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The Presidents Column

Hi, I just wanted to let everyone know we had a successful Christmas Coin Show! And I wanted to thank all who helped set up, take down, and put up fliers. Most of the people who showed up saw a flier or the ad on craigslist. We are also working on a new web site and facebook page and wanted to specifically thank Dan Barnhart for all of his help on this. We also signed up 3 new members, and sold raffle tickets! If we all just recruited just 1 new member this year just think how our club could grow! I also want to let you know about a new contest we are having, whoever guesses the spot price of silver on Dec. 31 2015 will win 1oz of silver!!!!

Rules:

1. You must be a current member of the A.C.C.

2. You get one guess.

3. ALL entries must be received by Feb. 3rd 2015.

4. The winner will be determined by closest guess above or below closing spot price as determined by the posted closing spot price on Dec. 31 2015 on coinflation.com.

Good luck, and I hope to see you at the next meeting on January 6^th!

Allen Nichols / President

Recap of the December 11^th Anchorage Coin Club Christmas Party:

Recap of the December 17^th
Anchorage Coin Club Board Meeting

Board meeting was held at the Turnagain BBQ Restaurant located next to the University Center in Anchorage. Meeting called to order at 6:30 PM by Club President Allen Nichols.

Following the distribution and review of correspondence, the Board then addressed details of the club's coin show that is being held at the University Center over the Dec 20th/Dec 21st weekend.

There was a discussion regarding the 2015 Coin Show program.

• First coin show for Year 2015 will be the Fur Rondy Coin Show to be held at the University Center over two weekends: Feb 28th/ March 1st and March 7th/ 8th.

• Larry Nakata will be putting in the paperwork for the club's show as one of the Fur Rondy Events. Event that will be included in the Fur Rondy Guide.... that will go out in mid-February with the local newspaper (Alaska Dispatch News).

• Stan Mead will coordinate with the Fur Rondy organizers in having an additional 1/8th page ad placed in the Fur Rondy Guide.

• It will be necessary to include Greater Anchorage, Inc. (the organizer of the Fur Rondy event) as co-insured with our club's Insurance Policy. Larry Nakata to take care of this.

The Board then discussed having our own webpage on the Internet. Although our club presently has its own website www.alaska.net/~nakata/coin club.htm

The last time our club's website was upgraded was in 1996 (some 18 years ago).

Overall Board in agreement that we need to improve our club's webpage as it is a good way to advertise our club and make the public aware of our coin shows.

Issue: We need to get a webmaster to redo our club's webpage and maintain it. Our club is already in Facebook, but also needs someone to maintain that as well.

Alternatives discussed were:

• Contract out our club's webpage. Setup cost for a new webpage discussed and estimated at $2,000 one time fee. Web page maintenance fees were estimated at anywhere between $25/month up to $100/month depending upon what changes need to be made to the webpage in any given month.

• See if we can find a volunteer (internal to our club) who is well versed in design and maintenance of webpages.... in other words..... a Web Master.

• More discussion to follow on this one in January.

Our next coin club meeting will be on Tuesday, January 6th at the Central Lutheran Church:

• Larry Nakata will be giving a presentation or "The Evolution of the US Nickel- Is It Worth a Plug Nickel?"

• Pizzas and Soda Pop will be the refreshments for the evening. Club members are invited to bring side dishes to augment the pizzas.

• Monthly Raffle Coin for 2015 January Meeting Raffle will be a U.S. Morgan Dollar 1898-O in MS-63 condition.

As there was no further business to discuss, Board meeting concluded at 7:30 PM....

Larry Nakata/ Secretary

The U.S. Cent was officially minted (by the US Mint in Philadelphia) in 1793 with the introduction of the Flowing Hair Cent.

The history of the U.S. Cent has been an interesting one involving its purchasing power over these 221 years.

At the time of the introduction of the U.S. Cent, it had very good purchasing power in terms of the commodities bought (such as food items). By today's standards (in 2014) the U.S. Cent could buy the equivalent of $7.44 in items. Reason: At that time the value of copper was directly linked to the value of Silver and Gold coins.

The first generation of U.S. Cents were made of pure copper (about the size of a half dollar) and were minted from 1793-1857. During that period of time, there were five (5) basic designs:

• 1793 Flowing Hair Cent

• 1793-1796 Liberty Cap Cent

• 1796-1807 Draped Bust Cent

• 1808-1814 Classic Head Cent

• 1816-1857 Liberty Head Cent

Note 1: No Large Cents were minted in 1815 due to a copper shortage caused by the War of 1812 with Great Britain.

As the price of copper rose in the 1850's the cost of minting the Large Cent exceeded its metal value. This resulted in the U.S. Congress passing the Act of Feb 21, 1857 which allowed for the mintage of the smaller U.S. Cent we see today.

Note 2: The U.S. Mint did produce some 2000 Flying Eagle Small Cents in 1856 as a pattern cent. This cent was not intended for public circulation. Accordingly, these 1856 Cents command a very high price in today's coin collecting market.

From 1857-Present, the smaller U.S. Cent would undergo a number of design and metallic changes (in its composition). These metallic content changes would reflect the economics in cost of mintage of the U.S. Cent.

• 1857-1858 Flying Eagle Cent / Composition 88% Copper-12% Nickel (referred to as the Copper Nickel Cent).

