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Nebraska Numismatic Association HWi LETTER A ORGANIZED MCMLVI When It Is Time To Sell Your Collection St. Louis Rare Coins Needs Your U.S. Coin Collection In our years of business we have built a reputation for honesty. We purchase everything in coins and paper money. Everything has value. Everything is paid for. We have the cash and we pay immedi¬ ately. We travel the entire United States purchasing coins. WHO SHOULD SELL YOUR COINS ...Don't leave the responsibility of selling your collection to someone who is not equipped to handle the task. You, the collector are best Life Member able to sell your holdings in an orderly and intelligent manner. ANA NSDR CSNS DON'T WASTE MONEY...Why INA KNA ILNA continue to pay expensive rental fees on safe deposit boxes? Now Mail To:- may be the time to liquidate your collection and put an end to those St. Louis R.C. unwanted fees and put the money realized from the sale of your P.O. Box collection to better use. HOW 1 f IS DONE... There are 411511 many ways to sell your collection. St. Louis, MO St. Louis R.C.'s can tailor the sale to your satisfaction. We would appreciate the opportunity to 63141 discuss the sale of your holdings. -CALL OR WRITE- 314-994-7525 We Will Travel Ronald R. Drzewucki, Jr. Nebraska Numismatic Association NEWSLETTER _JANUARY 1999_ In This Issue President’s Message . Page 2 Four Dollar Gold Stella. Page 3 1999 Krause Calendar. Page 6 Show Calendar. Page 7 Call For Nominations. Page 7 50 State Quarters Program. Page 9 Alaska Money.Page 13 Yorktown Surrender. Page 14 Membership News. Page 14 Order Your NNA Encased Cents. Page 15 Notice To Members. Page 15 1999 ANA National Coin Week. Page 16 Napoleon At Waterloo. Page 18 Future NNA Conventions.Page 18 NEWSLETTER The Nebraska Newsletter is the non profit publication of the Nebraska Numismatic Association. .Articles are solely the views of the authors. Your questions, suggestions and articles or advertising are avidly solicited. N.N.A. Editor: STEVEN C. DRAKE PO BOX 1003 OMAHA, NE 68101-1003 Newsletter Advertising The NEWSLETTER advertisements are not just limited to coin related advertising. If you have a business or just want to put your name in the NEWSLETTER as a booster, you are welcome to do so. Please provide ready made copies, since we are very limited in doing art work. There is a 25 percent discount if you advertise in four consecutive issues. ADVERTISING RATES SIZE 4 ISSUES 1 ISSUE COPY DEADLINES Full Page $32.00 $10.00 Dec. 1 for the Jan Issue Half Page $20.00 $ 6.00 Mar. 1 for the Apr. Issue Quarter Page $10.00 $ 3.00 June 1 for the July Issue Card $ 5.00 $ 1.50 Sept, for the Oct. Issue THOUGHT FOR THE DAY “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals.” 1 - - President's Message. . . Greetings to all on the occasion of this new year. There are a lot of local coin show s coming up the first half of 1999, t: biggest being the Nebraska Numismatic Associations 44th Annual Convention < April 17th and 18th. Hosted by the Omaha Coin Club, there will be something fj everyone at the Show' and Convention. One of the biggest events of the convention will be the election of ne officers. There are notices in this newsletter calling for nominations for an enti new' board and I encourage everyone to consider serving the NNA and members as an elected officer. The more interest we can create with the electio the stronger the newly elected board will be and better they will be able to ser us. So. get out there and run!!! Fifty, that’s right!, fifty quarters of different designs will be issued by t United States Mint over the next ten years. What a boom this is going to be for t hobby! Many thousands of new collectors will be looking for not only the ne quarters, but hopefully, w ill expand their interest into other areas of numismati as well. As an organization, we should be preparing and planning ways encourage all of these new collectors to join the NNA and the local coin clut Ideas anyone has towards this end should let them be known so action can taken. This need will be the NNA’s biggest challenge in the near future. Yours in collecting, Don Hespe Located in the J & L Lee/Booksellers Bookstore East Park Plaza 66th &'O'Street Phone Lincoln, Nebraska 68505 (402) 467-COIN John Veach Gerhard Niebuhr irankiin H. Mills James L. McKee -1. FOUR-DOLLAR GOLD STELLA The $4 gold coin or Stella (so-called from the star on the reverse) was conceived |/ Hon. John A. Kasson who at the time, 1879, was serving as the United States minister Austria. Earlier he chaired the Committee of Coinage, Weights and Measures. Kasson ilieved it desirable to create a coin whose metallic content was stated in the metric ■stem, the standard used in Europe, and whose value would approximate certain other )ld coins popular overseas, including the Spanish 20 pesetas, the Dutch 8 florins, the ustrian 8 florins, the Italian 20 lire, and the French 20 francs. The Committee of Coinage, Weights and Measurers duly considered the proposal id forwarded the suggestion that the name “suitable for the four-dollar coin would be ne Stella’ analogous to one eagle, both the star and eagle being national emblems on our >ins.” The fact that the $4 denomination was certainly redundant in a system employing the time $2.50, $3, and $5 issues received little consideration. In earlier years, the idea of a coin suitable for use in international commerce had :en proposed several times. The Paquet pattern $5 issue of 1868 and Bickford's ideas ’the mid-1870’s are examples. Despite historical proof that international exchange rates rarely remain constant, id without addressing the fact the $4 piece would not be precisely convertible into anly ’ the foreign gold coins being considered-it would still be necessary to compute an tchange rate and give change in other coins as well-Kasson’s $4 was received with a :gree of enthusiasm when it was suggested. Charles E. Barber and George T. Morgan each prepared distinctive designs tor the ella. Barber’s motif was distinguished by Miss Liberty having flowing hair, and on organ’s design coiled hair was used. Charles E. Barber, bom in London, England, November 16. 1840, came to merica with his father William (who was appointed chiet engraver ot the United States iint following James B. Longacre’ death on January 1,1869). Charles assisted his lather id held an engravership at the Mint, succeeding his father as chiet engraver in 1880, -J- following the latter's death in 1879. By that time he had been employed at the Mint over a decade and had assisted with many projects. His tenure as chief engra- continued until his death on February 18, 1917. The obverse design of Charles Barber’s 1879 Flowing Hair Stella was taken ff< the motif used by his father for a pattern half eagle the previous year, listed today Judd-1574. Surrounding the portrait on Barber’s 1879 Stella appear proportions of go silver, and copper and the weight in grams, with each numeral and letter separated stars. The reverse design features a five-pointed star with an inscription in the cen and other inscriptions surrounding. Specimens bearing the date 1879 and 1880 w< made of this design, with the 1880 being a great rarity. Companion Stellas were designed by George T. Morgan. Although t inscriptions on the Morgan design are similar to the Barber issue, the head of Liberty done in a different manner, with coiled and braided hair. A somewhat similar design w| produced by Morgan for pattern goloid (an alloy containing gold, silver, and copp> metric dollar. George T. Morgan was one of the most famous Mint engraver, at least from viewpoint of numismatists today, because of his 1878 silver dollar design. Bom in Birmingham, England, in 1845, Morgan subsequently attended i Birmingham Art School and then the South Kensington Art School. Later, he studied a pupil of Wyon at the Royal Mint in London. In 1876 Dr. Henry R. Linderman, direc of the Mint, induced Morgan to come to Philadelphia to assist William Barber. Morgai numismatic credit are many and include the reverse of the 1892 Columbia Expositi half dollar, other commemorative coins, medal, and other products. At the Mint worked as an assistant under William and Charles Barber until the latter’s death in 19 after which time Morgan was appointed to the post of chief engraver, an office which held until his death on January 4, 1925, at the age of 79. Morgan’s 1879 coiled hair $4 issued of 1879 and 1880 are major rarities. Onlj few exist today. In 1879 the Mint struck 15 examples Flowing hair design, listed in United Stai Patterns as Judd-163 5. The purpose was to acquaint the Coinage Committee with ti motif, size, and format. Early in 1880 a request was made by the Coinage Committee 1 an additional 400 pieces. The 1879-dated dies were used, and the supplementary coi were struck. These were subsequently distributed to members of Congress and, on limited basis, to numismatists who had special connections at the Mint. Toward the e of same year. 1880, S. K. Harzfeld, a rare coin dealer, interviewed A. Loudon Snowde the superintendent of the Philadelphia Mint, and learned that 180 examples of the 18 Flowing Hair Stella remained undistributed. Snowden suggested that these be sold numismatist at $15 each if suitable permission could be obtained from Washington. At the time, there was a considerable furor in the numismatic community relati to the perceived inequities of pattern coin distribution. It seems that privileged collectc with special contacts at the Mint had no trouble in obtaining “fancy pieces,” presumab by paying well for them. Many dissatisfactions were expressed in the numismatic prei Profiteering by Mint officials seems to have been the rule, not the exception. Oi modern-day writer, Don Taxay, has gone so far as to characterize the Mint facilities being nothing more than a workshop for the personal gain of those who had access dies. a Today numismatists take little note of the fact that most 1879-dated Stellas of the •'lowing Hair style were actually struck in 1880. While the pieces may indeed be estrikes