One of the numismatic events of the spring season is the American Numismatic AssociationNational Money Show. The 2014 show is set to begin on Thursday at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta. Technically, I believe the area is in Smyrna, but the politics of Atlanta’s sprawl has areas around Atlanta but not in Atlanta calling themselves Atlanta. It is located at the northwest “corner” of the Perimeter where I-75 intersects the highway around the city. It is a nice area and the Cobb Galleria is a nice facility which should help make it a good show.
The Eagles (left to right): Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Joe Walsh, and Timothy B. Schmit
As much as I like the ANA shows, I will not be going. While I am in favor of moving the show earlier than May, when it was held in 2013, this weekend does not work for me. Aside from being my wife’s birthday, which of course is important, we also have tickets to the Eagles’ History of the Eagles Tour concert at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. No offense to the ANA, the Eagles announced that they will stop touring in 2015 and I want to see a concert before they retire. I missed my chance when we were younger, I want to go to one of their concerts at least once. After all, my “deserted island song,” the one song I would want to have if I was deserted on an island is ”Hotel California.” The acoustic version from the the Hell Freezes Over album is the most played song on my iTunes playlist.
But that’s my excuse, what about you?
Are you going to the National Money Show in Atlanta?
No, I do not have the time or other plans. (63%, 5 Votes)
Yes, I wouldn't miss it! (13%, 1 Votes)
I never go to the National Money Show (13%, 1 Votes)
Has Atlanta dug itself out of its snow, yet? (13%, 1 Votes)
One of the things I noticed over the last few years are the proliferation of local coin shows in Maryland. Part of the reason is an ambitious dealer finding areas to put on shows and do what it takes to make them successful.
The idea is simple: you have inventory that is not making money for you if it is sitting on the shelf. Rent a hall either in a local hotel or an organization’s building, set up the room so that each dealer has a space, provide a couple of chairs per dealer space, rent the dealer space, have a greeter at the door, and security which can be an off-duty police officer from the area. All that is left is the advertising.
Advertising is a key factor because without it, I would not have stumbled over a coin show this past weekend in Frederick, Maryland. After travelling to Frederick from the closer-in Washington suburbs for other business, I remembered reading that there was a coin show in the area. A quick search using my smartphone helped me find the address and my in-vehicle GPS helped me get there.
When I arrived I walked into the room with about a dozen dealers and a few empty tables. I was not concerned with the empty tables but the ones where dealers sat. Since this was a local show, I knew many of the dealers and spoke with those who were not otherwise busy. Since going to this show was a last minute decision, I did not have my want list with me but I looked around anyway.
While looking at some tokens, I heard one gentleman say that he is getting back into collecting after finding the coins he collected as a child. It is a typical story that many of us can relate. When I heard he was lived near where our local coin club met, I approached him, introduced myself as the coin club’s president, and invited him to our next meeting in March.
Finally, I did have a chance to look at some items. For the times I do not bring my lists, I can fall back on searching the tokens for anything from New York City or anything unusual. During this search, I did find two tokens that I thought were worth buying. The first is a token from the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA). For the non-New York readers, the TBTA is an affiliate agency of New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority that manages the bridges and tunnels that have at least one end in Brooklyn or Queen plus the Henry Hudson Bridge which crosses the East River between the Bronx and Manhattan.
The token I found were issued for residents of the Rockaways, Queens for crossing the Cross Bay and Marine Park bridges at a reduced price. The Rockaway Peninsula is off southern Long Island in Queens that is very residential and used to be a very popular summer destination with areas of cabins only used during the summer. The TBTA made the tokens available to residents to help lower their commuting costs. Nowadays, the residents use the EZPass electronic toll collecting system for their discount.
The TBTA issued a few different residential tokens in various areas of the city to provide residents with discounts. While I have some of the others, including the one for Staten Island for use on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, this is the first one I found for the Rockaways. After all, these tokens were issued to be used by the residents. Most used the tokens they purchased and did not save them.
Obverse of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority Rockaways resident token.
