Indianapolis Coin Club
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

September
2002

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

Nominations and Volunteers Needed
TO ALL MEMBERS - READ THIS!!!!!
The club is looking for members to serve on
the Board of Directors next year. There arethree major offices which need to be filled.
They are Secretary, Treasurer and Newsletter Editor/Webmaster. All three positions require time spent working for the club during
the month in addition to the time spent at themeetings. Allen Dove announced that hewould not continue as Secretary next year.
John Phillips said he will not be able to continue serving as Treasurer since his work
schedule has changed, prohibiting him fromattending meetings. Gail Phillips, who has not only
taken the newsletter to new heights, but has established our website and operated it for its entire life,
has announced that she will not serve again nextyear as Newsletter Editor/Webmaster. All three ofthese individuals have done excellent work during
their tenure in their positions. On behalf of the Club,I thank them for the many hours and excellent work
they have contributed.
Call me, write me, or e-mail the Club website,
Indianapolis_Coin_Club@att.net, if you are interested in being on the slate of nominees in December. My number and address are in the white pages.
Vinton G. Dove, Nominating Committee Chairman

State’s quarter gets acelebrity’s welcome
Indianapolis Star and Wire Report, August 09, 2002

Ladies and gentlemen, start your collecting! Hoosiers can now secure a bit of Indiana history after the state’s commemorative quarter was officially unveiled at theIndianapolis Motor Speedway.
Hundreds attended a ceremony Thursday
for the circulation debut, which began witha Brink’s armored truck delivering the firstbatch across the track’s start-finish line.
Gov. Frank O’Bannon followed closely behind in the back of a two-seat Indy car
driven by racer Sarah Fisher.

The Speedway was chosen for the quarter’s
release because the coin features a modern-day Indy race car and the state’s mottoof “Crossroads of America.”“This coin will soon come into the hands ofpeople not only around the country, butaround the world,” O’Bannon said. “Youmight say it will be our smallest, yet mostvisible, ambassador.”
Hundreds of children at the Speedway received coupons that they later exchanged
for free quarters courtesy of the U.S. Mint.
The coins also were available at 13 stateparks and the Indiana State Fair.

Our next meetings are scheduled for Monday, September 23 , and Monday, October 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 northand south of the building.
Officers: President: Jim Luckey, Acting Vice President: JimRoehrdanz, Secretary: Allen Dove, Treasurer: John Phillips,
Sergeant-at-Arms: Jim Warden. Past President: Vinton Dove
Editor/Webmaster: Gail Phillips

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

InsideThis

President’s Report
Secretary’s Report
Treasurer’s Report
Puzzle Page
Kid’s Page
Other NewsIssue:222364,5,7Get your newsletter in color! Visit our website at: www.indianapoliscoinclub.org
1Treasurer’s Report
September 2002

From OurPresident
The August meeting was held to a small
group of our Coin Club members. Jim
Warden’s program was very enjoyable andinformative. He talked about the Carson
City mint, silver dollars, silver mining, andthe politics surrounding silver at that time.
The board will meet before the September meeting to conduct necessary business, tally the results of the Club survey,
address attendance problems at ourmeetings, and to plan future coin auctionsat our meetings. If you have some input,
please step up and call or e-mail so you
can be heard. Our election is slated for
our November meeting. Vinton Dove isheading the nomination committee.
- JimINCOME
50/50 Drawing
Total Income$ 20.00$ 20.00

EXPENDITURES
Newsletter Printing
Postage
Liability Insurance
Total Expenses$ 48.3022.20
226.00$296.50Net Expenses$276.50

Balance in Checking as of 9-1-02 - $3187.61

Secretary’s Report
ICC Meeting Minutes for 8/26/02

Michigan Statehood
Quarter Design
Proposals

The meeting was called to order by our president, Jim Luckey. The total attendance was 30.
The Secretary’s and the Treasurer’s reports wereread.
Jim announced that we need a committee tonominate candidates for office. Vinton Dove volunteered to be on this Nominating Committee.
Jim said that he was not pleased at how the State
Quarter Ceremony went. It seemed like people
didn’t know what they were doing. Jim asked
the members present at the meeting how manyof them brought someone new with them. Jim
also announced that the ICC coin show will takeplace on the third Sunday of March. Indiana-P &D quarters were distributed. Jim reiterated to theboard members that the board meeting will be at
5:30 immediately before the next meeting.

