Indianapolis Coin Club

December
2003

A.N.A. C-131170 - C.S.N.S L-600 - I.S.N.A. LM 243
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 2897, Indianapolis, IN 46206

The Indianapolis Coin Club
begins the new year with a
new meeting place, the Nora
Library, on the north side ofIndianapolis.
The address is 8625 Guilford
Avenue, which is on the
Northeast corner of 86th
Street and Guilford Avenue.
There is a traffic light at that
corner.
Directions: The easy way isto go South (or North) on
Meridian Street to 86th
Street. (There is a traffic
light at that corner.) Turnleft if you are coming from
I-465, (or right if you arecoming from downtown,)
and TRAVEL EAST on 86th
Street to the SECOND
LIGHT. (That is Guilford
Ave.) TURN LEFT, and thelibrary is on your right, witha large parking lot. It is welllit. We meet in the “audito-rium”, which is the roomon the left as you enter thebuilding.
The room is ours from6:00 PM until 9:00 PM.
The library closes at 9:00,
so the gavel will fall
promptly at 7:00 PM. That
will give the coin tradersfrom 6:00 to 7:00 to havetheir fun, and we will beable to finish our businessby 8:30 and exit the building before 9:00.

ICC Banquet Well Attended

the club. Adult annual dues are $12.00 per year, junior membership dues are $5.00 per year.

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 to become a member ofpresently own or may wish to collect. We hold eleven monthly meetings each year (presently at the Nora Library, 8625 Guilford Ave.) during which various programs of an educational nature

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 theyT H E M O N T H L Y PLANCHETClub Meets at Nora Library in 2004

On Monday, December 8, theIndianapolis Coin Club met
at the Rathskeller, andpromptly at 6:30 PM, we ordered our individual feasts.
There were 22 celebrants
present, and we had a greattime, great fellowship anda great meal.
Winners of the door prizes
were Geri Dixon, Diana Raimondi, Ryan Black, Thor
Miller and Jim Luckey.

The gavel for 2004 waspresented by Jim Goaziou
to incoming president,
Vinton Dove. The newpresident’s remarks were
not overly long, and ourleisurely dinner was finished before 9 PM.

Our next meetings are scheduled for Monday, January 26, and Monday, February 23, at 7:00
PM at the Nora Library, 8625 Guilford Ave., Indianapolis. That is at the corner of 86th
Street and Guilford Ave. Parking is available in the library parking lot.

Officers: President: Vinton Dove, Vice President: Dave Reid,
Secretary: Vacant; Editor: Vacant:Treasurer: Tom Ferverda, Sergeant-at-Arms: Jim Warden.
Past President: Jim Luckey

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

InsideThis
Issue:
President’s Report2
Secretary’s Report2
Treasurer’s Report
2
Puzzle Page
3
Kid’s Page
6
Other News
4,5,7

Shop Amazon.com at: http://www.indianapoliscoinclub.org
1Treasurer’s Report
December 2003

From Our
President
Incoming President’s Report
Excitement! That is the word for 2004!
With coin prices rising rapidly and numberof members in the hobby growing almost
daily, we have a wonderful opportunity tohelp educate the new numismatists.
We have a new meeting place, the Nora
Library.
We will continue the auctions at the meetings, but with a new twist. The sellers will
have the opportunity to have their lots
listed in the newsletter, before the meeting! That will take some advance planning by the sellers, but should increase
the interest of the buyers.

INCOME
Light Sales - ISNA
Light Sales - Profit
Coin Show - Table Rental
Total Income:$250.00
50.00
140.00$440.00

EXPENDITURES
Light Purchase - ISNA
Education - Quarter Books
Postage
Total Expenses$250.00
35.82
17.96$303.78

Net Income$136.22

Balance in Checking as of Nov. 30, 2003 - $4,960.04

We will try to have the educational program listed in the newsletter as far in advance as possible, so the members will not
miss a topic (or speaker) of interest tothem.
Another new twist - LADIES NIGHT - at
the May 24th meeting!
See you at the January 26th meeting!
Vinton Dove