Reverse of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority Rockaways resident token.
The other token I found was a souvenir from the Empire State Building. While I have a few tokens from the iconic building, this one not only looks newer but is also holed for use as jewelry. This is one of the better looking medals I have found since it look like it was minimally handled.
Obverse of the holed Empire State Building medal.
Reverse of the Empire State Building medal
One of the ways to make collecting more fun and personal is to collect exonumia that means something. Being from New York, I once used some of these items not thinking that I would be collecting them years later. Subway tokens were ubiquitous in New York life. I used to use TBTA tokens a lot, especially crossing the Verrazano Bridge for a daily commute to Piscataway. Later, when I moved to New Jersey, I had used tokens for the PATH (Port Authority Trans-Hudson) and was excited to find tokens from its predecessor, Hudson Railway.
Coins are still a lot of fun, but I am really having fun looking for various hometown-related tokens and medals. Aside from being a reminder of my past, it is also a look back on the history of my hometown New York, New York, a city so nice they named it twice!
The PNG-ANA Numismatic Trade Show will be Saturday through Monday, August 2-4, 2014. The World’s Fair of Money will be held Tuesday, August 5 through Friday, August 9, 2014.
Doing this eliminates PNG Day(s) prior to the World’s Fair of Money and will extend the entire show week to eight days.
It was my understanding the PNG Day was for PNG members to buy and trade amongst themselves to prepare inventory for future sales. Inventories were bolstered by wholesale dealers or dealers who would rather sell to other dealers rather than staff a table at the World’s Fair of Money. While it was closed to the public, it was possible to either buy your way into the PNG show or get an invitation from a PNG member dealer.
What may have been the driver of this decision is that it was getting easier to obtain an invitation from a PNG dealer. Citizens of some of the popular coin forums would be able to download an invitation posted by member dealers to use for PNG day. A friend who attended PNG Day in 2013 said that non-members clearly outnumbered members by a large margin.
Where I question the decision is that it makes the show eight days long—emphasis on long. While some dealers will not attend both shows, there are many dealers who will be there all week. Those of us who are buyers know that some dealers can get surly toward the end of a show like the World’s Fair of Money. Can you imagine how prickly these dealers will be by August 8?
With the show ending on a Friday, a day that will attract local attendees, will the long show, cranky dealers, and the inevitable empty tables turn the World’s Fair of Money into a bad showing for the ANA?
As part of the PNG-ANA show, there will be a daily give away of a Double Eagle gold coin that will be donated by a PNG member dealer. There will also be an auction by Stacks-Bowers Galleries.
There will be no similar give away for the World’s Fair of Money. Both Stacks-Bowers and Heritage Auctions will combine to be the official auction of the World’s Fair of Money.
Since Numismatic Guarantee Corporation is the official grading service of both organizations, they will be present for the entire week. Good luck keeping staff motivated!
This decision brings back the concept of a pre-show that was discontinued because it was poorly attended and made the week too long. It also has the possibility of up staging the ANA and the World’s Fair of Money.
Since most collectors work people outside of the numismatics industry and Rosemont is not exactly a destination location for families, this will increase the attendance during the weekend of the ANA-PNG show rather than during the week for what should be the premier show, the World’s Fair of Money. Casual collectors who have to arrange for travel and time off from work will be more attracted to the co-branded show on the weekend rather than the ANA show.
The ANA should not give up its premier status to share the stage with PNG.
While the ANA should work with PNG and other organizations, the ANA should not play second fiddle to any other organization regardless of the organization. If the ANA wants to be the premier numismatic organization, the one that anyone wanting to learn about and be about numismatics, this type of partnership that has been clearly driven by PNG is not the right way to be premier.
Going to a coin show in another area of the country is an education on seeing how others do the shows and meeting dealers who do not travel to your area. For me, attending the FUN Convention in Orlando was this type of experience. Yes, there were the usual big name, high volume, and high-end dealers present as they are at any show, but there are other dealers whom I have never met before.