• 1859-1863 Indian Head Cent / Copper Nickel Cent

• 1864-1909 Indian Head Cent / Composition 95% Copper- 5% Tin and Zinc (referred to as the Bronze Cent).

• 1909-1958 Lincoln Wheat Cent/Bronze Cent

Note 3: In 1943, Zinc coated Steel Lincoln Wheat Cents were minted due to a copper shortage resulting from World War II.

Note 4: Because of complaints about the gray color of the 1943 cent, from 1944-1946 the U.S. Mint used expended shell ammunition casings from World War II for mintage of the U.S. Cent. These cents came to be known as the Shell Case Cents. From 1946-1982 the U.S. Mint resumed mintage of the Bronze metal cent.

• 1959-1962 Lincoln Memorial Cent / Bronze Cent

• 1962-1982 Lincoln Memorial Cent / Composition change to 95% Copper-5% Zinc (no Tin) (referred to as the Brass Cent).

• 1982-2008 Lincoln Memorial Cent / Composition Change to a Copper Plated Zinc Cent (97.5% Zinc- 2.5% Copper).

Note 5: 1982 saw the 7 different varieties of the Lincoln Cent which was composed of cents minted with various combinations of the Wheat / Memorial design and Metal content.

• 2009 Lincoln Bicentennial Cent commemorating Lincoln's birth and 100 years of the U.S. Lincoln Cent / Copper Plated Zinc Cent.

Note 6: In 2009 there were four (4) Reverse designs which represented the 4 major areas of President Lincoln's life.

• 2010-Present. Lincoln Shield Cent / Copper Plated Zinc Cent.

As of 2013, the U.S. Mint's Annual Report showed it costs 1.83 cents to make one U.S. Cent. For Year 2013 that equated to a loss of $55 million for the U.S. Mint. Those yearly losses in minting the U.S. Cent coupled with its decline in purchasing power has resulted in a debate over whether the U.S. Cent should be eliminated.

In 1990, there was an attempt in the U.S. Congress to eliminate the U.S. Cent and round out transactions to the nearest nickel (5 cent coin). It did not succeed. There have been subsequent efforts in 2001 and 2006 to eliminate the U.S. Cent... with similar results.

The case has been made that a number of countries around the world have already phased out further mintage of their equivalent of our U.S. Cent. Among those countries: Great Britain, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, New Zealand, Mexico, The Netherlands. Even the U.S. Military overseas base exchanges (AAFEES) are rounding out transactions to the nearest nickel.

In February, 2013 President Barack Obama stated his willingness to eliminate the U.S. Cent. However, that requires legislative action by the U.S. Congress to make that happen... which did not occur.

So.... the question arises as to why there is a reluctance to eliminate this coin:

• One view is that this would be viewed as a debasement of our U.S. coinage.

• There are concerns that rounding off to the nearest nickel could result in inflationary pressures where prices could go higher for goods we purchase.

• The biggest issue is U.S. Public opinion and support. Polls conducted in 2012 indicated that 2/3 of those surveyed were against elimination of the U.S. Cent.

For now, there are plenty of opportunities for the coin collector to put together a nice U.S. Cent collection. While collecting the Large Cents by date/mintmark can be a bit pricey, the collector can still put together a pretty good type set at reasonable cost.

Small Cents are easier and more affordable to put together by date/mintmark.

So one goal for the collector could be to put together a nice set of 20th Century U.S. Cents.

Time will tell as to what happens with the fate of the U.S. Cent .......

Larry Nakata

List of Coins Submitted as of December Board Meeting

From Bill Fivaz:

1. 1892-P (Type 2) Barber 25c AU-55 Minimum Bid (MB) 95

2. 1932-D Washington 25c VG MB 75

3. 1932-S Washington 25c VG MB 75

4. 1934-P Washington 25c Light Motto PCGS MS-62 MB 50

5. 1936-P Walking Liberty 50c AU-58 MB 19

6. 1885-P Morgan $1 MS-64 (rim toning- nice color) MB 60

7. 1893-CC Morgan $1 Good MB 145

8. 2007-S Presidential Ultra Cameo Proof Set NGC PF 69 No Minimum

9. 2014 U.S. Silver Proof Set MB 60

10. 1953 Red Seal $2 Note Shifted Date and Signature EF MB 5

11. 1910 Mexico Silver 10c (.800) BU MB 15

12. BU Roll of Twenty (20) 1973 Mexico 20c MB 15

13. Donation: 1960 U.S. Proof Set. No Minimum

From Dan Barnhart:

14. Donation: U.S. Mint 1965 SMS (Special Mint Set) in Original Holder

15. Donation: U.S. Mint 1966 SMS (Special Mint Set) in Original Holder

16. Donation: U.S. Mint 1967 SMS (Special Mint Set) in Original Holder

From Greg Allen:

17. Donation: 1886-P Morgan $1 ANACS MS-62

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ANCHORAGE COIN CLUB

January 6th RAFFLE

Tickets $5 each, 5 tickets for $20, or 11 tickets for $40.

Purchase and Drawing at the January 6th meeting.

1898-O Morgan Dollar in MS63 condition

          $25 / Year Regular Membership

          $10 / Year Youngsters & School Aged Kids up to Grade 12

          $10 / Year for Seniors, Handicapped Members,
                    and Associate Members Living Outside Anchorage

Send application and dues to :

ANCHORAGE COIN CLUB

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