars and Cents booklet:http://www.frbatlanta.org/invoke_brochure.cfm?objectid=83FD41F39AF0-11D5-898400508BB89A83&method=display_body
Panic of 1907 booklet: http://www.bos.frb.org/genpubs/ledger/ledger97/mlmd_w97.htm
Panic of 1837 article: http://minneapolisfed.org/research/qr/qr2421.html

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CornerJohn Maag’s

GERMAN EAST AFRICAN
EMERGENCY COINAGE
ISSUESAs Europe approached WWI after
the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Bosnian
Serb radical Gavrilo Princip, the fateof German’s colonies throughout theworld, for the most part, was determined within weeks. Despite thebuildup of the German Imperial Navyunder Kaiser Wilhelm II and Admiral Tirpitz, the English Navy still controlled the seas. So, most of thecolonies fell to one or another allied
power, with the exception ofGermany’s largest and richestcolony – German East Africa (modern day Tanzania). Instead of surrendering, this colony was the siteof an extensive resistance campaign
of guerilla warfare, a war that actually didn’t end until after the surrender of Germany in Europe. Under
General Paul Von Lettow Vorbeck,
who utilized native African troops
commanded by German officers,
Von Lettow Vorbeck is credited withtying down as many as three hundred thousand allied troops throughhis tactics, all with a force of approximately fifteen thousand.
At the beginning of the war, German
East Africa had approximately eight
million inhabitants, but only about
ten thousand Germans and othercolonials. Under then Colonel Von
Lettow Vorbeck’s command, aside
from local police, were three hundred German officers and 2500

Askari or native troops at the beginning. Von Lettow Vorbeck’s campaign, utilizing a relatively small
force, is quite a fascinating story,enough that there have been a number of books written regarding itsuch as “The Great War in Africa”.
However, this article will deal morewith the coinage that took place during these years, which included theonly emergency gold coinage inmodern times, the fifteen rupien goldcoin of 1916.
At the beginning of the war, with the
break in links between Germany andits colony, an interim paper coinage
was issued. However, paper coinage wasn’t popular with the natives.
At the time, it took five paper rupees
to get one silver rupee. In December 1915, the geologist Dr. Akrenkel
observed that at the railroad centerof Tabora, they could create a makeshift mint at the railroad shops. The
government had already moved
their capital from the former one at
Dar-Es-Salaam because its location
was more endangered by foreign
troops than this interior city. Mining
engineer Dr. Schumacher observedthat while they had no silver for coinage, they had a source for gold because of a significant gold mine in
the area, approximately 170 kilometers northeast of Tabora. In a tenday-long safari, 200 natives andtwenty Germans brought gold bars
worth almost one million marks(about $250,000.00 value U.S.). As
for the minor coinage, which consisted of five and twenty heller
pieces, the source was scrap metalfrom shipwrecks, cartridge cases,
etc. The five and twenty heller coins
were struck with the same basic
design, a crude German imperialcrown on the obverse with the letters “DOA” (Deutsch Ost Afrika) withthe letter “T” for Tabora. The reverses featured the denominationsof five or twenty heller within a4wreath. Amazingly, for an emergency coinage, there are known
mintage figures. According to theKurr Jaeger “Die Deutschen
Muenzen Seit 1871”, the mintages
were as follows: 1916 five heller –302,000; 1916 twenty heller – fourtypes – 724a, 725a, 726a, and 727a
– all-inclusive – 325,940. The brass
twenty heller had a total mintage of
1,307,760, which includes the 724b,
725b, and 726b types.

Varieties in these coins pretty muchare related to either the size of theimperial crown or the metal composition. The shape of the “L”s in theword “heller” is also a factor to consider. There is no known breakdown
for the individual types in terms ofmintages, just the total for all types,
although a few of the types are considered to be rare. The most common types are quite affordable, however. This is unusual for emergency
or siege coinage. Consider, for example, the rarity of the coins thatwere issued by Napoleon’s troops
at the fortress of Zamosc or Cattaro
in 1813, or the Austrian siege coinsissued with portraits of Ferdinand I
in 1848, at the siege of Mantua un-

Continued on page 5Continued from page 4
der Austrian General Gorzkowski.
There were so many varieties inthese German East African coinsbecause the crudely made dies often broke. The natives liked thecoins, and, after the war the Belgianand English troops who occupied
the territory found them desirable assouvenirs. However, the most common types of these coins are listed
at prices under ten dollars each inthe current Standard Catalogue ofWorld Coins.