Saturday was spent in three parts. When I arrived at the convention center, I went directly to the exhibits area. As a wannabe exhibitor with two (what I think are) good ideas, I wanted to see how others present their ideas. For the most part, I was a little disappointed in the exhibits. Many were mundane and typical. There were only a few exhibits that really stood out.
This Historically Significant 2-cent Piece by Tom Ulram of PAN
One of my favorites was a display on the two-cents coins that I found out was put together by Tom Uram, President of the Pennsylvania Association of Numismatists. What made the exhibit interesting is that rather than a flat display, he dressed it up using story boards on a backing that was raised from the bottom of the case, and colorful. It looks like Tom understood that the short-attention-span nature of somebody looking at numismatic material would be more attracted to and attractive presentation.
“Penny Potpourri” by Charmy Harker won Best in Class, Show, and People’s Choice
The other exhibit that was clearly about the others was Charmy Harker’s “Penny Potpourri.” Charmy reprised the exhibit from her near sweep at the 2013 World’s Fair of Money to sweep the awards at FUN including Best in Show and People’s Choice. If you have not seen this exhibit, it chronicles the various items made from the little copper one-cent coin. From small tools, decorative items, to dollhouse items, it is amazing what Charmy found. After all, she is known as “The Penny Lady” so it would be natural for her to put this type of exhibit together.
The second part of my day was schmoozing. There is nothing like meeting numismatists of all type on a bourse floor and just talk with them. I spoke with people I know, dealers I did not know until I sat at their table, and with visitors looking at various items wanting more information. I had the most fun at the American Numismatic Association traveling exhibit explaining the history behind the various items of currency that were on display.
Speaking of the ANA traveling exhibit, I was a little disappointed in the presentation of what was exhibited. Aside from not having the currency labeled with information, the case with the errors had just coins placed in the case without description or context. Many of the bland collector exhibits were done better than what the ANA presented.
FUN organizers understand that the idea of having a how is to have fun (pun intended). One exhibit area that I have only seen at FUN is the artists’ area. The artists’ area was in the back of the hall off the center aisle where tables were set in a square that hand artists making jewelry and art from coins. There were a number of artists making modern Hobo Nickels, a bead artist who used coins as part of the beading work, and someone who made large rings with carved coins.
A modern Buffalo Nickel artist carves coins at the FUN Show
The rings from another artists features designs using coins (see top row)
Another fun area was the panning for gold. On the other side of the hall was a large booth set up with troughs that had mud and tiny gold nuggets. It was fun to walk up and watch the kids swirl the pan and find a tiny gold nugget. I do not know how much gold was in that water, but it was a lot of fun giving it a try. No, I did not find a gold nugget!
Of the large shows I have attended, FUN has had the most diverse attendance. There seemed to be more families, women, and minorities than even at the World’s Fair of Money. Another pleasant surprise was the number of women taking the lead with the young numismatists around the bourse floor and many of those YNs being girls. There were also quite a few Hispanic collectors with their YNs buzzing around the floor. Since I do not speak Spanish I could tell they were enjoying themselves just be observing their body language.
Diversity is good in both the hobby and life. No single group has the answers and attracting people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives is good for everyone. I do not know if the organizers of FUN advertise the show in minority communities or in areas that would attract diverse interests, but they should share what they do with the rest of the numismatic community since it is working.
As for my purchases, I was looking for a few silver bullion coins. Of the ones on my personal want list I was able to pick up the 2013 25th Anniversary Canadian Silver Maple Leaf and the 2014 Chinese Panda. I did not find the 2013 all-silver Britannia and I forgot about the 2013 and 2014 Australian Silver Koala. Since I already own the 2013 American Silver Eagle Proof, I should be almost caught up with my silver collection.
In my attempt to find something that I can say “oh… neat,” I did find three items that category. First, to add to my New York City collection is a Type 2 or “Large Y” subway token without the large “Y” punched. This token would have been used from 1970, when the fare was 30-cents, through 1980 for a 50-cents fare. I have seen many mis-punched tokens, but this is the first I have seen without the “Y.”
