Encased Collectors International Quarterly Newsletter

...Remember our goal for this year is 525 active members...

David Joe Mete #504 - Michael T. James #505 - David Raff #506 - Bobbi Bischof #507 -Kenneth A. Egger #508 - Michael Denning #509 - Jerry Lykins #510 - Philip J. Dooley #511 - Phillip W Segui, Sr #512 -
 

Members recruiting new members this quarter Cecil Starcher CM#01 02 Jerry Ferrell #93 02 Rita Law 01. California has the lead in the total number of members with 39, Pennsylvania remains in second with 38. Florida continues to hold a tight grip on third at 26 members - Ohio shares 4th place at 23 with Illinois. States still with 0 members: Alaska - Delaware.

MEET OUR MEMBERS by Elaine Rexdale #94

~It’s always interesting to me to hear from ECI members just how they became involved in numismatics in general and encased coins in specific. And it is always enlightening to learn just how many numismatic roads our members travel and how many numismatic hats they wear. As you read about Michael Schmidt (Indiana, ECI #216) and Bob Fritsch (New Hampshire, ECI #72) I think you will gain appreciation for the depth of interest, knowledge and commitment these members have to investigating and preserving our heritage.

These interviews were conducted via email and remain in tact with the exception of a very few small editorial changes. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed doing them.

 ECI Get-Together Cincinnati Ohio May 2nd.

 INQUIRIES TO ECI'S ANSWER MAN by  Jim Lawniczak CM#17

INQUIRY: "When my dad died, my mom gave me a box of things among which was a aluminum horseshoe shaped coin holder encasing a 1955D US Penny. The front says, 'Keep me and never go broke; I bring good luck' the back says, '65th Annual Supreme Council Session; Al Sirat Grotto - Host; June 12 - 16, 1955; Cleveland, O.' What is this? I found your page by searching the '65th annual...' line, but it doesn't help understand what this commemorated. Thanks for any help you can provide. Cheers, Bill."

ANSWER: "Bill, thanks for the question. This is a Masonic temple located in Cleveland. Actually, I drove by it the other day -- it is one large building on the near east side of Cleveland, taking up an entire block.

Here's what I say about the piece in the Ohio encased catalog: OH-CLE-AL-10. 1955D, H, holed at top. 65th Annual Supreme [hole] Council Session/ Al Sirat Grotto - Host// June 12-16, 1955/ Cleveland, O.\\ KMANGB/ IBGL. A grotto is where Masonic Prophets have their secret get together's. The Al Sirat Grotto is now over a hundred years old. In 2000, it was still in operation in the Masonic Temple at 3615 Euclid, about a mile or so east of downtown Cleveland, a very large building that extends all the way from Euclid to Chester, the next block north on 36th Street. I gave it a value of $10. It is a fairly common piece."

INQUIRY: "Do you have any information on a 1951D, round, Murray O. Reed for Chancellor First Division? I got it in Little Rock, Arkansas but haven't had any luck on an ID. Thanks, Mike."

ANSWER: "Thanks for the question, Mike. I don't know the piece myself, but it is listed as a Little Rock Arkansas piece in Bob Perdue's 2009 Quick Reference Maverick Index as a COA 3 to Little Rock. Bob is very conservative and when he uses the COA 3 designation it is a virtual certainty that the piece is from there. Hope this helped, Jim."

A GREAT FIND by Vic Nolan CM#18

~Today I attended one of my favorite token hunting spots about an hour from my home. I was finding the usual odds and ends that I collect, tokens, tags postcards, coins.... When I arrived at the very last table, I saw several horseshoe encased penny tokens on the table. They turned out to be the Duquesne Pilsener from here in Pittsburgh, PA., The most common encased from my town and almost from anywhere for that matter. Right beside them on the table was a small box that contain a total of 56 tokens. I made several attempts to get the owners attention, then he finally looked my way, I asked "how much" He stated $4.00 each.

Now that is not a bad price, however I wanted the whole box, so I made him an offer of one hundred dollars. Now I had his attention, I guess his sales were slow and the cash sounded good to him. After getting back to my truck, I just had to dump them out and count them.

There were 56 total. Not a bad deal However when I turned the box over I noticed that it was stamped LUCKY PENNY COINS DUQUESNE PILSENER BEER. This I assume was the shipping box that they came in. In over twenty years of collecting encased coins, I have never had a find as this, I have found hoards before but never in the original box.  Vic

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Duquesne Pilsener pieces were struck by Osborne Mint, Cincinnati, Ohio. Each piece is dated 1949.

POTPOURRI with Jerry Ferrell #93

~Mark Naber, founder of ForgeryNetwork.com, answers a few questions about collectable coin forgeries and the purpose of ForgeryNetwork.com.  How bad is the risk of buying counterfeits? READ

~DID YOU KNOW? In 1959, the US Treasury Department held approximately 2.1 billion ounces in silver bullion inventories plus 1.3 billion ounces in circulating coinage, for a total of 3.4 billion ounces. By 1971, through a combination of outright bullion sales and use in new coinage, the Treasury held only 170 million ounces of silver bullion and most silver coins were removed by investors from circulating coinage and eventually melted into bullion. More than 3.2 billion ounces of silver were transferred from the US Government to the private sector, over this 12 year period, or around 94% of what the government controlled. Much of this silver was consumed in industrial and other fabrication during this time period. Eventually, all the transferred silver would be so consumed.

1959 would be the last year the US Government would be a buyer of silver, as it had been for decades, until 2001, when it began buying silver for the American Eagle and commemorative coin programs. In 1959, when the US Government held 3.4 billion ounces of silver, the US population was approximately 180 million. That means the Government held almost 19 ounces of silver, for every man, woman and child in the nation. Today it holds none. This also means that the US Government can never be a physical silver seller again, until and unless it buys silver first.

1953 Salesman's Kewaunee Sample Book. This offered on eBay by chuck9999 as a "Buy It Now" for $165.00.  No takers!

  THE SECRETARY'S DESK

~Well, here we go again. MSN and Hotmail are rejecting our emails as spam. Folks we're not going to fight it anymore. If your email provider rejects us from this time forward our solution is to remove your name from our mailing list. Sorry, we give up!

~I enjoyed visiting with several of our members once again in Pittsburgh at the recent PAN coin show. It seems to me that most all the PATCO members I've met are ECI members. Something that I found very surprising, of all the dozens of dealers set up only one had rolls of the Log Cabin Lincoln cents. I found one roll of Puerto Rico D and Washington D. C. D mint quarters from 2 additional dealers and they only had one roll of each.

~The next time you receive email spam left click on the name of the sender and then on properties when the little window opens. Make sure that the sender's email address is not the same as yours. In mid May we found that two of our email addresses had been hi-jacked somehow and the crook was sending spam using those addresses. We changed the addresses and passwords. You will need to do the same if yours falls victim to outlaws. Problem is he got two he probably has the rest as well.

~I had a really bad experience with a Chris Smith, eBay user name Trunk O Junk OC. I didn't receive the coin I bid on and eventually won. Instead I got a nasty looking circulated piece of the wrong year. Smith would not answer emails so I filed a complaint with PayPal. It all boiled down to eBay refunding my total cost and crediting my PayPal account. They even told me to keep the coin he sent. So I got a free coin for my trouble. If I had looked at his feedback first I would not have bid on his auction. With only 25 total there were several negatives. The lesson learned and should have known, "check a new seller's feedback before bidding."

~Are you good and have fun with puzzles? Take this challenge. CLICK HERE and identify what each photo could represent. Be the first to name all 12 correctly and win a  bunch of encased coins donated by our generous Editor. Decision of the judge (ME) is final. PLEASE! If you have seen this before do not play, give those who have not a break. Send your answer HERE. By the way we have a link to a great crossword puzzle on ECI's home page. The puzzles are not difficult. You play against a clock and the faster that you solve the puzzle the higher the score. It takes a little while to get hang of it so be patient. I have set my high score, beat me if you dare. Cecil

 eBay ACTION with Steve Swingenstein #123

- PPM NO LONGER PROVIDES US EXAMPLES OF NEWLY STRUCK  NON-ECI ENCASED COINS TO SHOW HERE -

ENCASED INDIAN CENTS by Richard Snow

Reprinted by permission from Mr. Snow.