Secretary’s
Report
ICC Minutes for the Nov. 24, 2003 Meeting:
The meeting was called to order at 7 PM by President
Jim Luckey.
Minutes of the previous meeting were read for Gailby Past President, Vinton Dove and approved.
Treasurer’s Report was read for Tom by Vinton.
The ICC Show Committee chairman, Karl Kreck announced that 11 tables had been sold, so far. The
show will be on Sunday, March 21, 2004, at the Valle
Vista Conference Center in Greenwood, IN.
Jim read a letter from the Fireman’s Union which listed

rates to use the meeting hall in the future. Jim said hetalked to the union people and told them we were notmeeting in the hall after the November meeting.
Jim announced that the new meeting place for the club
would be the Nora Library and gave directions to it.
The election was held. Jim gave the floor to Vinton, as
the chairman of the nominating committee to run theelection. The nominated officers names were read. Since
all of the candidates were running unopposed, Karl Kreckmoved and Jim Sundt seconded that the officers beelected on one vote. Motion carried; all candidates were
elected.
Jim announced that the banquet would be on Monday,
December 8 at 6:00 PM at the Rathskeller Restaurant.
Speaking for the banquet committee, Vinton said thatboth Tom Ferverda and Gail Phillips would be unable toattend, due to unforeseen circumstances. There were
16 people signed up as of the start of the meeting, butmore were signing up, and everyone was welcome. Tom
has reserved the East Room, downstairs at the restaurant, and we hoped to be seated and begin ordering at
6:30 PM.
After the break, Dave Reid ran the auction. There wereabout 25 lots offered for sale. Most of them sold.
Jim handed out Arkansas quarters.
Visitors were introduced, and included Mark and Amy
Eberhardt, who just moved to the Indianapolis area.
Allen Dove won the puzzle contest.
The Audit committee was announced as Jim Luckey and
Vinton Dove.
Meeting adjourned at 8:20 PM.

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Constructed using Crossword Weaver

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BLITZENCOMET
CUPID
DANCERDASHER
DONNER

ELVES
MRS. CLAUS
PRANCERREINDEER
SANTA
VIXEN

ACROSS
2 Treat left for Santa, with milk
7 German word for Christmas tree
8 The stockings were hung by the ________ with care
10 Decoration with red berries
11 Kris _______DOWN
1 You get kissed under this3 Another name for tinsel or a type of pasta!
4 What makes Christmas white
5 One of the reindeer and a famous cherub
6 Rudolph, the red-nosed ________
9 Carries Santa and his presents

Puzzle SolutionTWM
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H O T S P R I N G S
DThere won’t be a prize for thismonth’s puzzle - it is just for fun!

Congratulations toAllen Dove, who
won last month’s
puzzle contest!

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Outgoing President’s Message
The last meeting for 2003 was held
for the last time at the Fireman’s
Museum. In January we move to
Nora Library and our new president
Vinton Dove. The flu has started
to catch up with some of our members as a few regulars missed themeeting. People must have started
Christmas shopping as our coin
auction didn’t have many bidders.
I look forward to seeing a good turnout for the Christmas Party at theRathskeller.
Thank you for your support for thelast two years and give Vinton thesame support in 2004.
Pres. Jim
The following email was received
from Richard Kinnett right after theNovember meeting - it looks likehe had a valid reason for missing
the meeting:
To: Gail Phillips
Subject: ICC meeting
Gail, I am sorry I missed the clubmeeting Monday night. We had
our first fire in the building in 20+
years. It was in the hall acrossfrom my apartment and I was involved in putting it out before firemen arrived. After we were safe,
I checked my watch and still hadtime to get to meeting but myclothes were smoke-fire extinguisher-water stained and theywould not let me back in my apartment to change or get 50/50 tickets and guest register book.
Then, when I thought I would comeany way, I found a fire truck parked
behind my car and hoses in street
so I could not get out. I bet this isthe best excuse for not attendinga meeting you have heard. If not,I want to hear the other one. I had
no damage to my apartment.
— Richard