New York City Type 2 Subway Token error. It’s missing the punched out “Y”
My next “oh… neat” item is a Dad’s root beer bottle cap but with a 1953-D Lincoln cent wedged inside the cap. I do not know if this was done by Dad’s or someone else, but the folding of the cap around the coin looks too perfect to have been done manually. Even if it was done by someone as a good luck piece, it was very interesting.
The bottle cap of a Dad’s Root Beer bottle. A 1953-D Lincoln cent is embedded in the reverse!
A 1953-D Lincoln Cent is “trapped” inside this Dad’s Root beer bottle cap
Finally, I found a 1940’s era oil rationing coupon book. Obviously issued during the war, the coupon book limited the holder to up to $25 of home heating oil from the Service Oil Company of Hibbing, Minnesota. Hibbing is in what can be described as northeast Minnesota where it is not exactly warm. As I type this, the Weather Channel is reporting that the temperature in Hibbing a 1F! What makes this coupon book unusual is that it is unused with all the coupons attached from frigid norther Minnesota. It has survived over 60 years in nearly pristine condition. Now that is “oh… neat!”
A never used home heating oil rationing coupon book from the World War II era.
Back cover of an unused home heating oil coupon book. It was printed for but never issued by Service Oil Company of Hibbing, MN
If you have not been to FUN you should try to go. At least take the family. They can go to a theme park while you hit the bourse floor!
There is more than Disney and Universal in Orlando. This week the Florida United Numismatists Is having their annual convention at the Orange County Convention Center. FUN is the first show of the calendar year.
If FUN sets the tone for the coming year, what I saw today was a sign for a good numismatic year. Even arriving later than expected, the bourse floor was a steady buzz throughout the day. There was a lot of activity at both the high end and low end tables.
Low Country Coins out of Charleston, SC has a unique way of displaying their coins for sale.
One thing that makes coming to FUN… well… fun (cannot help the puns!) is that it is in a different area of the country with a different crowd of dealers and collectors. I have found a few dealers who do not go to places like Baltimore where I usually go. Of course the regular large dealers are here, but the more local dealers are nice to meet.
I didn’t buy much today. I spent much of the day schmoozing and looking. Aside from looking at the sale items, I marveled at the items that were not exactly coins. There are quite a few jewelry and other antique items at the show. One thing I noticed was a lot of paper and paper money dealers. While I have seen notaphily and scripophily dealers at other shows, there seems to be quite a few here in Orlando.
I did buy this 2014 Chinese Silver Panda. I love the Pandas!
Interestingly, the busiest tables were the paper money tables. Usually, there is a lot of activity around the currency junk boxes with the used foreign currency. Here at FUN, I am seeing a solid business of paper money, especially better foreign notes. At a few tables, I saw United States currency collectors buying multiple notes. These were not run of the mill notes. High grade, graded large notes seem to be what the few large purchasers were buying.
In fact, the Heritage Platinum Night Currency auction was held before a full house. While I missed the few colonials I was interested in seeing, I found that the prices realized were well beyond even Heritage’s estimate.
Rather than stand in the back of the room of the currency auction I was not going to bid on, I went to the next room to sit and watch The Adam Mervis Large Cent Collection auction. Aside that I was watching one of the more interesting collection of large cents being broken up, I was enjoying the show being put on by the auctioneers. One of the auctioneers, Bob Merrill, had a great rapport with the audience and really made the auction interesting to watch, even for a non-bidder.
Even though the Heritage auctioneers are good, they seem to miss bids during the furor of the bidding. On more than one occasion with more than one auctioneer, bids were missed that would have significantly jumped the price. Heritage could learn a bit from the classic car and other auctions that are held at large venues and have spotters stand on the floor to help get the attention of the auctioneer. While I have seen this with the big car auctions on television, I have been to estate and bankruptcy auctions in larger places where they use spotters to ensure the bids are noticed.
Dear Heritage: you bring enough people to these auctions, why not add one or two of your people per room to patrol the floor in help the auctioneer. Or why not hire someone to do that at the show. I am sure you can find collectors interested in making a few extra dollars to feed their coin buying habit.
