a look at the treasury notes of 1890 and 1891 (part i) rticles · the department of the treasury...

Established in 1954

March 2010

IN THIS ISSUE

ARTICLES

A Look at the Treasury Notes of 1890 and 1891

2010 Boy Scouts Centennial Silver Dollar

to be Launched in March

Passing of a Friend – Steve Middleton

WWII Women Airforce Service Pilots Receive Congressional Medal

Australia Issues World’s First Four Portrait Coin

REGULAR FEATURES

President’s Message

Meeting Minutes

Show Calendar

METALS INDEX

Spot Prices as of 12 March 2010

Platinum: $1605 (+ $124)

Gold: $1101.50 (+ $36.50)

Silver: $17.07 (+ $1.92)

A Look at the Treasury Notes of 1890 and 1891 (Part I )

By Bruce Stewart

Among the large size issues of United States currency, none is more admired or more desired than the Treasury (or Coin) Notes, Series of 1890 and 1891. These notes, similar to the Silver Certificates, are related to the flood of Morgan silver dollars minted by the Treasury beginning in 1878.

These notes were issued as a result of the Legal Tender Act of July 14, 1890. This Act authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to issue the notes in payment for silver bullion purchased by the Treasury Department. The entire issue of these notes thus became backed by metallic reserves. The Treasury (or Coin) Notes were payable in unspecified coin, unlike the Gold or Silver Certificates which were obligated in gold coins and silver dollars, respectively. The Department of the Treasury could pay either gold or silver coins at its discretion. At this time the future supply of silver dollars was somewhat uncertain, although the Sherman Silver Purchase Act (1890) and other legislation (such as the melting of trade dollars for their bullion) eventually produced enough of the metal to coin silver dollars through 1904.

While these notes are quite ornate and attractive, they have a rather nefarious past. Forget that these bills were printed at a time when most people would never earn a thousand dollars a year and a ten dollar bill was a princely sum. Look closely and just to the right of the portrait and under the large script with the note’s value, are the words “in coin.” It is this little phrase that caused so much trouble and contributed to the quick demise of this series of notes -- although having featured significant military or political figures from the Union side of the Civil War on all but the $20, didn’t endear this series to any southerners or southern sympathizers either.

Treasury Notes of 1890 and 1891 continued on Page 4

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Raleigh Coin Club Newsletter March 2010

Raleigh Coin Club

PO Box 25817 Raleigh NC 27611-5817

http//www.raleighcoinclub.org

Established 1954

Club Officers President

David Boitnott

Vice President Jim Jones

Secretary Richard Brown

Treasurer Steve Pladna

Sergeant-at-Arms Benji Harrell

Directors (Term Ending)

Kent Woodson (2010) Paul Livingston (2011) Roger Beckner (2012)

Newsletter Editor Dave Provost

[email protected]

Club Affiliations American Numismatic Association

Member #C079478

Blue Ridge Numismatic Association Member #C3383

Eastern States Numismatic Association Member #0026 (Life)

North Carolina Numismatic Association Member #C14 (Life)

Contents © Copyright Raleigh Coin Club 2010

The RCC grants permission to reprint for non-profit educational purposes only any articles not individually copyrighted by the

author provided the RCC Newsletter is cited as the source.

February Meeting Minutes

The meeting was called to order by David B at 7:35pm. David welcomed three guests and 20 members.

Club Business

Steve P reported on the club’s finances; account balances continue to be positive and expenses are under control.

The club-sponsored trip to the Smithsonian Institution and Baltimore Coin Show was cancelled due to staffing shortages at the Smithsonian. Some members indicated they may make the trip regardless.

David B discussed new signage, table covers and registration cards for the annual club show; Dave P indicated table covers for exhibit area have been ordered.

Dave B opened discussions re: National Coin Week. Programs at local libraries (like last year) were discussed. Halbert C volunteered to organize a club table at one library; Dave P volunteered to present another program at the North Raleigh Branch. Final logistics to be decided at March meeting.