The gold coin comes in two varieties, the first variety having a total
mintage of 6395, and the second
having a total mintage of 9803. Bothcoins featured the design of a trumpeting elephant with Mount
Kilimanjaro in the background andthe date “1916 T”. The reverse features the German imperial eagle withthe legend “Deutsch Ost Afrika” andthe denomination of 15 rupien. The
variety comes about because of theplacement of the arabesque extending from the right wing of the German eagle. In the first variety, it ends
under the “A” in “Afrika”, and in thesecond variety, it ends under the “T”
in “Ost”. Due to the primitive natureof the conditions under which thecoins were struck, the gold was a
reddish gold, containing copper andsilver, since it could not be refinedout of the gold.
Soon after Tabora was occupied by
Belgian troops, Indian traders wereasking 200 rupies each for the coins,so they have been considered rarefrom the beginning. In the present,
the coin is now listed at almost two
thousand dollars for an uncirculated
example, and several hundred dollars for a circulated one, when it isavailable.

Such is not true for the gold 15
rupien, which is a rare coin due tothe low mintage and the fact that it
was the only specifically colonial issue in gold for any German colony.
A Singhalese gold worker from Zanzibar made the dies after a modelfrom R. Vogt. The reason for striking the gold coins was to provide
payment to the native troops – theplan was to give one of these goldcoins to each member of thesetroops, about 15,000 in all. Additionally, the coins later went into general circulation.

As for General Paul Von Lettow
Vorbeck, after a long and successful campaign, he was the last German Commander in the field to lay
down his arms. A truce courier arrived with a telegram announcing
the armistice. It took several days
to verify that it was true, and on November 25, 1918, the “Bush Ghost”,
as he was known, surrendered toGeneral Van Deventer at Abercorn.
Thirty German officers, 125 settlers,
five German doctors, 1100 Askaris
and 819 women laid down their 38
machine guns, an old naval cannon,and 2,000 rifles. General Von Lettow

5

Vorbeck lived until 1964, dying on
March 9, 1964, just eleven days
before his 94th birthday. Shortly after WWII, his one-time adversary,Field Marshal Jan Smuts sought him
out. Reduced to poverty and starvation after Allied bombing and Gestapo house arrest, Smuts raised
funds from sympathetic South Africans and he was given a lifetime
pension and food parcels.
In Dar-Es-Salaam there is a memorial to the Askaris showing a nativein full battle dress with an inscription in Swahili, Arabic, and English,
drafted by Von Lettow Vorbeck. “In
memory of native African troops who
were the feet and hands of the army,
and to all other men who served anddied in German East Africa, yoursons will remember your name.”Though decades have passed since
there was a German East Africa or
Von Lettow Vorbeck’s campaigns,
the resulting emergency coinage isa tangible memento of this battle,
which kept German East Africa theonly German possession remaining
in German hands until the end of thewar.

Indianapolis
Coin Club
Meetings in 2003
Jan. 27 July 28
Feb. 24 Aug. 25
Mar. 24 Sep. 22
Apr. 28 Oct. 27
May 27 (Tues.)
June 23 Nov. 24
Dec. 1
Christmas Party

The 1933 Double Eagle
Takes Flight!
An auction is where things are sold tothe people who offer the most money.
And an auction in New York on July 30,
2002, will be a very special event: thefirst and only time that a 1933 Double
Eagle is sold!
Why has this coin never been sold before and what makes it so special?
Here’s the story. Double Eagles are goldcoins marked “20 dollars.” The firstones were struck in 1850 from gold
mined during the California Gold Rush.
These coins were made until 1933, during the Great Depression, when President Roosevelt ordered the UnitedStates Mint to stop making all goldcoins.
Even though almost half a million ofthese Double Eagles were struck in
1933, they were never issued as money
because of the President’s order. Instead, they were stored in Mint vaults—
except for two that were saved for theSmithsonian Institution—until the Mint
had them destroyed in 1937. All of thegold coins were melted down—except
for ten of them, which secretly werestolen!
In 1944, King Farouk of Egypt bought
one of the stolen Double Eagles from acoin dealer. He obeyed the law by asking the Treasury Department for a license that would let him take the cointo Egypt. Not realizing that the coin had

