Indianapolis Coin Club

February
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

Good news! We have soldall of our tables for our
Annual Coin Show, which
will be held on March 16
at the Ramada Inn at Thompson Road and US 31,
from 9 am until 3 pm.
As you know, the SpringShow is our predominantfund-raiser for our club
operating capital for theyear. If you have not soldyour raffle tickets yet,
now is the time. If you
need more, contact Coz
Raimondi at The Coin Index, (317) 885-8066,
or Jim Luckey atpilotjim3@yahoo.com.
Please sell all of theraffle tickets that you
possibly can.
We will also need volunteers to help set up andtake down the show, as
well as to assist the dealers as they are unloading and loading their vehicles. Volunteers will
also man the info table,
sell raffle tickets at thedoor, and relieve dealerswhen they need a break.
They may also be asked
to go out and get lunchfor dealers.

ANA National Coin Week - 2003

become a member of the club. Adult annual dues are $12.00 per year, junior membership dues are $5.00 per year.

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 to

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

THE MONTHLY PLANCHETICC Coin Show Sold Out!

Tale of the Coin
The National Coin Week
April 20-26, 2003 is the theme for the year 2003
80th Annual ANA National is “Tale of the Coin” focusCoin Week, a time for in- ing on the stories about
dividual collectors, clubs coins; the people, placesand dealers to educate the and objects depicted on
public about the coin col- money; and the many collecting hobby. But, most lectors, past and present,of all, it’s a time to let the who collect and study
world know that collecting coins. The activity is “Thecoins can be educational, National Open House.”
inexpensive and — fun.
Here are some ideas forwhat you can do for National Coin Week.
Enter an exhibit in the National Coin Week Competition at the ANA National
Money Show™ in Charlotte, North Carolina
March 20-22, 2003. Complete rules for exhibiting
are on the ANA website atContinued on page 4

Our next meetings are scheduled for Monday, February 24 , and Monday, March 24, 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 andsouth 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
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: www.indianapoliscoinclub.org
1Treasurer’s Report
January 2003

From Our
President
Our President, Jim Luckey, recently suffered a broken clavicle when he wasinvolved in an automobile accident.
There will be no President’s Report inthis month’s issue. Please feel free tocontact Jim with your best wishes for aquick recovery.

Have you paid
your dues yet?

INCOME
Dues
Show Table Sales
Total Income$ 77.00
210.00$287.00

EXPENSES
CD Purchase$5000.00
Computer Services
40.00
Postage29.40
ANA Dues
29.00
Hall Rental & Donation
50.00
Coin Show Supplies
17.69
Advertising (Statehood Qtrs.) 10.00
Postage (Treasurer)
9.38
Internet Domain Renewal
7.75
Total Expenses$5193.22
Net Expenses$4611.22

Balance in Checking as of 1/31/2003 - $6186.95

Secretary’s Report
The meeting was called to order by our vicepresident, Jim Roehrdanz, a treasurer’s reportand secretary’s report were read. We had attendance of 36 people, including dealers. A presentation of Liberty Head nickels was given by
Bob Nice, he talked about the origin of thephrase “just Joshin” with the racketeer nickel.
We now have two new members to our club,
Eric Worth and Rick McLaughlin, please welcome them into our club. The 50/50 drawing
was won by Gail Phillips, and the puzzle waswon by Ryan Black. The Board of Directors also
had a meeting to discuss and approve the operating budget for the year. The followingchanges were made: we now have to pay $25
a month rent for the meeting room. To pay for

this, we will use money from the 50/50 drawing (so please participate), refreshments budget will be $200.00 for the year, and we will bemoving the P.O. Box. The budget was approved
with the opportunity for amendment, theChristmas party will now be held at a local restaurant instead of being funded by the club,Coz donated $100.00 worth of stamps for$80.00, and finally, membership renewal has
dropped. We will be making an announcement
for all members to update their membershipdues or face being dropped - the success ofthe club is dependent upon all members participating together. Thank you.
- Chris Clegg.

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YKOTO JNB N YSVO JKOM N ICCA NMF
This month’s puzzle is a
cryptogram, where letters
are substituted, one foranother, 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 tolocating vowels. Solution isby trial and error.

