Zebo

On 4/17/2024 at 9:07 PM, Henri Charriere said:

Note:  The following account, a flight of fancy which bears no relation whatsoever to the truth is presented as an ode to every man, woman and child whose contributions to the Forum were presented in good faith only to be mauled by members whose credentials appear to have been dominated unchallenged by those whose words over an interval sufficient enough to make newcomers, unschooled in independent research, accept them and repeat them as one would gospel truth, buoyed along by a practiced form of mindless herd instinct.

We are presented here with what appears, at first blush, to be a common ANA pin replete with links and bars. To the unacquainted, it appears to be genuine.  No one dares mention why the years 1912 and 1913 are unrepresented. Perhaps no conventions were held in those years; perhaps there were.  To the trained eye, the package is inauthentic. ANA pins were made, but they were not rendered in what appears to be copper. Links were used, but the standard number was three with five used to distinguish the annual plates from the medal.  As hereinabove mentioned, these presentation medals were rendered in the standard copper-nickel alloy.  The links used were made of steel anchored to the medals and plates with silver frames.  These metal fixtures were used to keep inevitable tarnish to a minimum.  Even with the utmost care, metals subject to direct contact with environmental air, will suffer tarnish, copper most notably.

As regarding the obverse, the Latin inscription, de profundis, literally, "out of the depths" made popular by Oscar Wilde in a letter written from Reading gaol, as used in this context, has a significance lost to history. The "I Dream of Genie" lamp resting on a modest tome, entitled: "Ancient Mystery," too, has been lost to history.  One can only assume the number 14, stamped rather ostentatiously on the reverse, refers to its "mintage" in a limited production run. The medal originally festooned with tastefully-sized tri-color ribbons of red, white and blue, but are inexplicably missing.

This concludes my review of the ANA medal, which I remind viewers was spun from whole cloth, posted to promote dissenting commentary and is subject to removal by Moderators at their sole discretion for cause, or no cause at all.  

Nice try, but no cigar. No tri-colored ribbon for the pin and bars. Years 1912 and 1913, conventions were held, but this member either did not attend or did not purchase a bar for those years. De Profundis may have been made popular by Oscar Wilde, but it is much better known in other circles. As for the metal and links, well that’s another story. 
As for the meaning of the number 14, that has not been confirmed yet - but it was not the mintage. ANA President Zerbe, at the time, was the driving force behind the ANA convention medals. By the way, the first convention was held in 1891.

On 4/17/2024 at 8:51 PM, Just Bob said:

What was the hammer price?

$100

I wasn’t sure how much interest there would be in early ANA convention pin and bars. I put a bid in and forgot about it. Needless to say, I did not win it, but have a question about the number on the back of the medal? What is the significance of it? There are also markers marks which I find interesting.

anyone know what the number 14 on the back of the medal represents? 14th attendee? 

missed my chance on this one.

On 4/16/2024 at 10:34 PM, VKurtB said:

The safety in the Rosemont area is fine. It is practically a mafia-run private/public partnership. The population is roughly 4,000 folks, and the ANA show will more than double it. Oddly enough, most of its Mayors have spoken fluent Italian. The worst part of it is getting to Rosemont by ground from the south. From the north (Wisconsin) or west, it’s a breeze. The Chicago Transit Authority is a great service, but with the recent “issues”, I’d be more wary. 
If you fly into O’Hare, it’s ONE CTA Blue Line stop from the airport. ONE! Think of that!

I’d put the likelihood that I go to Rosemont this year at 5%. It would take a serious draw to get me there. Yes, now having a car whose air conditioning works is a help. 

I-65 to I#80 to the Tristate (294). Lots of traffic, but doable.

On 4/16/2024 at 10:53 PM, VKurtB said:

I have been awarded a Robert Lecce Scholarship (partial, tuition only) for the Summer Seminar this coming June. The value is $770. Because of the “extras” I ordered, including 3 extra nights room and board, to catch events between the two main weeks, I am spending a similar amount. The Robert Lecce is the only one offered by the ANA to adults of any financial status. The application was almost as daunting as a college application, complete with the essay. 
 

I wanted class #31 - A Survey of 20th and 21st Century World Coins, but that only has two sign ups, so I will most likely be in:

#34 - A History of U.S. Colonial Coins, Currency, and Medals, taught by Dr. Jesse Kraft of the ANS.