Jim Roehrdanz introduced the month’s featured
speaker, Jim Warden, whose topic was theCarson City Mint. He discussed the history, thepeople involved, and the cities that sprung up,
the coins produced, where the coins wereshipped, and the dangers involved with mining.
The winner of the 50/50 drawing was Coz
Raimondi.
Gail announced that the winner of the rebus
puzzle challenge was John Hester.

2-FThis month’s puzzle isa quote of Henry
Ford’s. Do the puzzle,win a prize! GoodLuck!

L+- H, - D-B

August Puzzle Solution

Buy the coin,
not the holder.

John Hester
was the Augustpuzzle winner,
but Allen Dove
had the rightanswer, too!
Good work,guys!

UUUUUU

-M

-G

3-H

CornerJohn Maag’s
Elvis Presley Coins
August 16th of this year
marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the death of the “Kingof Rock and Roll”, Elvis Aaron
Presley, making this an appropriate time to reflect on Elvis asa subject on commemorative
coins. None of these coins were
issued by the United States. He
was, however, honored on aUnited States postage stamp in
1993, approximately one year
after the USPS conducted a contest to choose the depiction ofElvis on the stamp. Between thechoices of the “young Elvis” andthe “1970’s Vegas Elvis”, the“young Elvis” won out, so thestamp was issued with that depiction.
At this time, Elvis has beenhonored on a number of privately issued medals, on artistically altered Tennessee quarters, on Mardi Gras tokens, andon foreign commemorative coinage, but not on official US coins.
As a subject for commemorative coinage, Elvis has been wellrepresented by two unlikely issuing countries - the Saint Thomas and Prince Islands, and theMarshall Islands. Saint Thomasand Prince is located off the west
coast of Africa, about 150 miles
west of the Guinea coast.
In 1993, the same year that theElvis stamp appeared in the US,

Saint Thomas and Prince issued
the following three commemorative coins featuring Elvis - a500 dobra KM36 in coppernickel, a 1000 dobra KM71 insilver, and a 25,000 dobra KM72
in gold. All coins feature thesame full-facial portrait of theyoung Elvis in front of a 1950’s
style microphone. However, nomintage figures are listed for thethree coins, even in the 2002
Standard Catalogue of WorldCoins, almost ten years after thecoins were issued. How available
the coins are can only beguessed at. While the coppernickel and silver coins are readily
available, the gold coin is rarelyoffered, either through price lists
from dealers who handle modern gold coins, or at coin shows.
It is doubtful that residents of
those islands ever get one ofthese coins in change, because,according to the latest figuresfrom the exchange rates inWorld Coin News, it takes overnine thousand dobras to equal
one US dollar. Therefore, thesecoins could be considered to be
non-circulating legal tendercoins. These were the only coinsissued to honor Elvis by thiscountry.
Another prolific coin issuer,
the Marshall Islands, has issued
anumberofElvis
commemoratives, along with
their extensive series of coinsthat honor everything fromWWII airplanes to James Dean
and Marilyn Monroe. The Republic of the Marshall Islands is
one of four island groups thatmake up what is called
Micronesia. It consists of 33
coral atolls and 1,150 islands orislets, and is halfway between

Australia and Hawaii. Of course,
there might be some controversy about just how “coin-like”
these issues are because of thelimited redemption value theypossess. To redeem the coins,
one has to actually travel to theislands and redeem only one perday. Although denominated indollars, since the actual currency there is the US dollar, they
aren’t very easy to spend or redeem. However, for this article,
we’ll put that controversy aside
and describe the issues relatedto Elvis.
The first Elvis coins issued bythe Marshall Islands were also
issued in 1993, like the SaintThomas and Prince issues, andsimilarly, no mintage figures areavailable for either those issues,or successive issues in 1995,
1996, and 1997. Unlike theSaint Thomas and Prince islands, which issued gold, nogold coins of Elvis were issued
by the Marshall Islands - justcopper-nickel, brass, and silver.
Marshall Islands coins have been
issued by the Roger Williams
Mint and the Sunshine Mint, aprivate mint that marks theirissues with an “S” mintmark don’t mistake it for San Francisco!
The first issues of 1993 are as
follows: a copper-nickel $5 KM
124, a brass $10 KM 129, and asilver $50 KM 130. All of thesecoins feature an older Elvis inprofile, with small guitars at thesides of the coins. The reverseof these coins are all identical,
with the coat of arms of theMarshall Islands. The same reverse design is utilized on allsubsequent issues. Further is-Continued on page 54

Continued from page 4sues followed in 1995 - a copper-nickel $5 KM 222, a brass$10 KM 223, and a silver $50
KM 224. Again, the design wasElvis in profile, Issues in 1996
are as follows: a copper-nickel$5 KM 300, a brass $10 KM 301,and a silver $50 KM 302. However, these coins feature a fullfacial portrait of a younger Elvis.
The last issues to date were in
1997 - a copper-nickel $5 KM
364, a brass $10 KM 365, and asilver $50 KM 366. The 1997 issues show Elvis in concert. However, there have been special
three-coin proof sets of all theElvis coins.