KSB VCMOW JOTO BCCM QNTYOF, LHY
MCJ SY KNQQOMB YC OZOTWLCFW.
- NFANS BYOZOMBCM

Have you received an
Illinois Statehood Quarterin change yet?

There will be a prize drawing from correct entries.

In this puzzle,
M equals N.

Winning designs for
Maine, Missouri, andArkansas - the last
three quarters thisyear.

Good Luck!
West Point
Commemorative- available now!

January Puzzle SolutionGLLP
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There were five entries
for last month’s puzzle
contest - Vinton andAllen Dove, Dale Cook,and Don and Ryan Black.
Ryan won the drawing
and received a bookabout American Currency. Good Job!

3the awards will be presented at
the ANA World’s Fair of Money®
www.money.org. Local coin in Baltimore, MD in August,clubs are encouraged to “Wag 2003.
Your Tale” at an Open House Remember, the fun of collecting
during April. Invite the public to can begin with the change inattend a special educational pro- your pocket!
gram. Ask several club members to prepare short (5 to 10
minute) presentations on nu- THE LETTERED EDGE
- By Lee F. McKenzie
mismatic history, legends, orstories. Include at least one
mini-presentation on a currently
Why do quarters, half dollars
anddimes have ridges or millcirculating U.S. coin.
Distribute coins (modern cir- ing around their rims, while penculating or common collectible nies and nickels don't? The avsuch as a “wheat” cent or buf- erage person on the street
falo nickel) in a 2X2 flips with might tell you that dimes, quarinteresting numismatic informa- ters and halves are clearly moretion about the coin on one side valuable, and that the ridgesof the insert and club informa- keep them from slippingtion on the other (web address, through our fingers so easily.
meeting times and place, etc.). But, "it ain't necessarily so"!
Make mini-presentations tolocal Scout groups, schools, liThe real reason for the ridges
braries, civic groups, etc. and is because quarters, dimes andgive attendees a collectible coin halves used to be made of silin a 2X2 flip with numismatic ver. In the past, some unscruinformation and the ANA web pulous people tried to steal partaddress (www.money.org) on of a coin's value by scraping tiny
pieces of metal from the edge.
the insert.
Are you up to the challenge? If Milling protects a coin from thisso, try these suggestions or kind of tampering. Another way
to prevent it is to have lettermake up your own.
The ANA again is offering two ing, or designs placed on thefull scholarships to Summer edge of the coin.
Seminar in Colorado Springs,
one to the coin club or the colAmerica's most beautiful coin,
lector who submits a report of the "Saint Gaudens" $20 gold
the best and most innovative piece, has a series of 48 stars
method of how they promoted around the edge. England's
National Coin Week and the pound coin, of 1820, has a lettheme “Tale of the Coin,” and the tered edge in Latin which transother to the exhibitor with the lates into "AN HONOR AND DEbest National Coin Week display FENSE." The edge lettering
at the ANA National Money decorates the coin while at the
Show™ in March.
same time protecting it from
Submit your written entries, pic- unscrupulous clipping.
tures, etc. to ANA’s Education
Department on or before May
The edge of a coin can also beaplace for a country to proclaim
31, 2003. The winners will be
notified by June 30, 2003, and its most sacred values. In theContinued from page 1

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1960s, Switzerland's five Franc
coins had an edge engravedwith Latin words, which whentranslated meant "THE LORDPROVIDES." The edges of larger
denomination German coins
have traditionally had the words"GOD BE WITH US," in German.
The beautiful Austrian Florincoins of the 1880s have a lettered edge with the Latin words
meaning "unity and truth,"separated by ornate scroll workand a star. Many people believethat a truly beautiful coin is incomplete without a letterededge.
This article was written by Lee F.
McKenzie, and presented on“Money Talks”. "Money Talks" isproduced and underwritten by theAmerican Numismatic Association,in Colorado Springs, America's coinclub for over a century.