AcrossDown

2. What the flag’s 50 stars standfor
5. Examination
8. Computer pointer10. What they call me by
11. Land of King Farouk
13. Currency of the European
Union
14. Live and __________.
15. Sell (past tense)
16. Not “is not”

1. Myself
3. An exciting trip
4. Long period of time
5. Instructors
6. Season of this issue
7. Month of the big auction
9. Comes out to the public for the
first time
12. Metal of the Double Eagle

been stolen, the Treasury Department mistakenly gave
him the license.
A few days later, other 1933 Double Eagles appeared ina coin auction. When the Secret Service realized that all
the 1933 Double Eagles were supposed to have been
destroyed, they knew they must have been stolen. They
found out who was selling the stolen coins and how
they were stolen, but they couldn’t convict him because
too much time had passed since the robbery. But thecoins were still stolen government property, and had tobe returned. The government got all of them back by
1952—except the one King Farouk had bought and takenback home to Egypt.
Ten years after the king bought the coin (1954), a new
government took over and the king’s coin collection was
put up for auction in Egypt. The United States government asked the new Egyptian government to give thecoin back to us instead of letting it be sold. The Egyptian government did take it out of the auction, but

Continued on page 7
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Continued from page 6

Multi-Purpose Payment Coupon Send By Monday, Nov. 25 for Banquet
2003 Dues ____# of Adults @ $12____# of Juniors @ $5 (Due by Jan. 1)
Monday, December 2 Banquet Tickets______# @ $10 each
6:00 PM
Name__________________________________
Address________________________________
City ___________________State ____
Zip _____
Member Number _____
Phone Number ________
email address____________________________

then...it disappeared! It was never returned.
More than 50 years later (1996), an English coindealer was arrested in New York City while trying to sell a 1933 Double Eagle to Secret Service agents who were pretending to be coin collectors. The coin is one of the stolen coins andvery probably the one from King Farouk’s collection. But the United States had to prove incourt that it still owned the coin.
It took five years for everyone to agree what to
do with the coin. It was settled that the government owned the coin, but that this one and only
1933 Double Eagle, after 69 years, should be
issued and then sold in a public auction.
What an interesting case! This legendary coin
was made legally but couldn’t be owned legally;
was taken out of the country legally though it
was stolen property; and now it can be bought
legally—someone can buy and own what may
be the most valuable gold coin in the world.
Someone like you can go to Sotheby’s in New
York and try to win the bid—if you have a few
million dollars in your piggy bank!

checks or money orders only (please don’t send cash) to:
ICC, P O Box 30103,
Indianapolis, IN 46230

indexcoin@aol.com

Collecting U.S. Coins Since 1952

Slate of Officers Announced
October Puzzle Solution

A Light Purse is a Heavy Curse.
Vinton Dove was our prize winner last month.
Allen had the correct answer, too!

This month’s educational program will be presented byeach member in attendance regarding their favorite coin or
paper money series which they are collecting, why it’s theirfavorite, where they stand in terms of assembling a complete
collection, and how they acquire their pieces in the collection.
A few short comments from everyone will be enough to fill
our educational program time.
Don’t be shy, but be prepared!

As you know, our club election will be held at theNovember 25th meeting. The slate of candidates
are as follows: President - Jim Luckey, Vice President - Jim Roehrdanz, Treasurer - Tom Ferverda,
Secretary - Chris Clegg, Sergeant-At-Arms - Jim
Warden, Editor/Webmaster - Gail Phillips (contract),
Board of Directors: Allen Dove, Donald Black, KarlKreck
Of course, Vinton Dove will continue to serve as
Past President, and the other three board members, Charles Alber, Coz Raimondi, and Lawrence
Wisthoff will be serving their second year of their
two-year terms.
Nov 16-17 South Bend
Coin & Currency Show. Comfort Suites, 52939
S.R. 933 N. Sat: 10AM-5PM; Sun: 10AM-3PM.
Dave’s Collectibles, Dave Brody, POB 724, South
Bend, IN 46624. 219-272-9198. TA 12-15. FR

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