1995 Three-Coin Proof Set

Elvis $50 silver 1993 commemorative - MarshallIslands, Obverse & ReverseElvis $5 cupronickel 1993
commemorative - MarshallIslandsDoc Gerth Meets
Henrietta Fore
After the formal presentation ofthe Indiana Quarter, a one-hour
meeting was held for collectors
and coin dealers. The meeting
was coordinated by Henrietta
Holsman Fore, Director of theMint, and other US Mint personnel. Also in attendance, was theDirector of the Chicago FederalReserve Bank.

Future US Mint programs werediscussed, including possible
coin design changes. Membersof the audience were asked for

5ideas for future coin designs. It
was also noted that contract
money carriers cannot place asurcharge on coin deliveries.

Higley Copper
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In January 1639, several English Puritan settlements joined together toofficially form the colony of Connecticut. The origin of the word Connecticut comes from the Mohegan word
"Quinnehtukqut," meaning "long riverplace" or "beside the long tidal river."IHOFDL

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The set of laws that Connecticut
adopted, known as "the Fundamental
Orders," is said to be the earliest written constitution in North America!
Under these laws, Connecticut was togovern itself, meaning its citizens wereloyal to the colony, not to England.
That's why Connecticut's nickname
became "the Constitution State."
In another famous January--this one
in 1788--the state of Connecticut
joined the Union by signing the Constitution of the United States. It wasthe fifth state to ratify (sign) the Constitution.
Between these two important Januaries--after the colony was formed but
before it joined the Union--the Higley
copper was made, starting in 1737.
The reason it was made in Connecticut is simple: Dr. Samuel Higley lived
there and owned a copper mine there!
Since there was no United States,
there was no official United States

CONNECTICUTCONSTITUTIONDEERFUNDAMENTAL
HAMMERJANUARYPENCE
PURITANS
RIVER
THREE

money. Britain didn't allow colonies to strike their own coins, but
Britain was far away, and the colonists were loyal to the colony ofConnecticut first. Higley had copper and he knew how to make itinto coins, so he did. He valued the coppers at three pence each.
But there was a problem. He made so many of these coins thatpeople began to think they weren't worth as much as three pence.
To make people happy, Higley began to inscribe "Value me as you
please" on the coins...though he put "I am good copper" on theback to ease their minds, and still used the Roman number III for
three pence.
OBVERSE: The original inscription "the value of three pence" wassoon changed--for the sake of those who weren't so sure the coin
was worth three pence--to "value me as you please." Money talks!
REVERSE: Three hammers are shown on the reverse. The name"Connecticut" was changed to "I am good copper." In fact, thecopper was so good that many of these coins were later melted
down for other uses.

6Iowa Statehood Quarter Design Proposals

Wisconsin Statehood Quarter Design Proposals

Collecting U.S. Coins Since 1952

This month’s educational program will be presented by Don Wray. He will speak about “American ColonialIssue of the Phillipines” covering generally the period 1903 through World War II..
Don’t miss it!

Upcoming Coin Shows:
Sept. 14-15 South Bend, Coin & Currency Show. Comfort Suites, 52939 S.R. 933 N. Sat: 10AM5PM; Sun: 10AM-3PM. Dave’s Collectibles, Dave Brody, POB 724, South Bend, IN 46624. 219-2729198. 12-15 tables. Free.
Sept. 15 Ft. Wayne, Old Fort Coin Club Fall Show. Allen County Fairgrounds, 2726 Carroll Rd. Hrs:
9AM-4PM. Old Fort Coin Club, Bill Haines, 10326 Old Leo Rd. #29, Ft. Wayne, IN 46825. PH: 1-260484-7336. Email: billhaines2001@yahoo.com. 30 tables. Free.
Sept. 28 Cloverdale, Putnam County Coin Show. Ramada Inn, Hwy. 231 and I-70. Hrs.: 9AM-4PM.
Putnam County Coin Club. Larry Creed, RR 13, Box 209, Brazil, IN 47834. PH: 765-672-8388.
Email: coincollec@aol.com. 22 tables. Free.

7