BIDIDIOTS by Cecil Starcher #01

~Recently I attended a local monthly coin auction with member Joe Ceravone #500, one held by a area coin dealer that I hadn't attended for over a dozen years. Not that I didn't like the dealer, he's considered a friend, I just got out of the habit for some reason or another. Anyway, we skipped the jewelry part, found neighboring seats as the coins began to find new owners. The lead-in was foreign coins which we half dozed thru until the U.S. pieces hit the block. For some reason the owner/auctioneer was in an unusual hurry. When not fussing at his assistant, unusual too, he sped thru the lots in record time. Superman would have been proud. It wasn't long until the really good stuff started to appear and bucks began to flow. I knew several of the bidders and their interests, but for the most part the majority were new to me; not members of any of our three area coin clubs - nor could I recall seeing any of them at the recent Charleston coin show. Never-the-less they were active bidders.

  As things began to heat up I soon remembered why I had stopped going. To the delight of the owner and the chagrin of wiser heads, prices being realized far exceeded current market values.  For example a lot of 500 common date "wheaties" $40.00, nearly 4 times the going price; a BU 1955 "Bugs Bunny" variety Franklin half dollar $57.00, $29.00 over Numismatics News' latest listing in the Coin Market guide. These two stand out most in my memory, but believe you me, there were many many more similar winning bids. I sat there in disbelief while considering the possibility of having my own auction inviting only these "deep pocket" folks. Joe noting my quandary, whispered a single word that I didn't grasp in my dazed condition.

  Don't take me wrong, not every coin rose to such glorious heights. Some less desirable pieces, went below bid while others traded for a little under or over what I considered the norm, but for the most part I could envision the octogenarian dealer skipping merrily to the bank at the end of the day. Joe was successful in acquiring some very nice pieces for his collection while I wrangled two coins I felt I could profit a few shekels at the next coin show.

  After settling up with the cashier we broke bread at a nearby Wendy's, (no neighborhood Burger King.) While reviewing what we had just experienced I asked Joe about what he had whispered to me earlier and he smilingly replied, "bididiots!" It took a few long seconds to figure out the meaning and when I did I most heartily agreed. I had been looking for meaningful well thought out name for those ^%&%$* users on eBay who had bid $450.00+ on a $25.00 brick of 2009 Lincoln cents and "Bididiots" filled the bill 100%.

  No wonder we are experiencing economic difficulties if average folks like these are spending their hard earned dollars in such a haphazard way without consideration of real value. If it is true for coins I can see how it is true for over priced houses, gas guzzling suv's and 300 inch flat screen TV's. My eyes have been opened to the great possibility that there are all kinds of unnamed idiots out there roaming the countryside causing havoc besides the common garden variety who are addicted to Reality TV and Judge Judy.

  Here's the deal. Send me your names of all the special idiots you have come across and we'll print them giving you credit in the next newsletter. Don't be bashful. Give it a good hard think. We will ask our members to vote for their favorite and the winning name provider will receive a bag chucked full of encased coins donated by our generous Editor. Sorry Joe, "bididiots" don't qualify, been used. Cecil

 AND FINALLY with HP

~Back in March Jerry and I attended the Tennessee State Numismatic Show down there in Chattanooga. Well, after a bit my feet was gettin' tired and I was already mighty thirsty so I slipped away while Jerry was eyeball deep into a dealer's junk box. Don't spread it around, but he's kinda cheap!