David B promoted the new RCC YN program being started by Dave P. The group will be called the Raleigh Coin Hawks. It will meet each month prior to the regular RCC meeting, with meetings starting at 6:45pm and lasting about 30 minutes. Educational programs designed specifically for young collectors will be offered. Young collectors will earn “Raleigh Coin Bucks” for their participation in the club and will be able to redeem them for prizes.

Bruce S requested the exhibit case for March.

Paul Li volunteered to bring the March refreshments.

Show-and-Tell

Bruce S:

$2 Canadian note dated 1891 with portrait of King Edward

Gene F:

Countermarked 1879 Morgan Dollar stamped" 4-22-1879 Patent" Gene looked up the date and found that 278 patents were issued on that day.

Cliff S:

1892 Barber Dime Love Token with initials "DES"

Dave P:

A pair of New Orleans Mardi Gras “Love” doubloons and a set of silver Canadian Maple Leafs (w/ and w/ o gold plating) celebrating the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics

Paul Li:

Reprint of an obsolete note from the Bank of Lexington, NC $1 1861 with green tint

Kent G:

1891 $1 Treasury Note featuring portrait of Edward W. Stanton

Continued on Page 8

http://www.raleighcoinclub.org


President’s Message

Its March Madness time for all you ACC

basketball fans and a hidden benefit of our moving the meeting night to the third Tuesday from the second Thursday is quite apparent this month. Had we still met on the second Thursday, how many of you would have skipped the meeting to watch the first round of the ACC tournament on television? Fortunately, this year we avoid the conflict and hopefully we’ll draw a large crowd.

This month’s presentation is on error/ variety coinage and thus our show-n-tell theme this month is also error coins. So, bring your favorite error coin and share it with the club. It will earn you bonus points. Now at last month’s meeting I mentioned that we would accept your biggest purchasing error as well. We all have a coin or two or three we scratch our heads and wonder “What was I thinking?” While this would seem to open the bonus points up to any coin there is a catch. If you bring a purchasing error you will have to describe the when, how and why to the club. Then the membership will vote – up or down – on whether your story earns the bonus points. This could get interesting and fun!

Final plans for National Coin W eek, April 18 – 24 will need to be firmed up. Remember this year’s theme is “Beautiful Places: Landmarks and Mintmarks.” Hope everyone has been thinking of what they can do. With the uncertain economic times organizations like ours need to do even more to promote the hobby. Just this weekend Dave P. and I were lamenting the shrinkage of the Smithsonian’s numismatic display and the general lack of museums that promote the hobby. Then Monday I get the latest Coin World and the front page news is a report of two major numismatic museums in France that are closing this year. I can’t help but wonder, with the nation and state having major budget problems, how soon the arts and museums with their

March Meeting Notice

DATE

16 March 2010

TIME

7:30pm

WHERE

Ridge Road Baptist Church

PROGRAM

“New Barber Dime Over-Mint Discovery”

Roger Beckner

small constituencies

will start to see cuts?

We are rapidly getting closer to our annual show date! There are only four more meetings before the show. We really need to get the registration cards sorted and the mailing list updated. It won’t be long before we need to get the postcard mailing done. We need to start planning – banners, table covers, etc. we have been talking about need to be addressed. I will be looking for volunteers.

To all our young numismatists -- remember the Raleigh Coin Hawks will meet at 6:45PM just prior to the regular meeting for about a half hour.

See ya’ at the March meeting on the third Tuesday (March 16th) at the Ridge Road Baptist Church.

Remember, promote the hobby and the club – recruit a new member – there’s points in it.

David Boitnott


Continued from Page 1

When miners struck silver in the great

Comstock Lode in Nevada in the late 1800s, the newly-rich silver barons lobbied Congress for some way to absorb the massive amounts of silver that were being mined. Congress responded to the silver lobby by passing the Bland-Allison Act of 1878. That act ensured that the Treasury would buy two million dollars of silver each month at the highest market rate.