Those following me on Twitter at @coinsblog may have seen many of the pictures I have taken. Eventually, I will post them to Pinterest but I am having connectivity issues. If you want to see the pictures I did take, go to my iCloud Photostream to see all of the pictures, including the ones that did not make it to Twitter. For those who have never experienced an auction, there are two short videos from the large cent auction from where I was sitting.
By the time this posts, I will be on an airplane heading to Orlando, Florida for the Florida United Numismatics (F.U.N.) Convention. This will be the first time I am attending this show. Not only am I going for the fun (pun intended), I am also attending representing the Maryland State Numismatic Association as the new president.
Of course I will be on Twitter (@coinsblog) sharing my thoughts and some pictures while at the show. Depending on connectivity and health of my device’s batteries, I will also publish pictures on Pinterest on the board “2014 F.U.N. Convention.”
In a move that continues to be unexplained for reasons to be rumored to be grounded in personal issues rather than sound reason, American Numismatic Association Executive Director Jeff Shevlin was fired by the Board of Governors. Based on both public and not so public information regarding this firing, I believe that the ANA Board of Governors made a colossal mistake that proves that the Board is not up to the task of properly running the organization.
ANA Executive Director Kimberly Kiick
Rather than change the Board, the ANA elected a Board with the same issues that the previous Board and added Laura Sperber, a solid dissenting voice of reason. While I do not agree with some of Laura’s opinions or ways of doing things, her inclusion on the Board is probably the best second best choice that the ANA membership could have made—reserving the best choice would have been to elect me!
In a move to try to avoid controversy at the National Money Show in May, the Board rushed in to appoint longtime employee Kim Kiick as Executive Director. While her past experiences with the ANA questions as to whether the ANA made the best choice, her performance since her appointment shows that my opinion could be proven wrong. Time will tell.
Kathy McFadden, Executive Director of the Industry Council for Tangible Assets
For the commercial side of numismatics, the Industry Council for Tangible Assets (ICTA) has made a number of positive changes. Well, not all of them positive as the ICTA wished long time Executive Director Eloise Ullman a happy retirement. Ullman was ICTA’s Executive Director for 23 years and her success in guiding that organization will be a tough act to follow.
Moving forward, Kathy McFadden was hired as Executive Director. McFadden has spent 18 years leading two different region associations of mechanical contractors with experience in legislative advocacy, public education, finances, public relations, etc. I had met McFadden for all of two-minutes at the Whitman Expo in November and look forward to working with her in my role with the Gold & Silver Political Action Committee.
David Crenshaw, Chief Operating Office of the Industry Council for Tangible Assets
Another positive addition for ICTA is the addition of David Crenshaw to fill the role of the newly created Chief Operating Officer to ICTA. For the last nine years, Crenshaw has been general manager of the largest and best privately run coin shows in the country, Whitman Coin & Currency Expo. Crenshaw took over as the general manager after Whitman bought the Baltimore show from its original owners. Since then, the show has expanded and improved to even survive the recent economic downturn.
The ANA’s changes were shrouded with turmoil and the ICTA changes are a celebration for an organization that is thriving. Certainly an interesting juxtaposition.
The 2013 American Numismatic AssociationWorld’s Fair of Money will be a show I am not likely to forgot. Even though I was only able to attend three days there was a lot to do, a lot to see, and work to be done.
As with every World’s Fair of Money nearly every national organization held their annual meeting during the show. These organizations cover the gamut of interests that fall under the category of numismatics. For me, it was the first time I attended the American Israel Numismatic Association annual meeting. After a few years of conversing with President Mel Wacks via email, we were able to me in person for the first time.
AINA President Mel Wacks (R) presents an Award of Appreciation to David Hendin for his talk at the AINA Annual Meeting
The highlight of the meeting was an illustrated lecture by David Hendin, curator at the American Numismatic Society and author of several books on ancient Jewish coins, on the discoveries made while examining ancient coins. His work is based on examining thousands of coins some as small as 10-15 millimeters in diameter. David presents an interesting case for the continuing study of these coins and how “common knowledge” can be challenged with new evidence.
