Minutes of May 2012 Meeting

Post date: Jun 04, 2012 5:34:32 AM

-- Next Meeting: June 12, 2012 @ 7:00 PM. This is is our annual Bourse Night. Tables are $8.00. No refreshments will be served. Bring your duplicates and make some extra cash!

Minutes of May 2012 Meeting

• • The meeting started promptly, more or less, at or near 7:35 pm.

  • Mike Onko, Vice President, and Bill Pfeifer, Secretary, were absent. We could get along without Mike, but Bill is irreplaceable. Nevertheless, Jim Malone was shanghaied to act in Bill’s stead.

  • We started the meeting with the “Pledge of Allegiance”, followed by welcoming Judy Lucas back to the club after a hiatus of nearly two years, and read the Treasurers report (over $700 was spent last month for prizes).

  • The Membership Badge drawing was won by Roy Iwata who won a 1988 Proof Set for his efforts.

  • Jim Evert was the lucky winner of a 1997 mint set won in the Early Bird drawing.

Announcements:

NASC gold drawing tickets went on sale. 8 gold coins, 8 silver coins and 8 silver eagles will be raffled off during the August 25 – 26, 2012 event. Each ticket sold by the club earns $1.50 for our coffers.

Long Beach Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Expo - Jeff Stahl handed out the official program for the show which opened May 31^st and ended June 2^nd. 9 pre-paid tickets were given away as were $4 discounts (wow!).

California State Numismatic Assoc. – Gary Beedon announced the CSNA will hold its annual meeting in Long Beach this year.

Old Business:

Les Watson reminded us that next month is Bourse Night. Tables will rent for $8.00 each. No refreshments will be served.

Show and Tell:

• • Gordon Hjelmstrom shared Swedish pennies.

  • Jeff Stahl shared his stories of his $1.00 1909 gold Alaska Yukon Exhibition coin as well as a $1.00 1912 British Columbia gold coin.

  • Jerry Kleeb spoke on “Funny Money” i.e., German Not gelds made of leather, aluminum foil, cloth, linen and silk.

  • Jim Malone shared his story of his new money clip.

  • Peter showed us the silver coin he found.

  • Les Watkins encouraged us to buy an old dime book; also, he shared an article from the Orange County Register which promoted coin collecting for youngsters.

  • Bliss DeMoray showed us his Canadian stamps

  • Albertis showed us his Uncirculated 1832 half cent from the Netherlands

  • Mark Baskin shared his mahogany toned 1920-S cent.

  • Rocky Herrera attended an estate sale for Bud Hurlbut. He purchased tokens, Silver Certificates and foreign currencies. He’s already sold the Silver Certificates and got back his investment for everything he bought!

Presentation:

Al Hogiveen gave an informative lecture on the impact of the discovery of gold in the Appalacians, the minting of private gold coins, and the eventual establishment of the Dahlonega, Georgia mint, the first U.S. mint outside of Philadelphia. Al speculated that some of our nation’s first gold coins were minted from this gold.

The first gold discovery in a creek near Charlotte, North Carolina in 1799. The 17 pound gold nugget wasn’t even recognized for what it was and for years served as a door stop! Gold was mined on a limited basis until 1828 when larger deposits of gold were discovered elsewhere in North Carolina and Georgia. The first private mint devoted to minting gold coins in the U.S. was opened by Templeton Reid, of Georgia.

The most successful private minter was Christopher Bechtler and his son Augustus. Their coins were known for being well-assayed and honest coinage. They began minting gold coins in 1831 and closed their operations sometime in the early 1850s.

The opening of the Dahlonega mint in 1838 probably contributed to the demise of the Bechtler enterprise. The Dahlonega mint closed at the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861.

Future Coin Shows:

See our Events Calendar or Gary Beedonʼs California Show List for a comprehensive listing of California coin shows.

Sincerely,

Jim Malone

Shanghaied secretary