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Ideas for a coin club meeting

Started by Merc,

24 posts in this topic

Merc

Merc

Posted
Posted

I am the president of a coin club in Maryland. We are a new club and will be 2 years old this Feb 1st! We started from just having a group of collectors meet into a more mature club with officers and a business meeting. We are a member club of the ANA and the Maryland State Numismatic Association.

 

I am looking for ideas on how to improve membership and to encourage the members to attend more meetings. We have 39 paid members, but attendance can vary from 12 to 25.

 

Here is what we are offering.

Member attendance prize (proof set or silver ounce)

Kids' attendance prize (each YN gets a free coin each meeting)

small raffle

club auction

coin seminar at each meeting

 

Next time, we even have a book author comming to give the seminar.

 

What are some other ideas to keep people returning? confused-smiley-013.gif

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Zoins

Zoins

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I've never been to a coin club meeting. What usually goes on at them?

 

I'm not sure I would want to rely on giving away prizes to get people to come back every time as you might get people coming just for the prizes.

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Zoins

Zoins

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I was part of a hiking club for a while and we'd have members give presentations on their around-the-world hikes and climbs. People would put together slide shows either using slide projectors with real slides or laptops. It was interesting to see a story put together like that. It could be interesting to have some subjects (like some of the more detailed articles posted here) turned into slide shows with pictures of coins as well as related people, buildings, etc. ( e.g. southern gold rush, California gold rush and territorial gold, Carson City silver, etc. ). Another way to organize subjects could be by person, say a designer and track all the coins, medals, whatever a person did over the course of his/her career.

 

It could also be interesting to have a "How do you do it" class like a class on dipping and neutralizing. Bring your old cruddy silver coins and learn how to dip wink.gif

 

I'd definitely be more interested in attending a coin club meeting where I thought I was going to learn something.

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MarkFeld

MarkFeld

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Are any of the club members particularly adept/expert at grading coins? If you're POSITIVE the answer is yes, you might consider having him/them evaluate and give opinions of coins for people, in a show, tell and discuss format.

 

As another possibility, you could come up with potential topics of (doings in the world of coins and coin collecting) interest to discuss, let people know in advance what the topic(s) will be and invite them to participate. You could even prepare and present in advance, a list of topics to choose from.

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DC Dawg

DC Dawg

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Posted

Hey Merc... as a neighbor in Montgomery County and a board member of the Montgomery County Coin Club, I know a little about what you are talking about. One of the small advantages you have being close to the DC metro area is that there are a few good resources here. Here are a few ideas that we had:

  • Joe Fitzgerald, former artist in the Mint's Artist Infusion Program and designer of the obverse of the 2005 Jefferson Nickels (my favorite of modern coins), lives in the area. He's represented at Foxhall Gallery on New Mexico Avenue in the District. Try contacting him through the gallery.
  • The Bureau of Engraving and Printing is downtown on 14th Street. Call their public affairs number and see if they can have someone talk about the printing process and the new Federal Reserve Notes.
  • Call the Mint's press office. There are a few members of the Artistic Infusion Program living in the area. Maybe they can put them in contact with you.
  • While the engraving department is located in Philadelphia, see if there is some way that one of the engravers can speak to the club in conjunction with a trip to the DC area.
  • Have a local dealer come and talk about the state of the market. We have had Julian Leidman come to our meetings. He's also been to the Washington Numismatic Society. You can ask if he'll visit you in Frederick (he's located in Silver Spring).
  • One that we have not tried, but it might be worth a shot is contacting the club outreach program at Heritage Auction Galleries and ask if there is someone locally you can invite to a meeting to talk. Visit their web site for more information.
  • If a member, or two, attends a show, like the ANA's National Money Show in Charlotte next March, have a program where they talk about their experiences. Or you can ask someone else who has attended to come in and talk--I will be in Charlotte for the show and can be persuaded to drive up to Fredrick. I work for good coffee (didn't I see your meeting are held near a Starbucks?) cool.gif

If you find anyone interesting, PM me with the information and we can share. I will pass on any information I find to you.

 

Scott hi.gif

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Merc

Merc

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Hmmm, the beer and crabs sounds like a good idea. We meet at a school so I don’t think they would be happy if we brought in beer! We do have food and drink at each meeting.

 

The coin seminar is like a show and tell. The VP is in charge of organizing the programs. He asks for volunteers to give a presentation. We have covered things like patern coins, proof mercury dimes, mardi gras tokens, WWII currency, and WWI German currency. Last night, we had the kids present some of their favorite coins.