In the 1890’s, after more than 10 years of the Treasury propping up the silver market, the silver lobby wanted even more. Thus was born the Legal Tender Act of July 14, 1890. In it, Congress legislated that a new issue of “Treasury Notes” would be created, notes that could be used only for the purchase of silver.

Both Treasury Notes and Silver Certificates purchased silver from the silver barons but only the Treasury Notes could be redeemed in coin – including gold coin. Silver Certificates could only be redeemed in silver.

Holders of large amounts of silver could

Treasury Notes of 1890 and 1891 (cont.)

now sell their bullion to the Treasury at the highest prevailing price and receive the ornate treasury notes in return. These notes could then be used to buy gold coin from the Treasury. Because of the relative disparity in bullion values at the time, anyone with large holdings of silver could make a fortune selling these Treasury Notes for gold.

By 1893, when Congress finally negated the benefits of the Treasury Notes, many fortunes had been made and the reserves at the United States Treasury were seriously depleted. The redemption of these notes almost bankrupted the Treasury and caused a major financial panic.

The coin notes were issued in denomination of $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100 and $1,000 of the series of 1890 and 1891. A $500 note with the portrait of General Sherman was also authorized and a plate made, but only a proof impression of the note is known. It was never placed in circulation. In particular, the Series of 1890 notes, made in the denominations of $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $100, and $1000 are quite beautiful, particularly with respect to their

Series 1890 Treasury Note – Front


backs were easier to counterfeit because so much detail would discourage close examination and thus make fake notes easier to pass unnoticed. The result was the backs of the 1891 series with their large areas of open space. The reasoning here was that would make fakes stand out because they would be more easily recognized. Whatever your thoughts are about the reasoning the gorgeous artistry was gone. The 1891 denominations resumed the same sequence as the 1890 series and added in the $50 note. (To be continued.)

Editor’s Note: Bruce’s article will conclude in the April issue of the RCC Newsletter. The next installment will discuss the individuals depicted on each of the denominations and include images of each of the notes.

All images are courtesy of www.ha.com

(Heritage Auctions).

ornately engraved backs. The $1, $2, $5, $10 and $20 values each have their denominations spelled out in full, as, for example, TWENTY. The $100 and $1000 notes each have the 0's colored in the fanciful form of green "watermelons," hence "Watermelon Note" as the nickname for each.

The idea was to create paper money to give out instead of the silver dollars which were not particularly popular anywhere except in western areas of the US. However, by 1890 the supplies of silver purchased under the Bland-Allison Act were running low, and it was not certain how many more silver dollars would be minted. Hence, these particular currency notes are payable in coin, but not specifically in silver dollars. Not to worry, the Sherman Silver Purchase Act (1890) and the Trade Dollar Redemption Act (1891) made it possible to coin millions more Morgan dollars. Soon Silver Certificates were made again -- and in prodigious quantities.

The Series of 1891 was issued with different reverses. The reasoning was that the ornate

Treasury Notes of 1890 and 1891 (cont.)

Series 1890 Treasury Note –

Back

http://www.ha.com


2010 Boy Scouts Centennial Silver Dollar to be Launched in March

2010’s second commemorative silver dollar

– the Boy Scouts of America Centennial Dollar -- will be available from the US Mint beginning on 23 March 2010.

The Boy Scouts of America Centennial Commemorative Coin Act (Public Law 110-363), signed into law on October 8, 2008, authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue up to 350,000 silver dollar coins in commemoration of the centennial anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). As authorized, the United States Mint will produce silver dollar coins in proof and uncirculated qualities.

Surcharges from this commemorative coin program are authorized to be paid to the National Boy Scouts of America Foundation, which will make funds available to local councils in the form of grants for the extension of scouting in hard-to-serve areas.

The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is "to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law." Every day across our Nation, Scouts and their leaders pledge to live up to the promise in the Scout Oath — "On my honor I will do my best, To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; To help other people at all times; To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight" — and the Scout Law, according to which a Scout is "Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent."