in a technical sense, the pieces were produced with full disclosure and ipparently under conditions of necessity, the 1880-dated dies seemingly were not ready, rhere has been countless other incidents of dies being used near the date indicated, vithout any nefarious purpose, with modem examples being the striking of Lincoln cents luring the “penny shortage’ of the 1960's and the making, in even more modem times, of he 1776-1976 dated bicentennial coins in years after the bicentennial observations. Although the 1879 Flowing Hair Stella and related issues are patterns, by tradition hey have been incorporated into the regular senes, thus giving numismatist the opportunity to include this unusual denomination in their sets. The precise number of 1879 Flowing Hair Stellas minted is not know. The quantity of 15 struck in 1879 plus 400 produced in 1880 has been mentioned many times n print, but other have placed the number at 500 or even 600 (the latter being W. Elliot Woodward's estimate). Although all were struck as Proofs, the majority of pieces seen today show impairments of one son or another. Many show signs of having been used as jewelry. Interestingly, Walter Breen has published that these were favorite items "adorning the persons of Washington, D.C. madams who had received them from Congressional visitors to their bodellos." Parts of the above article was taking from "THE GRE.4T L4KES COLLECTION catalog by Auctions by Bowers and Merena, Inc. and Hanks and Associates. Inc. 5 - - 1999 Krause Publications Coin & Paper Mone Calendar Features Unusual Denominations Unusual numismatic items from the 18th through 20th centuries grac. the 1999 Krause Publications Coin & Paper Money Calendar. Each month coi and/or notes ore presented in large size and full color, highlighting their specia design and featuring historical data about and relating to the items depicted. Fron Civil War postage envelopes and encased stamps to $2.50. $3, and $4 gold coin: to fractional currency to military payment certificates, a wide variety of unusuat items are detailed. Along with mention of important holidays, special occasions, anc. president s birthday, dates of importance to numismatic followers are provided such as that listed for Aug. 29 - the day in 1862 that the Bureau of Engraving & Printing was founded. The calendar unfolds to 12” x 16-5/8” and is pnnted on high-qualitv paper. Krause Publications is the publisher of such numismatic magazines and newspapers as Coins magazine, Coin Prices, Numismatic News, World Coin News, and Bank Note Reporter. 6 - - Coins magazine is published monthly and features information on the history and investment potential of various coins. Bimonthly Coins Prices is a complete guide to retail values for collectible US. coins. Numismatic News is a [weekly publication for the serious collector/investor. World Coin News is published monthly and is collectors’ link to world coin collecting, from Austria to Zaire. Bank Note Reporter is a monthly publication with a global perspective on paper money collecting. It is the only independently produced publication devoted entirely to U.S. and world paper money, notes, checks and all related fiscal paper. The 1999 Krause Publications Coin & Paper Money Calendar is offered as a free premium with any new or renewed subscription to one of the Krause numismatic publications listed above. Without a subscription, the 1999 Krause Publications Coin & Paper Money Calendar can be purchased for $8.95 plus $2 shipping. Wisconsin residents, please add 5.5-percent sales tax. Write Coin Calendar. Krause Publications, 700 E. State St., Iola, WI 54990-001 Credit card customers can order toll free : (800) 258-09209. CALENDAR JAN 2-3, Grand Island Coin Club Annual Show Best Western-Riverside Inn. 3335 Ramada Rd. Grand Island, Nebraska March 14, Lincoln Coin Club Annual Show Park Center Rec Center, 2608 Park Blvd. Lincoln, Nebraska April 17-18, NEBRASKA Numismatic Association 44th Annual Convention Hosted by the Omaha Coin Club. Holiday Inn Central, Ford Hall 1-80 & 72nd Street, Omaha. Nebraska ATTENTION N.N.A. MEMBERS Call For Nominations Article V, Section 1, of the constitution states that the President shall call for nominations of officers to appear in the January issue ot the Newsletter. This year the office of President, First and Second Vice-President, and Secretary-Treasurer must be filled. Please send nominations to the Sec y/Treas, Steven C. Drake, P.O. Box 1003, Omaha. NE 68101-1003. 44th Annual Convention of the NEBRASKA NUMISMATIC ASSOCIATION and COIN SHOW Sponsored By The OMAHA COIN CLUB April 17-18, 1999 Banquet - 6:30 PM Saturday - Holiday Inn, Ford Hall, 1-80 & 72nd St. Omaha, Nebraska DEALERS BOURSE BUY SELL TRADE - - - - - - COINS - TOKENS - MEDALS - CURRENCY EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS & EXHIBITS - - FREE ADMISSION - For Information Contact: - Open To The Public Omaha Coin Club P.O. Box 1003 Omaha, NE 69101-19003 Steven C. Drake, 402-571-5421 The Omaha Coin Club Is Not Responsible For Accident Or Theft 8 - -