1916 DENVER DIMES
By Tom LaMarreAt the 1916 National Automobile
Show, Studebaker Corporation displayed a chassis worth a real chunkof change. It was made of gold
and valued at $25,000 - almost as
much as the Denver Mint’s entire
production run of dimes that year.
It was in October of 1916 that a
new dime made its debut. The“head’s” side pictured Miss Liberty
wearing a winged cap, symbolizing freedom of thought. The“tail’s” side had a bundle of rods
and a battle-ax, an ancient symbol of unity. Alongside it was anolive branch of peace, and on coinsfrom the Denver Mint, the letter“D” at the lower left.
Officially the new coin was called
the “Winged Liberty Head” dime.
But because of Liberty’s winged
cap, most people thought it pictured Mercury, the messenger ofthe gods in Roman mythology. Despite the confusion, one coincollector’s publication describedthe “Mercury” dime as quite an
improvement over the earlier issue. Another praised its youthful
portrait of Liberty.
The Philadelphia Mint produced
more than 20 million “Mercury”
dimes in 1916. In San Francisco,
more than 10 million were made.
But the Denver Mint turned out justover a quarter of a million. No one
paid much attention to the Denver dimes until the 1930s, whencollecting coins by date and mintmark became a popular pastime.
By the 1940s, a 1916 Denver dimein like-new condition was valued
at $10. But with patience and luck,
it was still possible to find a worn
example in pocket change. For
years, a New York Transit Authority searched subway fare boxes,
setting aside hundreds of 1916

4

Denver dimes. In the 1980s, ayoung man hiking along a trail on
Colorado’s Aspen Mountain founda 1916 Denver dime that was appraised at $800.
This article was written by Tom
LaMarre, for “Money Talks”. “Money
Talks” is produced and underwritten by
the American Numismatic Associationin Colorado Springs, America’s coinclub for over a century. Take a tour of
ANA’s virtual Money Museum on the
web at http://www.money.org.

SEEING STARS
by Ken Bressett
Take a good look at the green serial numbers on your paper money.
If there’s a small star following thenumbers, it means you have a billthat was made to replace anotherbecause something went wrong
during the printing process.
You
probably won’t find many “star”
notes in your wallet. Great care istaken to see that every bill is perfect.
And when something does gowrong, every scrap of paper is accounted for, and imperfect notes
are replaced by specially printed
star notes.
All paper money is printed at the
Bureau of Engraving and Printing
plants in Washington, D.C. and Fort
Worth, Texas. Of the millions ofnotes that are made each year,
there are bound to be some thatare printed improperly, have defects in the paper, or errors in cutting and numbering. All of thesehave to be caught and replaced
before they’re counted, bundled
and sent to banks. In every case,star notes are used as substitutes
for the defective bills to preserve
the numbering sequence.
There

Continued on page 5Continued from page 4
are eight digits in every serial number. Because all notes are numbered and bundled in sequence,
there has to be a special way thateach package of one hundred notes
can begin with “one” and end witha hundred.
Star notes are made and controlled
just like normal currency, but they
have their own numbers and aremade only to replace other bills
that will never get put into circulation. The numbers on star notes
are not duplicates of those on thenotes that were withdrawn.
Collectors value star notes muchhigher than regular issue, because
they’re much more scarce. It’squite uncommon to find replacement notes in circulation, and areal challenge to get a crisp newnote from each of the 12 Federal
Reserve Districts.
This article was written by Kenneth
Bressett for “Money Talks”. “Money
Talks” is produced and underwritten by
the American Numismatic Associationin Colorado Springs, America’s coinclub for over a century. Take a tour of
ANA’s virtual Money Museum on the
web at http://www.money.org.

EVASIONS
by Matthew Rockman
In the late 18th century, British
forgers discovered a legal loopholethat enabled them to reap limitless profits, from a largely ignorant public, without even worrying
about the long arm of the law. By
1800, 75% of the copper coins circulating in Britain were counterfeits.
British counterfeiting law barred
only those coins which copied exactly the genuine pieces. Anyslight variation made copies legal.
Under those circumstances, it’s not