THE LAFAYETTECOMMEMORATIVEDOLLAR- by Frank Van Valen

Most of us have bought raffle
tickets and candy bars in school
fundraisers, but I'll bet you
didn't know American school
children once raised $50,000 insmall change to build a statue
in France.
It was 245 years ago, that theMarquis de Lafayette was born.
During the American Revolution,
the 19 year old Marquis . . . or
General Lafayette, as the colonists knew him . . . risked hislife and fortune to help the colonies fight for their freedom. Al-

Continued on page 5Continued from page 4
though wounded at the battleof Brandywine, Lafayette remained in the army until the endof the war. He served underGeorge Washington, whom heconsidered his adopted father ..
and whom he modeled his life
after.
Lafayette remained a friend of
the United States, always working for strong ties between
France and America. In 1824,
Lafayette accepted an invitation
to visit the United States as "theguest of the nation." Congress
gave him money and land andhe toured all 24 states, receiving a hero's welcome at every
stop. His visit impressed a newgeneration of Americans withthe significance of their political
heritage, and of the nation's
place as one of the world's few
republics.
Early in 1899, it was suggested
that a statue of Lafayette would
make a fine gift to the people ofFrance. American school children were asked to raise money
for the statue. Accepting thechallenge, the kids raised$50,000.

This article was written by Frank
Van Valen, and broadcast on“Money Talks”. "Money Talks" isproduced and underwritten by theAmerican Numismatic Association,in Colorado Springs, America's coinclub for over a century. To hearmore "Money Talks" scripts, or to
obtain a transcript, log on to the
ANA's web site at www.money.org.

NON-EXISTENT, THE
GREATEST RARITY
OF ALL- by Bill Jones
There are many definitions ofa rare coin. For the lucky Arkansas man who recently found
one of the first golden dollars
combined with a state quarterand sold it for twenty-nine thousand dollars . . . that mightseem to be a rare coin. Certainly, a coin with less than five
known specimens would becalled rare . . . but, what abouta series of coins in which there
are no survivors?

Non-existing coins are not unusual in coin collecting. Mint
records have led researchers toreport very small quantities ofcoins that have never beenfound. Records from the tiny
Meanwhile, Congress passed U.S. Mint in Charlotte, Northa law calling for the production Carolina, indicate the facility isof our first commemorative sil- sued four gold dollars in 1854.
ver dollar, the Lafayette dollar. Actually, the four coins never
The Lafayette dollar pays re- existed. It was just a bookkeepspect to the children of America. ing entry that a clerk made to
On the back of the coin, in bold balance his accounts at the end
letters around the edge are the of the year.
words, "ERECTED BY THE
Some coins are known to have
YOUTH OF THE UNITED STATES
existedyears ago, but can't be
IN HONOR OF GENERALLAFAYETTE, PARIS, 1900." In traced today. One example is athe center is the statue, their $25 California gold coin, madelunch money and allowances in 1849 by Templeton Reid, aprivate minter. Mystery surpaid for.

5

rounds Reid's California goldcoins . . . we wonder why hemade those coins, since modern research has concluded that
he never set foot in California
at all! At any rate, in the 1850s,
the only examples of Reid's California gold $10 and $25 coins
were in the U.S. Mint collection.
On August 16, 1858, the $25
coin was stolen from the Mint
Cabinet, and it's never been recovered.
In 1965, the Denver Mint produced well over half-a-million
silver dollars. During a serious
coin shortage, the production ofthese dollars made no sense.
Eventually, common sense prevailed and the dollars weremelted down. Yet rumors persist that a few coins escaped themint and are now in private
hands. Are there any 1964-D
silver dollars out there?
This article was written by Bill
Jones 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. Take a tour of ANA's virtual
Money Museum on the web atwww.money.org.

THE 1804 DOLLAR- by Thomas LaMarre

When is a dollar worth nearly amillion dollars? When it's oneof only 15 genuine 1804-dated
silver dollars known to exist.
Acting on orders from President Andrew Jackson, the Philadelphia Mint made the "original"
1804 silver dollars in 1834.

