MEETING OF OCTOBER 18, 2016. VOL. 55, NO. 3 PAGE 1/2
ATTENDANCE: 22 members & 2 guests, who both joined BARRY’S BUDGET: $2798 / 45 active members. Barry attended the delegate’s breakfast at the CNA and learned that coin clubs are providing much more online content and articles, coins are selling online and there is a LOT of information and material available and a lot more is coming to the internet. OPENING DISCUSSION: The meeting was brought to order at 7:40PM by Mike J, who is making good use of the club’s new gavel! Mike welcomed two new members, Ron G. and Charles E. to the club. The current issue of the CNA journal contains not one but TWO articles submitted by club members Jason C. and Barry U. Doug Robins, a great Canadian numismatist, recently passed away. He was a long-time dealer and collector of Canadian tokens. His knowledge of varieties was enormous. He was also the owner of the 1911 Canadian silver dollar in the 1970's. Until the last few years he was active at CNA Conventions. BREAK: coffee, tea, juice and cookies provided by David. Please leave a few coins in the dish for the club! MEETING CONTENT: Our Education Director, Jacob L. has learned of a fascinating scandal on the popular online forum “coin community friends”. Apparently, ICCS graded and certified a 1914 Cdn 10¢ with the wrong obverse (Edward VII when it should be George V)…and since they didn’t realize the coin is an obvious counterfeit, their reputation has taken a serious hit. The forum topic is now 14 pages long, but worth the read, as some of the most experienced Cdn collectors are involved and there are excellent photos. If you jump to Page 5 of the thread there are two photos that would prove they're creating dies from high quality images and therefore are using 3d metal printed dies. Here is a link to this forum subject: http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=271671&whichpage=1 The implication of this is that soon counterfeits could be so well made and authentic-looking that even third party grading - certification services will not see the difference. Coin “pedigree” will be more important than ever. Thank you, Jacob for raising the topic at the meeting. Barry U., our club Treasurer, gave his presentation on “The Canadian Aluminum Quarter”, based on private information he obtained from a retired Alcan employee who was sworn to secrecy on the subject. Apparently, Alcan made a series of aluminum trial coins for the RCM in Kingston during the 1980’s. The trial pieces came in five colours (each denomination was intended to have a different colour) and weighed only 1.7g versus the normal 5.07g for a pure nickel quarter at the time. The coins were smooth on both sides and were not engraved or stamped in a press but were intended to be ink-jetted with the Queen’s image, denomination, year, etc. During testing, it was found that the colour coatings came off too easily and the coins were too light for vending machines. Aluminum dimes would weigh only a few grams and would require much more sensitive vending machines and pay phones, so the whole project was scrapped and most of the samples were destroyed. However, Barry’s friend held onto his “top secret” set of quarters...and only recently felt it was safe to show them to Barry and reveal the secret! Thanks, Barry for sharing this with the club. The 75th Anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic $2 coin is now available with the following story copied from the RCM website: “The Battle of the Atlantic raged for six arduous years, from the earliest days of the Second World War to the final hours of the conflict in Europe. Sir Winston Churchill called it “the dominating factor all through the war.” Sailors in both the Royal Canadian Navy and Canada’s Merchant Navy played an indispensable role in this battle, aided from the sky by the Royal Canadian Air Force. They transported, and defended, Canadian men and women, and vital supplies, across the treacherous North Atlantic.Thousands of Canadians gave their lives in what would become the longest battle of the entire Second World War—all to ensure vital troops and provisions continued to reach Great Britain and Europe. Victory was hard-won. In the first years of the war, German “wolf packs”—groups of ship-hunting submarines, or U-boats—took a devastating toll on Allied ships, sinking hundreds. Some attacks took place within view of Canada’s East Coast, and U-boats were even operated in the St. Lawrence River. Our country responded by expanding its navy from less than a dozen ocean-going ships to more than 250, and from 3,500 personnel to more than 100,000. Our shipyards clanged with frenzied production, churning out hundreds of ships and thousands of landing craft during the war’s final four years. Canada’s vital contribution and the bravery and skill of her sailors earned Rear Admiral Leonard Murray the role of leading the Allies’ endeavours in the Northwest Atlantic from 1943 to the end of the war. It was the only time during the Second World War that a Canadian held such a command. The central image of the coin design—a sailor aboard a Canadian warship—is accompanied by the depiction of two other Canadian vessels in the distance while a Bristol Beaufighter flies overhead. A watchful sailor presses his eye to the viewfinder of his anti-aircraft gun, scanning the skies for threats while unforgiving seas roll by below.” Work continues on the club Library and Jason hopes he will finish the initial sortation and re-organization on Nov 15 so that he can begin entering the catalogue in his spreadsheet. RAFFLE: 2009 RCM Specimen set worth $60 was won by Mark B. Club profit was $70. NEXT MEETING DATE: NOV 15 at 7:00 p.m. (but you can arrive early if you want) REMINDER: Its BOURSE NIGHT so bring your stuff to sell or trade and bring cash to buy! We will need extension cords and lights; if you can bring them please do so.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |