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Chicago Coin Club Chatter January, 2006 Our 1045th Meeting Date: January 11, 2005 Time: 7:00 PM Location: Downtown Chicago At Dearborn Center, 131 S. Dearborn, 6th Floor, Conference Room 6A (right off the elevator lobby). Please remember the security measures at our meeting building: give a club officer the names of all your guests prior to the meeting day; and everyone must show their photo-ID and register at the guard’s desk. Featured Dr. Andy Plioplys - Silver Currency Ingots of Northern Europe speaker: At the April, 2004 meeting. Dr. Andy Plioplys gave an outstanding exhibit on the silver bars, called kapas, used as money in Lithuania from 1100-1300 AD. Since then, he has uncovered more information on this little known numismatic subject. With the help of the curators at the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture, the American Numismatic Society, the Smithsonian Institution, and private collectors, Andy received new information on other silver ingots that circulated 800-1450 AD throughout the Baltic region and along the Volga River area into Russia. He has also acquired what might be the only true Russian ingot in a private collection. Since his last featured talk before the club in August {Temporary Currencies of Lithuania), Andy gave a numismatic talk at the Balzekas Museum that resulted in an invitation to give a numismatic presentation at the 150th anniversary celebration of the Lithuanian National Museum in Vilnus, Lithuania. The event will be in April, 2006 and will include four days of talks dealing with Lithuanian numismatics. Part of Andy’s PowerPoint presentation will include information on Dr. Alexander Rackus, a Charter Member of the CCC and Past-President (1928). Dr. Rackus’ collection of Lithuanian numismatics makes up a large portion of the numismatic exhibits in the Balzekas Museum and the Ciurlionis National Art Museum in Kaunas, Lithuania. Birthday and Year Joined February 2 Tillie Boosel February 9 Steven G. Zitowsky 1991 February 16 Donald H. Dool 1998 February 25 Walter Pershke 1968 February 27 Ronald Martino 1991 Important Dates January 11 CCC Meeting - Featured Speaker -/o February 8 CCC Meeting - Featured Speaker - to be announced March 8 CCC Meeting - Featured Speaker - to be announced March 10-12 12th Annual Chicago Paper Money Expo (CPMX) at the Crown Plaza Chicago O’Hare, formerly the Holiday Inn O'Hare, 5440 North River Road, Rosemont, IL. Admission is $5 for Friday and Saturday; free on Sunday. March 11 CCC Meeting - 1pm at the Chicago Paper Money Exposition, which is held at the Crown Plaza Chicago O’Hare, formerly the Holiday Inn O'Hare, 5440 North River Road, Rosemont, IL. No admission charge for our meeting. Featured Speaker - to be announced. Mar 31 - Apr 2 30th Annual Chicago International Coin Fair (CICF) at the Crown Plaza Chicago O’Hare, formerly the Holiday Inn O'Hare, 5440 North River Road, Rosemont, IL. Admission is $5 for Friday and Saturday; free on Sunday. April 1 CCC Meeting - 1 pm at the Chicago International Coin Fair (CICF), which is held at the Crown Plaza Chicago O’Hare, formerly the Holiday Inn O'Hare, 5440 North River Road, Rosemont, IL. No admission charge for our meeting. Featured Speaker - to be announced April 12 CCC Meeting - Featured Speaker - to be announced Chatter Archive available at http://w\vw.ChicagoCoinClub.org/ Volume 52 No. 1 January 2006 Minutes of the 1044th Meeting The 1044th meeting of the Chicago Coin Club was the annual banquet held at Marcello’s Restaurant, 645 W, North Avenue, Chicago. Dinner was sei*ved to 29 members and guests at 7 PM after an hour of cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. President Robert Feiler called the meeting to order at 8 PM. Guests for the evening were: Mary Claire Jake, Heidi Feiler, Janet Leonard, Kathy Rosinia, Shari Zack plus the evening’s featured speaker Leonard Augsburger with his wife Debra. President Feiler called for a round of applause for Steve Zitowsky Mark Wieclaw plus Glen and Katie DeCosta for sponsoring the evening’s hors d’oeuvres. Steve Zitowsky was further recognized for his leadership with organizing the event. First V.P. Jeffrey Rosinia introduced the evening’s featured speaker Leonard Augsburger. His talk The Baltimore Gold Hoard was a fascinating story of two poverty stricken teenagers and their discovery in 1934 of thousands of U.S. gold coins found in the cellar of an east Baltimore tenement. Augsburger’s talk motivated members and guests to ask many questions afterwards. Members took time to place one last bid in a silent auction of material donated to the Club. The activity was organized by Lyle and K.L. Daly who received a round of applause for their work. Second V.P. Lyle Daly presented the 2005 Cabeen Awards and cited the exhibit material and numismatic achievements of each recipient. The Honorable Mention (Bronze Medal) recipients were: Chuck Jacobs, Robert Leonard, Robert Feiler and Steve Huber; Second Place (Silver Medal): Don Dool; and First Place (Gold Medal) Mark Wieclaw. All received an engraved Club medal. The meeting was adjourned at 9:12 PM; many members stayed in the room to visit and exchange holiday greetings. Jeffrey Rosinia entertained everyone with several trumpet solos of popular holiday songs. Respectfully submitted, Carl Wolf, Secretary Speaker's Wor[l]d The Baltimore Gold Hoard A presentation by Leonard Augsburger to our December 14, 2005 meeting. Our featured speaker at the CCC annual banquet was Len Augsburger, who spoke on the Baltimore gold hoard of 1934. Mr. Augsburger has spent much time in Baltimore working on a book length presentation of the story, the tale of two youths who uncovered a fortune in gold while playing in the cellar of a tenement on Eden Street in the Baltimore Fell’s Point neighborhood. Although the story has been somewhat known in numismatic circles, being mentioned in Breen and also featured in a 1935 auction catalog, Augsburger has unearthed new sources of information on the hoard unknown to previous researchers. Extensive records of the litigation surrounding the hoard were found in the Maryland State Archives, while Secret Service investigations were detailed in the National Archives in Washington. Contemporary accounts in the Baltimore press revealed many tidbits, and an inventory of the second part of the hoard, undisclosed to the authorities until a year after the original find, was found in the records of the Maryland Court of Appeals. In addition, descendants of the important hoard principals were tracked down and interviewed. Set amid the Depression in ethnic Baltimore, this riveting tale greatly entertained the audience at this year’s annual gala. Chatter Matter All correspondence pertaining to Club matters should be addressed to the Secretary and mailed to: CHICAGO COIN CLUB P.O. Box 2301 CHICAGO, IL 60690 Visit Our Web Site http://www.ChicagoCoinClub.org/ Contacting Your Editor [email protected] Club Officers Robert Feiler - President Jeff Rosinia - First Vice President Lyle Daly - Second Vice President Directors: Phil Carrigan Carl Wolf Steve Zitowsky Mark Wieclaw Other positions held are: Bill Burd/Carl Wolf - Secretary Steve Zitowsky - Treasurer Paul Hybert - Chatter Editor William Burd - Archivist Chicago Coin Club Chatter February, 2006