I ended up in this small friendly joint and was downing my second cold one and a bag of Frito's when I overheard these two fellows in the next booth talking, guess they were way ahead of me in the cold one department 'cause they was a might loud. The biggest one said, " I told my wife in no uncertain terms that from now on she would have to do her own cooking, no more take outs every night of the week. Well, the first day after I told her, I saw nothing. The second day I saw nothing. But on the third day when I came home from work, the table was set, a wonderful dinner was prepared with wine and even dessert."

Then the other man spoke up: "I sat my wife down and told her, that from now on she would have to cut down on her constant shopping at Wal-Mart and more at Kroger's; also to start cleaning and straightening up, no more piling her junk all over the place. The first day I saw nothing. The second day I saw nothing. But on the third day when I came home, the whole house was spotless, and in the pantry the shelves were filled with groceries".

That kinda inspired me, so when I got home Sunday evening I sat Mrs. H. P. down for a talkin' to. I gave my her a stern look and told her, that from now on she was to keep the yard mowed, chop the wood for winter besides all the housecleanin', cookin' and clothes washin'. Well, the first day I saw nothing. The second day I still saw nothing. But by the third day................I could see a little bit out of my left eye...Believe It Or Not!

~Sixty-one years ago an Uncle on my mom's side, Herman Jones a West Virginia mountain man from Calhoun County, was drafted into the United States Army. On the first day of boot camp the Army issued him a comb among other things. That afternoon an Army barber cut off all his hair leaving him as bald as an egg. On the second day of boot camp the Army issued him a toothbrush along with soap and more personal sundries. That afternoon an Army dentist pulled out 7 decaying teeth. Well on the third day the Army issued him a jock strap. They say that the Army is still looking for him...Believe It Or Not!

~ A big city lawyer went duck hunting on Big Otter, West Virginia. He shot and dropped a bird, but it fell into Uncle Mack's (we always called elder folks in the neighbor aunt or uncle) field on the other side of a fence.

As the lawyer climbed over the fence, an Uncle Mack drove up on his tractor and asked him what he was doing.

The litigator responded, "I shot a duck and it fell in this field, and now I'm going to retrieve it."

The Uncle Mack replied, "This is my property, and you are not coming over here."

The indignant lawyer said, "I am one of the best trial attorneys in the country and, if you don't let me get that duck, I'll sue you and take everything you own."

The Uncle Mack smiled and said, "Apparently, you don't know how we settle disputes in Clay County. We settle small disagreements like this with the Clay County Three Kick Rule."

The lawyer asked, "What is the Clay County Three Kick Rule!!!"

Uncle Mack replied, "Well, because the dispute occurs on my land, first I kick you three times and then you kick me three times and so on back and forth until someone gives up."

The attorney quickly thought about the proposed contest and decided that he could easily take the old codger. He agreed to abide by the local custom.

Uncle Mack slowly climbed down from the tractor and walked up to the attorney. His first kick planted the toe of his heavy steel toed work boot into the lawyer's groin and dropped him to his knees. His second kick to the midriff sent the lawyer's last meal gushing from his mouth. The barrister was on all fours when Uncle Mack's third kick to his rear end sent him face-first into a fresh cow pie.

The lawyer summoned every bit of his will and managed to get to his feet. Wiping his face with the arm of his jacket, he said, "Okay, you old coot. Now it's my turn."

(You'll love this part.. )

Uncle Mack smiled and said, "Naw, I give up. You can have the duck."...Believe It Or Not!

~ I was in Home Depot the other day pushing my cart around when I collided with a young guy pushing his cart. I said to the young guy, 'Sorry about that. I'm looking for my wife, and I guess I wasn't paying attention to where I was going'. The young guy says, "That's OK. It's a coincidence. I'm looking for my wife, too. I can't find her and I'm getting a little desperate."

I said, 'Well, maybe we can help each other. What does your wife look like? The young guy says, 'Well, she is 24 years old, tall, with blonde hair, big green eyes, long legs, stacked, and she's wearing tight white shorts, a halter top and no bra. What does your wife look like?' I said ...... 'Doesn't matter --- let's look for yours.' Most of us Old Guys are helpful like that you know. ...Believe It Or Not!