We also heard from the director of the Holy Land Mint about their plans for future coins and medals.
Because I was at the AINA meeting, I missed the meeting of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society, another organization which I belong. I really wanted to go to their meeting not only because I am a member, because as a blogger and soon-to-be publisher (my book is almost done), I want to work with the community on the best way to move forward with the concept of e-books. Not only should there be more e-books but there should be some way to preserve older books electronically.
In the news…
Here are some of the stories out of Chicago for the week:
Thursday evening I attended the part of the closed Board of Governors meeting that involved the Technology Committee and the new web infrastructure for the ANA. While I am a proponent of opening as much of the ANA business to the membership at large, I will say that there were discussion about the pending contract for the work that qualified for this discussion to be done in private. The meeting was productive in that the Board has an understanding what was being proposed and provocative in that the dissenting voices will ensure that the project does not fly off the proverbial rails.
At the open Board Meeting on Friday there was a lively discussion on the website, the costs, and the future. This is something I will comment on at another time. However, in a motion by then Vice President Walt Ostromecki, a motion to approve the contract with Riser Media to build the new ANA website and Euclid for their ClearVantage association management software. The motion was passed with a 9-0 voice vote.
During the open forum, a discussion was put forth by then Governor-elect Laura Sperber about the positioning of the auction companies and other non-dealers by the entrance to the bourse floor. Apparently, there has been a lot of angst amongst the dealer community about something referred to as the “star system” used to allow dealers, donors, and others to gain advantages to their position at the shows. As a collector, I agree with Ms. Sperber in that I would rather see the dealers than the auction companies and the other huge booths that are pushed up front.
This year, the World Mint Pavilion was the first set of tables you came to when you entered the bourse floor. In front was the booth for the Holy Land Mint who was showing off their new coins including a lot of gold. Near by were the Royal Australian Mint, the Bank of Russia with their Socci 2014 coins, the Pobjoy Mint, Royal Canadian Mint, and others. I was disappointed that the Royal Mint was not present.
At the end of the aisle was the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and next to them the U.S. Mint. Rather than being apart, the two money manufacturing bureaus under the Department of the Treasury were side-by-side. I was told by someone from the U.S. Mint that this was done on request of both bureaus and that there may be some co-sponsoring of collectibles and events.
It was in this area where I saw United States Treasurer Rosie Rios. Treasurer Rios, whose autograph appears on U.S. currency, is a regular attendee at ANA shows. She is very approachable and an interesting person. You can also tell that Rios still gets a kick out of her celebrity status within the numismatic community and will gladly sign a Federal Reserve Note with her printed signature on it (Series 2009).
The World’s Fair of Money is unique in that it is the center of the numismatic universe for the week. This brings out many different types of dealers of all types of collectibles. Not only were there coins, but there was artwork that was credited to the designers of coins but there were other collectible and ancient artifacts for sale. There were also four different book dealers, three supply dealers, auction companies other than the “official auction house” Stacks-Bowers, and dealers of all types of coins and currency.
One difference I noticed from last year is that silver was more popular than gold. A few dealers said that silver dimes and silver dollars were very popular. On Saturday when the scouts attended in force, the dealers were reporting better than average sales of silver Roosevelt and Mercury dimes.
Friday night I attended the ANA Banquet. I had the pleasure of sitting next to Gerald Kwok from Honolulu, Hawaii. Kwok is a collector of Hawaiian coins and I later found out a recognized expert in that area of numismatics. He also received his 50th anniversary pin for his service to the ANA. I hope he had a good trip back to Hawaii and I look forward to seeing him again next time.
Those who attended the banquet were given a set of three elongated cents, a reproduction menu from a past ANA banquet in Chicago from the 1950s, and a copy of David Lange’s Coin Collecting Boards of the 1930s & 1940s. If you missed the banquet and want a copy for yourself, Dave is selling them at half-off ($20, plus $5 for shipping+handling) at his website.
