The Planchet
A Publication of theIndianapolis Coin Club
March 2008 Issue 491

The next meeting will be Monday, March 24
2008
The Meetings of the Indianapolis Coin Club are held
the fourth Monday of each month at theNorthside Knights of Columbus
2100 E. 71st Street in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The Meetings consist of a business session, an intermission, educational program,and a numismatic auction. Doors open at 6:00pm, meeting will begin at 7:00pm.

Letter From the President
ANA Names Indy for 2011 Show
In August of 2011, Indianapolis will be host to the ANA Coin Show. That’s right aNational Coin Show right here in Indy. This came about because the Indianapolis Visitors
and Convention Bureau contacted the ANA about having a show here in Indy. Brenda
Bishop of the ANA then contacted the ICC to employ our help. Vinton Dove took the phone
call and quickly relayed it out to me. We talked about it at our last open meeting and as aClub we agreed that this is something we would like to do. Vinton quickly sent Brenda a letter letting the ANA Board know that the ICC would help them with this project if they havethe show here. I feel that it is also important to mention that it helps when we have an active
member who is also a Governor on the ANA Board, Joe Boling and a regular member Wendell Wolka working for us. Vinton then received a call letting him know that Indianapolis
won the bid.
Now with all of that said, we will be putting together a committee to make sure everything that needs to be done to make this a successful venture for both parts, happens. TheANA has made it clear that they will need over 40 people to actively work the show, andmany more to help support it. The ICC looks for this to be an opportunity for all Indiana
Clubs to help with this project and will be contacting other clubs to encourage their participation. I feel that this will be a real shot in the arm for all numismatists here in Indiana.
More to come…..
Mark
ICC President

$$$$ “ALWAYS BUYING” $$$$

VINTON G. DOVE

PAYING TOP PRICES FOR ALL U.S.
COINS

Certified Public Accountant
Collecting U.S. Coins Since 1952

DON’T SELL WITHOUT GETTING OUR OFFER!!!

LARRY HYLTONBROWNSBURG, IN

ANA, ISNA-LM, CSNS-LM 443 Wellington Road(317) 852-8458

Indianapolis, IN 46260(317) 257-1906
Fax( 317) 257-2220

Jim Fuson
Retired Teacher & CoachCollector of old U.S. Coins
And old Sports Cards
Also have some coins and cards for sale5795 E. Co. Rd. 350 S., Plainfield, IN 46168
ICC & ANA (317) 839-5178

APPRAISALSBUY AND SELL

PHONE
Advertise in the Indianapolis Coin(317) 753-7967 Club Newsletter! The cost is only

DOUBLE D. KOINSDONALD D. KING SR.
Member

$35.00 for a business card size
ad for 12 issues!
The Monthly Planchet is the official publication of the Indianapolis
Coin Club. It is published monthly in Indianapolis, Indiana. Allinquiries should be sent to ICC, P.O. Box 2897, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46206.

Table Of Contents
The 2008 Indianapolis Coin Club
Officers and Board Members
Letter From the President

President
Vice-President
Secretary
Treasurer
EditorPast President
Sgt-at-Arms
Board Member 2007-2008
Board Member 2007-2008
Board Member 2007-2008
Board Member 2008-2009
Board Member 2008-2009
Board Member 2008-2009

Mark Eberhardt
Jim Roehrdanz
Vinton Dove
Karl Kreck
Matt Dinger
Vinton Dove
Jim Warden
Dave Reid
Bob Bettcher
James HeldJim Fuson
Charles Alber
Don King

Advertisers
Seated Dollars
Treasurer's Report
Secretarys Report

Page 1Page 2
Page 3
Page 5
Page 6

SEATED LIBERTY DOLLARS 1840 – 1873
byMichael Schmidt
Even though the Gobrecht dollar had only been circulated in miniscule numbers in 1836 and 1839,
plans went ahead to continue the dollar coin in 1840. But before production was increased the reverse
design underwent a major change. The “onward and upward” flying eagle was dropped and a slightly
modified version of the spread eagle design, first created by John Reich in 1807 and adapted for use on
the seated quarter and half dollars in 1838 and 39, was pressed into use.