surprising that enterprising counterfeiters took advantage of thesituation to pass off lightweight
imitations to the illiterate country
folk, who couldn’t tell the goodcoins from the bad ones.
The
legal fakes were known as evasions—and they differed fromgenuine pieces only in the inscription. Authentic half-pence carried
the portrait of King George III andhis Latin title, Georgius Rex. Evasions distorted his title, changing
it to Glorious Nelson, a reference
to the hero of the Napoleonic wars,
or to Jervis, Duncan or Pellew, eachof whom won victories over
Napoleon’s forces.
Other evasions were less patriotic.
One read, “Claudius Romanus,”
referring to the allegedly half-witted Roman emperor. This was undoubtedly done to mock King
George, who was already well on
his way to becoming completely
insane. People either didn’t knowthat the evasions were fakes—ormore often, they didn’t care. Realhalf-pence were so scarce, andneeded so badly for making smallchange, that the evasions wereknowingly accepted in trade.
Evasions eventually disappeared
from circulation in the early 19th
century, when a massive issue ofauthentic coins ended the shortage. Today, evasions exist only incollections, where they serve as areminder of a strange chapter in
Britain’s history.
This article was written by Matthew
Rockman for “Money Talks”. “Money
Talks” is produced and underwritten by
the American Numismatic Associationin Colorado Springs, America’s coinclub for over a century. Take a tour of
ANA’s virtual Money Museum on the
web at http://www.money.org.

CHERRYPICKING
by Bill Fivaz
Cherrypicking . . . it’s not the artof plucking those luscious, longstemmed, red beauties from the5tree in your back yard - but it’s
not as far removed from that as
you might think!
“Cherrypicking,” in coin collecting
parlance, is the art of plucking
another type of beauty — a valuable coin — from seemingly “normal” coins. These can be found ina coin seller’s stock, his junk box,
or even in your pocket change. If
you study the various books currently available at most coin shopscertain “varieties” may be foundthat are worth a great deal morethan they seem to be. A “variety”
is a coin that looks normal - but
for one reason or another, is out of
the ordinary. It may have one
number of the coin’s date over another number — or it may havesome lettering that’s doubled, due
to an error in the manufacturing
process — or it may even have adouble-punched mint mark, thesmall letter on some coins that indicates where it was made.
Cherrypicking is not an art that you
can master overnight. It takes
time to learn the different types ofvarieties, the coins they’re likely
to occur upon - and most importantly, what they look like. A goodmagnifying glass is necessary, so
you can properly identify yourfinds.
Reference books generally include
high quality, close-up photos of thevarieties - as well as detailed descriptions to make it easier to spotthese coins. But books cover only
those varieties that have alreadybeen reported.
The really neat thing aboutcherrypicking is that new, andspectacular, varieties are still being found by collectors. In the past
few years, dozens of new ones
have been cherrypicked that havesold for hundreds of dollars each.
The cost to the cherrypicker? Usu-

Continued on page 7

1937 Roanoke Island, NC, Half Dollar
There’s a mystery of history behind this half dollar. This coincame out in 1937 on the 350th anniversary of the “lost colony”
of Roanoke Island. The island was part of the Virginia colony
then, though now it’s part of North Carolina.
In 1585, the English explorer Sir Walter Raleigh sent men to
Roanoke Island to build a fort, but they didn’t stay. Two years
later, Raleigh sent not only men, but women and even children
to settle on the island for good. The first English child born inan American colony was born that year and named Virginia inhonor of her birthplace.
Life in the wilderness was hard, and diseases spread easily.
After about a month at the new settlement, John White, theleader, went back to England for more supplies. He was planning to be gone for only a few months, but England was at war
with Spain. Three years passed before he could return.
When White and his crew got to the island, there was not asoul around. The houses were falling down and overgrown withweeds. Everyone had disappeared! The only clue they found
was the word “Croatoan” carved in one of the posts of the fort,
maybe as a sign.
There was a tribe nearby called the Croatoans, and White went
to ask them about the settlers. But bad weather forced themto turn their boat around. Raleigh, of course, was hoping thatthe settlers were still alive, and the settlers of nearby Jamestown
searched for them too. But that was twenty years later, andthe men, women, and children of the 1587 colony were neverseen again. The Lost Colony.
Today on Roanoke, Fort Raleigh has been rebuilt and the “LostColony” is a historic site. An outdoor theater has presented thestory of the colony every summer since 1937, when our Roanokecoin was produced. The coin’s final design was approved in
December of 1936.