 

We do offer free coin grading/evaluations. I was a finalist in the PCGS grading contest so I usually know what I’m doing. It can be a bit hectic when people bring me coins to grade while I’m trying to set things up for the meeting. I had to give bad news to one member when he brought me 1 fake 1909-S VDB. Then I made others happy when I told them their 2 3-legged buffalo nickels were real.

 

Thanks Scott B for all of your local ideas. I may have to take you up on your offer to visit the club. I know we need a person for a program in April!

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astrostu

astrostu

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I've been to a few local meetings. What we do is mingle at first, then the president gives a current state of affairs for the club, then we mingle for a few minutes, then have the main talk/presentation, mingling, the doorprize and raffle is done, and then another break, and finally an auction.

 

More specifically, there are tables set up around the room where members can come and display and/or sell any coins they want. The door prize is only open to members and usually involves cheap coins (like I recently won a set of nicely toned P, D, and S 1943 cents). The raffle has lately been a coin worth ~$70 and it's $1 a ticket ... the club has generally come out ahead on them. The auction afterwards is done with anonymous sellers where it's a simple hand-raising thing. It's open to anyone and the club does not take a commission, which I like.

 

Food is also generally brought by 1-3 people, and there's a donation jar next to it.

 

The actual main topic has covered a huge range of things ... in December there was a guy on so-called dollars, November had biblical coins, and October had the VP of ICG (or IGC?) and one of their top graders come out and talk, andwer questions, and offer free assessments on coins people brought in. I've suggested various topics such as gold coins, the role of gold and silver in US coins, America's early coins, colonial coins, etc. I've also suggested that they try to get a very few members together who collect a certain type of coin and do a presentation on that.

 

The main thing I don't like is how verbose the president is at the beginning and how much time is spent on the mingling as opposed to actual meeting stuff, especially since we're almost always pressed for time at the end.

 

Oh, and I forgot -- before the prizes are drawn for the door and raffle, there's also a 10-question quiz written by whoever won the quiz at the last meeting. The prize is generally something small, like the door prize, but I like it because it puts my triva to use, finally.

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cpm9ball

cpm9ball

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Hmmm, the beer and crabs sounds like a good idea. We meet at a school so I don’t think they would be happy if we brought in beer! We do have food and drink at each meeting.

 

The coin seminar is like a show and tell. The VP is in charge of organizing the programs. He asks for volunteers to give a presentation. We have covered things like patern coins, proof mercury dimes, mardi gras tokens, WWII currency, and WWI German currency. Last night, we had the kids present some of their favorite coins.

 

We do offer free coin grading/evaluations. I was a finalist in the PCGS grading contest so I usually know what I’m doing. It can be a bit hectic when people bring me coins to grade while I’m trying to set things up for the meeting. I had to give bad news to one member when he brought me 1 fake 1909-S VDB. Then I made others happy when I told them their 2 3-legged buffalo nickels were real.

 

Thanks Scott B for all of your local ideas. I may have to take you up on your offer to visit the club. I know we need a person for a program in April!

 

Sorry, Merc, I should have put the "serious" before the "levity".

 

Here is an idea for you

When I was at FUN, I spent some time talking to the representatives at the Pacific Science Supplies table. I learned that they were actively looking for organizations to donate their stereomicroscopes. No, it's not the $850 model I bought a few months ago. It's a smaller one. But, don't let that stop you. I used to solicit cuemakers to raise money for our pool leagues. In 2-1/2 years, I was able to raise $15,000 from cue raffles. "Shoot for the moon" but be willing to settle for less.

 

Here is what you could do

Contact Pac-Sci and ask if they would be interested in donating 12 of their Model P217718 Stereomicroscope. Explain to them that your club wants to make two available for members who can't afford them and the rest are to be raffled to raise money for much-needed supplies (reference books, coin supplies, a Coin World subscription! etc.)

 

Who to contact at Pac-Sci

Nichole Pascua, Marketing Coordinator

400 Eastern Avenue

Bensenville, IL 60106

(847)238-1846 Ext. 208

(800)530-1500

E-mail: npascua@pacsciusa.com

www.pacsciusa.com

 

Conducting the raffles

Hold a raffle every month or two depending on the number of microscopes you are able to get. Be sure to use the two-part tickets that are available at most office supply stores. Sell tickets 3 for $5, 7 for $10 and 15 for $20. I did this with $200 cues and was able to raise at least $500 per month. If you want to maximize your return, don't just sell tickets to club members, you won't make enough. Sell them to anyone! Sell them to your local coin dealers and everyone who works for them! Carry the (microscope) brochure and tickets with you all the time. If there is another club member who is reliable, ask them to help. You can double your efforts. If the person buying the tickets isn't a club member, all you need is their name and telephone number. The people buying the tickets don't even have to live in your area. I shipped two cues out-of-state to vacationers. If someone asks you how the proceeds from the raffle is to be used, be honest. Tell them you are trying to help your club and the membership obtain much-needed resources that you wouldn't ordinarily be able to afford.