Today, the organization has over 2.8 million youth members and over 1.1 million adult leaders. Since its inception in 1910, it is estimated that over 111 million people have

participated in the group’s programs.

The obverse of the coin depicts a Cub Scout in the foreground with a Boy Scout and female Venturer in the background saluting. The design is the work of US Mint Artistic Infusion Program Master Designer Donna Weaver.

The reverse design features the BSA's universal emblem along with the group’s motto “Be Prepared” and other mandated inscriptions. The design is the work of United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Jim Licaretz.

All images courtesy of www.usmint.gov.)

http://www.usmint.gov


Passing of a Friend – Steve Middleton

By Dave Provost

I recently became aware of the passing of a

long-time “numismatic friend” of mine – Steve Middleton of NJ. I first met Steve at the Roxbury Coin Club in NJ, he was President at the time, and his outgoing and friendly nature immediately made me feel welcome and happy that I decided to end my solitary collecting days and join a coin club. While I’m not aware of anyone at the Raleigh Coin Club who knew Steve, I thought I’d share a few memories about a man who had a significant impact on my hobby endeavors and enjoyment.

Steve was an educator during the day, teaching high school chemistry and physics. He was also an educator within the hobby. Steve gave talks at local coin clubs, was an award-winning exhibitor and was always ready to share his knowledge with anyone who was interested. He was most certainly a “Gentleman Numismatist” of the first order.

It was Steve who got me interested in exhibiting. I remember him coming back from an ANA Convention at which he had just exhibited a portion of his large collection of Ferris Wheel tokens and medals from the 1892-93 Columbian World’s Fair. He described his exhibit and what it took to assemble it; he also passed around the medal he was given for being an exhibitor. The exhibit won an award at the show, but that wasn’t what Steve talked about – his comments to the club were about the experience, how much he enjoyed it and his passion for the hobby in general. He also encouraged others in the club to give exhibiting a try. It wasn’t too long after that that I began exhibiting myself and enjoying the experience every bit as much.

Steve was a “national numismatist,”

traveling to shows across the country and exhibiting at large national shows such as the ANA Conventions, the Central States Convention and the Florida United Numismatists (FUN) Show. He was also an ANA-certified judge, and could often be found in the exhibit area at the ANA shows reviewing and scoring exhibits. Judging at a large show can take hours and keep you from the bourse or the various talks offered. It’s a sacrifice, but Steve was always willing.

For many years, Steve and his wife hosted a “Cocktail Party” at the summer ANA. It was an invitation-only affair, but Steve, being Steve, invited as many of his friends as he could in the days leading up to the event. I was only able to attend one of his affairs, but I most definitely enjoyed his hospitality and the chance to talk with his friends of many backgrounds and collecting interests. I remember his dog being there as well. Having the dog there made it seem less like a gathering in a small hotel suite and more like a get together at the home of friend.

Steve was also the person who encouraged me to give educational talks, to join as many coin clubs as I had the time for and to share my collection with others through show-and-tell and exhibiting opportunities. Steve’s “lesson plan” for me was a key driver behind me becoming the numismatist that I am today.

Steve’s passing means that I have one less friend to look forward to seeing at the ANA each year and one less world-class exhibit to view and learn from. The hobby is poorer for his passing, and he will be dearly missed by those who knew him.

Until next month…


Meeting Minutes (cont.)

Continued from Page 2

Roger B:

1922-D Peace Dollar with die break on

obverse

Halbert C:

Halbert told “love” story about how from

the start of their relationship his wife always supported his love of coins and how, early on, she once secured for him an especially nice coin he had been wanting. In return for this thoughtful gift, Halbert bought his wife a dryer.

Show-and-Tell Case

Halbert C used the monthly S-and-T case to present a penny of Eadgar the Peaceable, ca 970 CE; an Irish Shilling of James I, ca 1620 CE; and a denarius of Faustina showing a peacock.