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Obverse: A man facing left
represents Sir Walter Raleigh,who sent settlers to colonize
Roanoke Island, Virginia.

Reverse: The image of awoman and child by the sea
honor the birth of Virginia
Dare, first English colonist
born in America.

Continued from page 5
ally only a few dollars.
And remember, don’t overlook thebest part of cherrypicking. . . it’s
exciting, and as any hobby should
be. . . it’s fun!
This article written by Bill Fivaz for“Money Talks”. “Money Talks” is produced and underwritten by the American Numismatic Association in Colorado Springs, America’s coin club forover a century. Take a tour of ANA’s
virtual Money Museum on the web at
http://www.money.org.

JOHN BROWN’S RAID
By Bill JonesOn October 16, 1859, a radical
abolitionist led a daring assault on
the Federal arsenal at Harper’s
Ferry, Virginia. It was a major
spark that helped ignite the Civil
War. John Brown was one of themost radical abolitionists in the
country during the 1850s. Believing he was an instrument of God,
Brown thought it was his duty to

end slavery by any means necessary.
In 1856, Brown and his followers
hacked 5 pro-slavery men to deathwith broad swords. Three years
later, Brown had more elaborate
plans. He wanted to form a separate, but parallel government, tothe United States. Brown’s armyof abolitionists, free Blacks andrunaway slaves would spread out
over the south, starting slave uprisings.
On October 16th, 1859, Brown
and 21 followers seized the arsenal at Harper’s Ferry. They took
the great-grandnephew of George
Washington as a hostage. But local slaves did not revolt as Brown
had planned, and he and his forceswere pinned down by the local
militia.
The next day, Federal troops arrived, led by Colonel Robert E. Lee,to end the siege. Lee’s men
quickly recaptured the arsenal,
killing or capturing his followers

http://www.indianapoliscoinclub.org/newsletter.htm

Upcoming Coin Shows:John Brown’s death was soon commemorated on a political medal.
The front featured a bust of Brown
and the legend, “Slavery - the sumof all villainies.” The reverse sidefeatured Brown hanging from agallows and the phases, “Resistance to tyranny is obedience toGod,” and “Give me liberty or giveme death.”
This article was written by Bill Jonesfor “Money Talks”. “Money Talks” isproduced and underwritten by theAmerican Numismatic Association in
Colorado Springs, America’s coin clubfor over a century. Take a tour of
ANA’s virtual Money Museum on the
web at http://www.money.org.

Are you interested in collecting Tokens and/or Medals?
Please contact Bob Perdue (bperdue@nltc.net) to findout more information about the IKO-TAMS club.

Muncie Coin and Stamp Club Show
Sunday, January 18, 2004, Horizon Convention Center,401 S. High St., Muncie, IN Hours: 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Free Admission.
Indianapolis Coin Club Coin Show
Sunday, March 21, 2004, Valle Vista Country Club, Greenwood, IN Hours: 9:00 AM - 3:30 PM 30 tables, free parking andadmission. Uniformed security. For a bourse application,
visit http://indianapoliscoinclub.org/bourseapp.pdf
For dealer information, contact Coz Raimondi, 317-885-8066.
Bloomington Coin Club Coin Show
Saturday, April 3, 2004 Bloomington Convention Center, 302
S. College Ave. Bloomington, IN Hours: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Buy, sell, trade - coins, currency, gold, silver, tokens, foreign
coins, and other collectibles. Raffle Drawing and hourly door
prizes. Free Admission. Everyone Welcome.

While the South applauded
Brown’s execution, reaction in the
North was mixed; Abraham Lincoln sympathized with Brown’s
goals, but condemned his methods.

January’s educational program will bepresented by Dave Reid, who will speak on
Morgan Silver Dollars.
Don’t miss it!

Archived issues of The Monthly Planchet
can be found on our website, atSecond Sunday Coin Show
Sunday, January 11, 2004 K of C Hall, 2100 E. 71st St.,
9:00 AM - 3:45 PM Free Admission

and severely wounding Brown.
Brown was hanged for treason lessthan two months later.

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