Continued on page 7

Gold and Silver Coins

Storing Your Coins Keeping coins away from your little brother- or sister - is a good idea. But storing themoutside in a tree house isn't. Sharp changes
in temperature and moisture can cause tarnish and spots.
You'll want a ruler to measure your coins,but it should be made of plastic. A metal
ruler can scratch your coins!
While some plastic flips are okay, you wantto avoid the soft ones. The PVC that makes
the plastic soft also causes green slime.
A computer can help you keep track of yourcollection. But using a spreadsheet program
to add up denominations isn't that useful.
You'd be better off with a coin program thatlets you store notes about your collection.

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CALIFORNIACIVIL WAR
COLORADOGEORGIAGOLD RUSHMINE
MINTNEVADASAN FRANCISCO
SILVER
STEAM PRESS

Historic Highlights - A Mint Timeline
Mining Materials
1828: America’s first “gold rush” begins in Georgia, an easternstate.

1854: An office opens in San Francisco where Gold Rush miners can have their gold tested and weighed. It soon becomes the San
Francisco Mint.

1836: The first steam press is put in place. Coins can now be
made faster—probably about 120 coins each minute.

1858: Gold is found in Colorado. Silver is found in Nevada thefollowing year.

1837-8: Three new Mint branches open in Louisiana, Georgia,
and North Carolina because of gold mined nearby.

1861: During the Civil War, the Southern branch mints fall under Confederate control.

1848: Gold is found in California. The California Gold Rushtakes off the following year.

1863: A Mint office opens in a bank building in Denver, Colorado,
where gold and silver from nearby mines can be tested and weighed.

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Continued from page 5
They were to be presented to
the King of Siam, now Thailand,
and the Sultan of Muscat, now
Oman in the Persian Gulf region.
The State Department requested "complete" sets of coins. . . and because no silver dollars were being made at thattime, the Mint produced dollars
dated 1804--the last year thedenomination had been made.
Mint records tell us that nearly
20,000 silver dollars were produced in 1804, but they fail tomention that the coins were almost certainly dated 1803.

map of the United States, an
American flag and several
rifles. The set of coins which
the King of Siam received still
exists--in its original presentation case.
The first collector to own an1804 dollar was Matthew
Stickney, who traded for one in
the 1840s. By the late 1850s,
demand by collectors was sogreat that the Mint made "restrikes"--coins produced fromoriginal dies at a date later thanthe original issue.

cover one of the coins almost 20
years later. Swiss police recovered the second one just a few
years ago, again with the assistance of the ANA.
This article was written by Tom
LaMarre 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. To hear more "Money Talks"
scripts, or to obtain a transcript, log
on to the ANA's web site atwww.money.org.

In the 1960s, two--yes, two-1804 dollars were stolen from
A State Department envoy the home of a Florida collecpresented an 1804 dollar to the tor--a member of the DuPont
Sultan of Muscat, along with a family. The American Numissword and gold scabbard, a matic Association helped reState Quarter Coinage Design - Alabama

Collecting U.S. Coins Since 1952

A portrait of Helen Keller seated in a chair with an open
book on her lap will grace Alabama’s 2003 State quarter.
Keller’s name is inscribed in English and Braille to theright of the portrait with “Spirit of Courage” on a ribbon
below the chair. The design is bordered on the right by abranch of camellias, Alabama’s state flower, and on theleft by a branch of needles and cones from the southernlongleaf pine. Keller was born June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia,
Ala. Keller will be the seventh actual woman depicted on
a U.S. coin. The other six women are: Queen Isabella,
Eleanor Dare (with infant daughter Virginia), Susan B.
Anthony, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Dolley Madison and
Sacagawea. The Alabama quarter dollar will be the first
U.S. coin minted for circulation with a Braille inscription.

This month’s educational program will be presented by Vinton Dove. The topic willbe the unique series of Ben Franklin Half Dollars.
Don’t miss it!

Upcoming Coin Shows:
Mar 8-9 South Bend
Coin & Currency Show. Comfort Suites, 52939 S.R. 933 N.
Sat: 10AM-5PM; Sun: 10AM-3PM. Contact: Dave’s Collectibles, Dave Brody, POB
724, South Bend, IN 46624. 574-272-9198, for more information. Tables:12-15. Free
admission.

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