I spent a lot of time schmoozing rather than buying. Wearing my newly purchased red sports jacket as a representative of the Maryland State Numismatic Association and a new video name tag that captured a lot of attention, I wanted to talk more than buy. I did buy some items, but meeting people and talking about collecting, coins, currency, and the ANA was a lot of fun, too.
Aside from the various free items like elongated coins, the 2013 F.U.N. convention medal, I was able to fill in the some of the holes in my Canadian nickel and dime collection. I found a few tokens including the addition of another New York City Subway token with an error, which I thought was going to be the neat find of this trip until I found something even better.
While flipping through a box of tokens and medals I stumbled on a little medal that is 13 mm in diameter with a hole in it that looks like someone used it as a charm. On the obverse is an image of the Brooklyn Bridge with the legend “Brooklyn Bridge” across the top and dated 1883 when the bridge opened.
What makes this token unusual is that the reverse has the entire The Lord’s Prayer as it occurs in Matthew 6:9-13. The lettering is so small I had to use a 16x loupe to read the text.
Obverse of the 13 mm Brooklyn Bridge Medal showing an image of the bridge and 1883, the year the bridge opened.
Reverse of the Soley Brooklyn Bridge medal has the text of the Lord’s Prayer.
This mini-medal was produced by George B. Soley, a die sinker who ran a shop on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. In 1875, Soley bought the first steam-powered press that was used by the U.S. Mint after it was take out of commission. Soley exhibited the press around the country striking medals of his design to the delight of the crowds.
Soley displayed the press at the Centennial Exposition in 1876 and used it to strike commemorative medals. In 1883, it appeared at the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Southern Exposition in Louisville. Soley brought the press to the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo in 1891, and the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis. During these events, Soley struck 13 mm medals with the something resembling the official logo on one side and The Lord’s Prayer on the other that sold for 25-cents.
The medals Soley produces were made of bronze and holed at the top to use as a charm. There are referenced to gilt and medals that were not plated.
It is difficult to tell whether the medal was struck at the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge or a re-strike made during the Columbian Exposition. According to an article that appeared in the December 12, 1894 edition of The New York Times, the Secret Service asked Soley to stop making the “History of the Philadelphia Mint” medals that he first struck in 1876. It suggests that he was re-striking medals at these various fairs. In either case, the medal is 120 or 130 years old!
The steam press that Soley used was acquired by the Franklin Institute from his widow in 1927. It was reconditioned, motorized and moved to the museum in 1933 to strike aluminum tokens for visitors. On March 23, 2000, the press was moved from the museum to the rotunda to celebrate the 164th anniversary of its first usage by the U.S. Mint. Later that August, the press was part of a special exhibit at the World’s Fair of Money in Philadelphia. Following the show, the Franklin Institute has since loaned the press to the ANA Museum in Colorado Springs where it is displayed at the entrance behind protective glass.
As you could tell from my first day report, I unapologetically had a good time and highly recommend everyone attend the World’s Fair of Money.
One of the great things about going to a show like the World’s Fair of Money is seeing a lot of people. If you like to meet people, talk numismatics, and see lots of interesting items, you should attend one of these shows.
The convention center is across the street from several hotels connected by a walkway where you do not even have to walk outside. Inside the convention center, the hall and the meeting rooms are on the same level almost side-by-side. Inside the entrance to the bourse floor is the World Mint Pavilion and you come right to the booth for the Israel Coins and Medals Corporation, who now calls themselves the Holy Land Mint.
Unless you have no interest in foreign coins, you are immediately drawn to that area. Amongst the mints represented includes the China Gold Coins Company, the group that produces the popular Panda coins; the private Pobjoy Mint that serves smaller countries in the Commonwealth Realm; the Austrian Mint and the Australian Mint that are next to each other and makes for an interesting tongue-twister. The Royal Canadian Mint is here, too.