Even though the Act of 1837 had authorized the creation of a bullion fund that the government
could use to buy silver and create coins on the governments own account, most of the coins were still
produced to the order of private citizens and businesses that brought gold and silver in for deposit. But
after over thirty years of not having a dollar coin, commerce had adapted to use without it and requests forthe coin remained low. (In fact the total mintage for the Seated dollar over its 33 year life amounted toonly about six and a half million coins and two and a half million of those were struck in the last threeyears.) From 1840 through 1848 mintages hovered between 60,000 and 180,000 coins each year andwere all struck in Philadelphia with the exception of 59,000 coins struck in New Orleans in 1846.
The gold discoveries in California in 1849 caused a new problem to develop for the dollar coin.
The increased amounts of gold entering the markets caused a drop in its value in relation to silver. This
meant that the metal in every silver dollar was worth one dollar and eight cents in gold so every timesomeone spent one, they were giving away eight cents worth of value. (Eight cents may not sound likemuch, but that eight cents had the equivalent purchasing power to them that a five dollar bill would haveto us today.) This resulted in greatly reduced coinages in the next two years making 1851 and 1852 two of
the rarest dates in the series with mintages just over a thousand coins each. Both of these dates would be
restruck by insiders at the mint in the late 1850’s to early 1870s for sale to collectors for their personalgain. (In the creation of the restrikes one other major rarity was created. One of the planchets used forthe 1851 restrikes was either an 1846-O or 1850-O dollar and the O mintmark, faint and flattened is stillvisible on the restrike creating the unique 1851-O dollar.)
In 1853 the government took steps to correct the overvaluation of silver by reducing the weight ofthe silver coins. But several in Congress felt that the “prestige” of the dollar was such that its weightshould not be reduced. Nor was its unlimited legal tender status changed. The minor coinage had its

legal tender reduced to no more than five dollars in any one transaction. This helped keep the mintages low, but it was offset tosome extent by the increasing amounts of silver brought into the country in exchange for gold. Then in 1859 and 60 silver dposits from the western states caused mintages to rise to over a half million coins per year. But this increased production was tobe short-lived. In 1861 the Civil War broke out and uncertainties among the population resulted in widespread hoarding of all of
the gold and silver coins from circulation. It also meant that coinage output from the mints was greatly reduced. Coinage of siverdollars during the war years was some of the lowest of the series so far.
A change was made to the design of the dollar in 1866. During the Civil War, like most times of stress, religious fervor
ran high resulting in the addition of the religious motto In God We Trust to the new two cent piece. Then in 1865 legislation waspassed to add the motto to ”all such coins as are large enough to accommodate it (There are also two 1866 Philadelphia coins
without the motto but these were patterns. Backdated fantasies of 1863 – 65 with the motto also exist.) But this statement of religious piety did not increase the public’s confidence and mintages remained low for a couple more years, finally shooting upwardagain in 1869 as the silver from the Comstock Lode began coming east. The new San Francisco Mint opened in 1870. This resulted in a great rarity. As part of the cornerstone ceremony a complete set of 1870-S US coins 5C to $20 were placed in thecornerstone. No silver dollars appear in the official mint coinage records but apparently several pieces must have been struck forthe corne stone committee to choose from because nine specimens are known today.
The Carson City mint also opened in 1870 as well. Surprisingly for a mint located right in the heart of the Comstock Lode,coinage at Carson City was very low but 1870 was the largest of these at 12,000 coins The increase of gold in the early 1850’s
had resulted in a reduction in the amount of silver in the coins, now in 1873 the flood of silver coming out of the west resulted in
the valueof silver plummeting and the free coinage provisions in the law meant that silver coins were flooding thecountry in great excess of what was needed for everyday commerce. So the Act of 1873 removed the free coinage provision,
raised the weights of the silver coins slightly, increased the legal tender status of the silver coins to $10, and eliminated the silver
dollar coin. The law was passed February 12, 1873 so early that only 290,000 were struck in Philadelphia, and 2,300 in Carson
City before the presses were shut down. But it was in San Francisco that the real mystery comes from. Only 700 1873-S seateddollars were struck before February 12th and to date not a single specimen is known in any collection. For years there was speculation that possibly the coins had never been struck at all, but then Harry X Boosel found the receipt for thecoins sent from San Francisco to Philadelphia for the annual Trial of the Pyx, the testing of the nations coinage. Included in thelist is alisting of one 1873-S standard silver dollar. This begs the question of what ever happened to the rest ofthe mintage? There have been many rumors over the years that at least one still exists, but it has so far
managed to stay hidden.