Educational Program

Jim J presented the results of the member survey he conducted last year. As expected, the results illustrated a wide variety of collecting interests among RCC members, including numerous US coin series, world coins, ancient coins, US and World paper money, medals, etc. -- no clear cut “favorite” surfaced. A wide range of interests for future educational programs was also noted. Suggested educational topics included grading/authentication, counterfeit detection, Franklin Half Dollars, civil war tokens, error coins and metal detecting. Future field trip suggestions included the Smithsonian, Reed Gold Mine, Philadelphia Mint, BEP in Washington and national coin shows. Jim also discussed the possibility of a speaker exchange program, including the potential for presenting programs remotely via the internet.

Our monthly prize drawings followed the program and the meeting was adjourned at 9:35pm.

Final 2010 Dues Notice

If you haven’t yet paid your 2010 RCC dues, please either see Steve P at the March meeting or

mail your dues check to the RCC’s PO Box.

This issue of the RCC Newsletter will be your last unless your 2010 dues are paid.

The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) of World War II were honored with the Congressional Gold Medal during a ceremony on 10 March 2010 in Emancipation Hall at the Capitol Visitor Center. Both surviving members of the WASP, as well as representatives of deceased members of the organization, participated in the ceremony. The medal, presented by the Congressional leadership, honors WASP members for their pioneering military service that led to reform in the U.S. Armed Forces.

The WASP was composed of the first women in history to fly American military aircraft. They flew more than 60,000,000 miles in every type of aircraft and on every type of assignment flown by their male counterparts except combat missions. During that time, 38 women pilots lost their lives.

Obverse of WASP Congressional Gold medal.

Additional information about ordering a duplicate of the medal can be found at www.usmint.gov.

WWI I Women Airforce Service Pilots Receive Congressional Medal


Australia I ssues

World’s First Four Portrait Coin

For the first time in history, four heads will appear on one coin. The coin, to be struck by the Royal Australian Mint, will mark one hundred years of Australian coinage and honor the four monarchs that have appeared on Australian coinage over the past century.

“This commemoration is a significant milestone in Australia’s history,” said Royal Australian Mint Acting Chief Executive Officer Graham Smith. “Along with the new Government and Constitution, the change in 1910, from the British monetary system to our own, heralded the unity and budding independence of our young nation. And this is what we are celebrating in 2010.”

The new design features portraits of King Edward VII (1901-1910), King George V (1910-1936), King George VI (1936-1952) and Queen Elizabeth II (1952-present). The design was sculpted by the Mint’s Vladimir Gottwald.

Additional information about ordering either the aluminum/ bronze circulation version or the silver proof collector version can be found on the website of the Royal Australian Mint (www.ramint.gov.au).

Reverse of 2010 Australia Dollar

Show Calendar Mar 20-21 Greensboro, NC

Greensboro Coin & Stamp Club Show

Greensboro Coliseum Complex 1921 W. Lee Street

Hours: Sat 10:00am to 6:00pm Sun 10:00am to 5:00pm

Tables: 65. Free

Mar 27-28 Winston-Salem, NC Winston-Salem Coin Show

Miller Park Recreation Center 400 Leisure Lane


Tables: 55. Free

Apr 10-11 Wilmington, NC Azalea Festival Coin Show

American Legion Hall 702 Pine Grove Drive


Tables: 35. Free

Additional local show information can be found at: www.coinworld.com

1.

The Show-and-Tell theme for March

is

“Errors” – bring in a numismatic error (on a coin, a medal, a bank note, etc.) and earn bonus points in the 2010 Numismatist of the Year program!

2. All Show-and-Tell items are welcome! If you don’t have something that fits the theme, bring something else! We’re easy to please!

3. Bruce S has reserved the monthly exhibit case for March.

4. Paul Li will be bringing the March meeting refreshments.

5. 2010 dues are due! See Steve P.

Club Notes

http://www.ramint.gov.au

http://www.coinworld.com

a look at the treasury notes of 1890 and 1891 (part i) rticles · the department of the treasury...

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