Straight to the back is the Bureau of Engraving and Printing where they have a number of their products for sale, a display of currency, and the spider press. When I walked up to the spider press, Treasurer of the United States Rosie Rios was talking with the gentleman who runs the spider press. Rios, an Obama appointee, is very personable and loves to talk with the public. She even allowed me to take a picture while she was looking at an intaglio print while listening to an explanation of the process.
Next to the BEP is the U.S. Mint. Even though the U.S. Mint takes a lot of floor space, they really do not show much. We have heard reports that they do have a quite a collection of numismatic items but they rarely take it out for the public to see. It would be nice for the U.S. Mint to do more than they do. I saw reports that Deputy Director Richard Peterson who is also filling in as the acting director is here. If I see him I will ask about bringing out some of their archival materials.
After that, the floor is big with a lot of dealers. Since I came without a real plan I started to wander based on what catches my eye. First, I started with the row of book sellers in the back of the room. While I am a proponent of electronic books, there are physical books that are not available electronically. I found a few books that I purchases.
Although I will discuss my purchases when I return home, I will say that I spent more on books than other numismatic items.
While looking though the booth of contemporary supplies and books, I found a really nice book about coin collecting for kids. It looks like an excellent book for kids to learn about coin collecting. I thought it was so cool that I will buy a copy for my niece who has shown interest in coin collecting.
I did attend the American Israel Numismatic Association meeting for the first time since becoming a member. I have been a member for a number of years but never was able to attend an AINA meeting. It was great to meet the people of that organization and hear an interesting lecture about ancient Judean coins and about what is coming at the Holy Land Mint.
Being able to meet and talk with different people is both a lot of fun and a small curse. It is fun because coin collectors are fun people. It is a small curse in that I missed a number of talks that I wanted to attend. But I cannot complain because meeting the people are a lot of fun. I figure out how to get the information from the missed lectures another time!
After the bourse closed, it seems that a lot of people “ran” to the Stacks-Bowers auction for the free food. The food was okay but I was there for the auction. While it was Rarities Night, I was interested in the currency auction which was going on concurrently in an adjoining room. But I didn’t realize the two auctions were separate and missed bidding on Maryland colonial currency I was interested in.
I did leave absentee bids for some Maryland colonials in the John J. Ford collection. I did not receive an email saying that I won, so I will have to check with Stacks-Bowers to see if I did. Some how, I doubt I won.
My time at the convention center end after attending the Board of Governors closed session with the Technology Committee. It was a productive meeting and worth talking with the Board of Governors about the issues. Members interested in what the future has in store for the ANA and technology should attend the open board meeting on Friday.
That’s it for now, Watch for more on Twitter and Pinterest on Friday!
Come on, Baby don’t you wanna go
Hidehey, baby don’t you wanna go
Back to that same old place
Sweet home Chicago
Few things make me happier than music. I have been listening and playing music since I was young and learned to play the clarinet in elementary school. This was before I learned about collecting coins. As I get ready to fly to Chicago for this year’s World’s Fair of Money I keep hearing the Blues Brothers singing “Sweet Home Chicago!”
I don’t care what the critics say, the Blue Brothers is one of my favorite guilty pleasure movies!
While you have image of Jake and Elwood Blues dancing on the stage at the Palace Hotel with the Chicago Police and the Good Ol’ Boys looking for justice and revenge, I am on my way to the Windy City to join other American Numismatic Association members in this year’s convention.
Over the next few days, I will be tweeting from the convention center. You can either follow @coinsblog on Twitter or use the widget on the right side of this page. I will also be adding pictures to Pinterest on the board I set up for this show. I will also try to provide a daily update here.
In the mean time, did you know that Augustus Saint-Gaudens, the designer of the last $20 gold double eagle and $10 eagle coins made for circulation also created statues that are in Chicago?
Abraham Lincoln Monument by Augustus Saint-Gaudens in Lincoln Park, Chicago (Credit: Public Art in Chicago)
General John Logan Memorial by Augustus Saint-Gaudens in Grant Park, Chicago (Credit: Public Art in Chicago)
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