Next year, I will be applying for one of F.U.N. scholarships that are offered. Object lesson: sharpen up your writing skills.

Both courses sound very interesting. Never heard of the scholarship.

It would be nice for forum members to show some of their numismatic club or society tokens/medals and describe any meaning or symbolism to/on them.

On 4/8/2024 at 5:41 PM, Mike Meenderink said:

Gold 1621 100 Ducats Zygmunt III Waza (Bydgoszcz mint) Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth   1.25 M       

A very rare coin indeed. Beautiful.

Yep that’s it. I have the book on it written in both Polish and English. The 80 is coming up at auction soon. Have a million to spare?

Maybe this one…

if not the 100, maybe the 80!
 

On 4/8/2024 at 6:34 AM, Fenntucky Mike said:

I assume that by "U.S. dollars" it is meant any U.S. gold coin, presumably double eagles. It would be interesting to know what U.S. gold was exchanged, type and date, but it's highly unlikely such information was recorded.  

 

I would also assume double eagles as gold dollars would be a feat in itself. Here’s a bit more from the Melbourne records:

In 1925 large shipments of gold from America arrived and the Melbourne Mint was authorised to pay for imported gold in sovereigns. 

Good luck with the surgery. Too bad about Rosemont, 

On 4/7/2024 at 12:29 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

I thought this was an interesting little article. I had never really thought about how monies were exchanged between a visiting fleet or army and governments. I wonder how much gold was carried onboard and how much was deposited on a stop like this?

You should be able to zoom in on the pic and read the article. 

Excellent find by the way!

  A total of American gold dollars weighing 58,979.94 ounces were melted in Melbourne during 1925. Possibly all from the transfer mentioned above. The Melbourne Mint archives should have additional information on this melting. This amount was recorded in the Royal Mint reports and the information was provided to the Royal Mint by the the Superintendent of the Melbourne Mint.

Australian sovereigns were sought after because of their more yellowish hue given off from the alloy of silver vice the British copper. This pretty much ended in 1868/1869, however when the Royal Mint mandated that all sovereigns no matter where they were minted conform to British standards - thus copper alloy. The mints did experiment in some later years with using silver and copper as alloys, but this was short lived. You can find Australian sovereigns having silver as well as sovereigns having copper as an alloy dated 1868. It is believed that those minted with the copper alloy were actually minted in 1869, but dated 1868 as there are no Sydney sovereigns dated 1869.

The ANA WFOM will be in Rosemont (Crook County) again this year. Although rather early, is anyone planning on attending?

Kurt, are you going to attend now that you’ve had a spat with the ANA board? 
 
All of the other numismatic associations and societies as well as clubs issue member medals. Why doesn’t the ANA? They have convention medals. I think it would be a nice touch. They are big enough to even have the member’s number engraved on it, 

Less than melt is always good!

Governor Macquarie set the value of the holey dollar at five shillings, with 15 pence for the dump. These coins went into circulation in 1814. The New South Wales colonial administration began recalling the holey dollars and dumps and replacing them with sterling coinage starting in 1822. When the holey dollar was finally demonetised in 1829, most of the 40,000 coins in circulation had been exchanged.

On 3/31/2024 at 9:42 AM, Henri Charriere said:

Bear in mind, I am merely quoting Wikimedia.  I am only the messenger.

QA, did you know that there were coins being minted in over 70 mints in England at one time? 
 

Your question: when and how many mints???

Looks great, I will have to take more time reading…. Nice job Lee!

Like I said - slice and dice. Is a $5 proof NCLT that doesn’t even have an eagle on it considered a half eagle or a piece of modern metallic art? 

Now we can open the debate why West Point Mint counts or does not count regarding OPs question. 

Mike - too much information!!!   On the bidding of course.

The OPs pattern is very nice. Didn’t mean to detract from it.

Just another take off of the Australian Holey Dollar of 1813 or others that may have preceded it. The question is - where is the dump?

It depends how you slice and dice it. World? Modern or ancient? Actual mint or just location. Legally  minted I hope. 

On 3/28/2024 at 10:40 AM, Fenntucky Mike said:

Did anyone pick up anything at the latest ANA auction?

I walked away with the complete set of Numismatic Review booklets, some copies of the New Zealand Numismatic Journal, and missed out on a few other lots. 

I was bidding on the book below but was sniped at the end, I was really hoping to win this one.  Congratulations to the winner whomever they may be. 

 

Do you know what it went for?