Indianapolis Coin Club
Treasurer's Report February 2008

Income:50/50
2 memberships dues

$ 42.50$ 24.00
Total$ 66.50

Expenses:Compugunyz yearly webb service
check $ 1409

$ 120.00
Total

Respectfully submitted,
Karl Kreck$ 120.00

January Checkbook balance
February Checkbook balance$ 2,245.85$ 2,192.35

I.C.C. CD balance as of 2/26/08$ 18,667.09

February 25, 2008 - Minutes of the Indianapolis Coin Club Meeting.
Open - The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by President Mark Eberhardt. 35 people signed the attendance book.
Visitors - One visitor was introduced, Ken Averritt.
The Treasurer’s report and the Secretary’s report were read and accepted.
Old Business – Mark reported that the Board of Directors had met and passed a Budget for 2008. The Budget has a small surplus for the year.
Mark also reported that the Club was still looking for speakers for the Education Program. Each Board Member is charged with either presentinga Program or furnishing a speaker. It is nice when people other than the Board Members speak, to lighten the load on the Board members. Healso said that anyone who was in contact with other area clubs should try to get them to trade speakers with ICC. We are already doing that with
the Logansport Coin Club.
New Business – Mark reported the selection of Committees.
The Education Committee is headed by Jim Roehrdanz, Vice President of the Club.
Coin Week is chaired by Jim Held. The Club is still looking for sponsors to provide money that the Club could use to buy old coins to be spent
during Coin Week to try to gain interest by the public and give them a reason to visit the Club to learn about the coins that they find in circulation.
The ISNA Table Committee is co-chaired by Jim Fuson and Bob Bettcher.
Exhibit Night is chaired by Vinton Dove, and the August meeting will be Exhibit Night.
Banquet Night chairman was not appointed, but Vinton Dove volunteered to be the chairman. The banquet will be on the first Monday in December, assuming that we can reserve the K of C Hall for that night.
The Newsletter Editor, Matt Dinger, said he needs articles from the members. He also encouraged the members to take out ads.
Joe Boling, ANA Governor and ICC Club member, said he had Medals from Puerto Rico for sale for $30.00 each for any of the Club members
who wanted them.
An announcement was made by Club Secretary, Vinton Dove, that the ANA had called him that afternoon and said that they are considering Indianapolis for the site of their annual Coin Show in August, 2011. The Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Bureau contacted ANA about suchan event, and the ANA was looking to see if the local clubs would support the Show. Vinton reported that he had assured the ANA that ICC
would provide all the support needed, and would be thrilled to have the Show in Indy. He also told ANA that the Club would enlist the aid ofISNA and all Clubs in the State of Indiana, making it a statewide effort, so as to insure statewide support and participation. He promised to senda letter so stating to ANA the day after the meeting. He also cautioned the members not to get their hopes up too high, since Indy is competing
against Chicago – Rosemont for the show. Joe Boling said that the ANA Board was scheduled to vote on the site at their next meeting in Arizona, on March 7.
The Educational Program for the evening was presented by Vinton Dove. His topic was Counterfeit and Altered Coins. It centered on the1916-D dime and 1914-D cent. He encouraged the members to exercise great care when buying expensive coins, since virtually all coins arecounterfeited by the unscrupulous. “Know the Dealer” you buy the coin from, and “buy certified coins” was the message. That is the best way
to avoid coins that are not genuine. Vinton had large drawings and photographs showing the genuine and altered mint marks and dates, as well
as four counterfeit 1916-D dimes for the members to peruse.
Mark announced that the Bloomington Coin Club would be having their annual Coin Show on Saturday, April 5, at the Bloomington Convention
Center.
Tom Ferverda and Kurt Miller then ran the 50/50 Drawing. The winner was our visitor, Ken Averitt, who promptly joined the Club!
Auction - After a short break, Mark ran the Club Auction. Joe Boling, Karl Kreck and Vinton Dove assisted. As usual, most of the lots sold.
The club adjourned at 9:00 PM.

Vinton Dove, Secretary