 

It's a WIN/WIN situation

Pac-Sci gets exposure and your club can grow. Many of the people I solicited for the cue raffles became interested and joined our pool league as a result. You can do the same for your club. It just takes a little effort.

 

If you think this is something worth trying and you have any other questions, please send me a PM.

 

Chris

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michael

michael

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club auction definately yes this is one of the most important parts of the meetings

coin seminar at each meeting--i love it yes yes this is the key

 

snacks just put out a basket for donations

 

does not have to be much a couple bags of pretzels some diet coke and also ask members to bring a snack to pass wives bake something this is a good inexpensive way to go

 

forget about raffles get people to come if they want to

 

do a 50/50 raffel 1 dollar a ticket and at the end of the meeting the number called gets half of the money the other half goes into next meetings snack fund or whatever

 

and yes a free small foreign coin for the kids that come 17 and under with something interesting about the coin and/or a website to go to to find out more about a coin

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DC Dawg

DC Dawg

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do a 50/50 raffel 1 dollar a ticket and at the end of the meeting the number called gets half of the money the other half goes into next meetings snack fund or whatever

The 50/50 raffle can be used to to help fund the "next" raffle that would be a coin. Do the 50/50 for a couple of months then see if you can find something interesting either at a local coin shop or on eBay (small gold pieces, for example). The net proceeds would be used for future raffles.

 

Scott hi.gif

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WoodenJefferson

WoodenJefferson

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I went to one where they had a 4X8 sheet of coverd plywood with about 288 nails sectioned off in 4" squares. Each section could hold a 4" sandwhich bag where either raw coins in flips, 2x2's or slabs could be held. The pre-printed slip had all the coin info on it, ask price or bid price with an identification number for the owner. Nobody knew who the owners were but you had to be a member and drop them off in a shoe box or bag and fill in the information and then get an inventory slip. Also nobody got to see the board until the meeting...they had to tear people away to start the meeting it was so popular. You picked out the coins, paid the treasurer and the club kept a small percentage of the proceedes and then the club paid the owner. Seemed to work very well...requires honesty for all concerned, like a small local club where everyone knows everyone else.

 

Good luck

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DC Dawg

DC Dawg

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This coin club sounds like it's cool and helpful thumbsup2.gif Wish we had one around here. How about a ladies night?

You could check out the club listing at the ANA's website. I am not sure where in Mass you live, but you can check out this list of Massachusettes-based clubs.

 

Scott hi.gif

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MrSpud-migration

MrSpud-migration

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Lot's of good suggestions so far. I'm a member of the Charlotte Coin Club.Here's a description of what our club is like. Basically the annual dues are $10, which includes a free copy of the Redbook. The Club meets the 4th thursday of every month. The meetings typically run from 7:00 to 9:00 and include an opening statement from the Club President, a show and tell, an educational presentation, a small auction, and a Raffle (for slider Morgans and a Gold piece). There are also usually 1 or 2 members who are also dealers who set up a small table and activities for YN's.

 

We recently put up a website and designed a brochure to try and get new people interested. When I first heard about our club I couldn't find out any information except for an old newsparer article I found in Google. Just a basic website would have been much easier to find and is a handy reminder for members so they can look up when the meetings are.

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Zoins

Zoins

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There's a thread ATS talking about National Coin Week April 15-21, 2007 and doing a club promotion with the Presidential dollars. I just replied saying that it might be a good marketing idea to get some NGC edge view sample slabs made with inserts that had your coin club name, National Coin Week and April 15-21, 2007. I like this idea from a marketing perspective because your coin club name will likely be associated with the coins for a very long time. I like the idea enough that I thought I'd post here and I've also posted to the NGC moderated forum asking how this can be done. The US Mint will also give you Presidential dollar promo materials.

 

What do you think?

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Zoins

Zoins

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With the Presidential dollars coming out it might be neat to have a discussion on coins with edge lettering over the years. It might also be neat to have some coins in various edge view holders (NGC, ICG, CGS, etc.) to hand around for people to examine and compare.

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