Penny-Wise

Although the coin in question was as good as the Noe plate coin, the ultimate selling price for the piece from a popular Boston area bid wall (which normally draws good prices) was about $425., the top of the price category for 'dogs'. Beside the 'dogs' category, there are the fakes, and in this area there are good fakes and bad fakes. The bad fakes are those pieces which may be used to deceive the inexperienced or casual buyer. Many of these items were sold in the Boston area tourist attractions before the Hobby Protection Act required that the word COPY be placed on all reproductions . About 3 years ago, a co- worker showed me a 'Pine Tree shilling' which he had found on a football field. The piece was bad, of course; but, to the casual observer, it could have been quite deceptive. I could imagine someone placing such an item in a 3x3 holder with a velvet pouch and offering it as a special deal to an investor. The good fakes fall into 2 categories. The first category is the contemporary counterfeits and the classic 19th century reproductions which have become part of the Massachusetts silver series for some collectors. Although these pieces do have their place, I think that they are largely of interest to the advanced die variety collector who is looking to add some historical items to - 8 - an already established collection. As a general Colonial— type coin collector, I would prefer to have one or more examples of the 'real thing' before I would want to get involved in that area. The second 'good fake' area is the series of town medals and related items which have been issued over the years. These pieces usually commemorate an event or anniversary on one side and a facsimile of a Massachusetts silver piece on the other.


Penny-Wise

Collector interest is limited in this area and so the selling prices usually never exceed a few dollars. These pieces can be especially interesting when the original boxes or containers and the historical notes are included. About a year ago at a local coin club auction, I purchased a medal which commemorated the Tercentenary of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The piece, which was issued in 1930, came in a cute little round box and featured a reproduction of the reverse of a Pine Tree shilling on one side and a picture of John Hull's daughter, Hannah, seated on a scale on the other. There was also a slip of paper in the box which contained the information used earlier in this series of articles concerning her marriage to Judge Samuel Sewall. Not a bad deal for a buck! A Personal Experience I became interested in the Massachusetts silver coinage about 6 years ago when I moved to Boston. I purchased copies of Crosby and Noe, read them over, and decided to acquire a representative example of a Pine Tree shilling. In the fall of 1979, I noticed a Pine Tree shilling in one of Catherine Bullowa's mail bid sales. She was kind enough to send the coin to me for a 24-hour inspection. I liked the coin and placed a bid on that piece and on another coin of interest, a 1 795 half dime. When the sale was settled, I had won the half dime at a bid well below my maximum but had missed out on the Pine Tree shilling . After this sale, the bull coin market raised its ugly head and forced every- one except the high rollers out of numismatics. Since I did not want a low grade example of the Pine Tree shilling, I stayed on the sidelines. In 1982, the great bull market had become the land of the bear and I now had hope of owning a decent shilling.


Penny-Wise

Lapp: In the November Penny-Wise just received, Robert Schonwalter speculates on the cause of the plain over reeded edge on his 1841 Proof half cent. He quotes from the Robinson catalogue the explanation attributed to Richard Picker and later Walter Breen, that Apparently the planchets were prepared with reeding, then in the final striking a plain collar was used which flattened out the reeding." Schonwalter is of the opinion that this explanation did not seem to make sense. He goes on to ask how, and why, a planchet could be prepared with a reeded edge. The how is easy. Before the Mint began striking reeded edge dimes in reeded collars in mid-1828, with other denominations following in later years, the edges of the planchets for reeded edge coins such as Half Dimes, Dimes, Quarters, Quarter Eagles, Half Eagles and Eagles were reeded on the Castaing machine prior to the strike. The coins were struck without a collar to avoid crushing the reeding. The introduction of the reeded collar eliminated the need to reed the planchet before the strike, but not the need to upset the edge of planchet. Without this upsetting, which previously occured as a fringe benefit of the reeding process, there was not enough metal near the edge of the planchet to properly form the rim. Thus the planchets still had to be upset on the Castaing machine, though with plain pressure bars rather than reeded ones. It is my supposition that the Mint experienced problems with the planchets slipping between the plain pressure bars, so that part of the circumfrence of a planchet was not upset. A similar problem commonly occured on the Bust half dollars, where the pressure bars were plain except for the well-spaced letters FIFTY CENTS OR HALF A DOLLAR. To combat this problem the Mint experimented with various space fillers on the edges of some 1809 halves, and added fine parallel lines between the words in 1830 I believe that the Mint tried to solve its slippage problem by using finely reeded pressure bars on the Castaing machine, at least on the thinner denominations like the Half Dime, Dime and Quarter.


Penny-Wise

However, they are more often kept which only serves to encourage this mean practice. It is small wonder that interest in coin collecting has declined in recent times or indeed that it survives at all. Isn't it time to end this "caveat emptor" (let the buyer beware; policy and demonstrate the courage to confront or expell the numismatic quacks from our ranks? If you feel extreme measures are unnecessary and that stricter grading enforcement should be a gradual process, maybe the best place to begin is your own collection. How long has it been since you checked your grades? If you have not checked recently or worse yet you still list the grades assigned by previous owners, re-examination - 17 - XX /1 1 2 is definitely in order. Even if you have a large collection, checking is important because your early grading may differ significantly from that of recent acquisitions. Why wait until someone reveals that many of your coins are overgraded or risk disappointment at sale time when an anticipated profit may become an unexpected loss? Your best protection is to become familiar with the standards, study many coins, do your own grading and periodically review your collection. You really can't afford to rely on someone else's judgment. OK, so you believe that you already grade conservatively but try this experiment anyway. Without prior reference to source or cost, assemble all your specimens of the same grade and type into, groups for comparison. If you do not have enough coins for grouping, line up those you own according to grade. Check each specimen for wear and move those of higher or lower grade to their proper position or group. Coins with serious problems (i.e. porosity, roughness, scratches, digs, etc.) which are inconsistent with normal wear should be reduced in grade to adjust for the full impact of such disfigurement.


Penny-Wise

If you have enough varieties for grouping, select the coin that most closely represents the group grade level and you will have a reasonably accurate grading guide . Before you decide that this is an exercise for beginners, give it a try. You may be surprised how you have been fooled or have fooled yourself but infatuation with a pretty lady is often responsible for strange behavior. You may also find that you grade more accurately after you have owned a coin for a while than you did when you bought it or when you are planning to sell. If we wish to preserve grading standards, we must maintain accuracy within our own collections. In a recent WALL STREET JOURNAL article, Daniel Boostin, the librarian of Congress, said, "I write to discover what I think." I believe that how we grade reveals what we are. In 1980 I attended my first EAC Convention and have never for- gotten the wonderful spirit of camaraderie which I experienced. Immediately after registering, I made my way to the bourse floor and found myself at John Ashby's table. I had not met John before and knew him only through brief correspondence . but he greeted me warmly and asked what he could show me. I advised him of my interest in draped bust large cents and John handed me a double row box. He then pointed to comfortable chairs and a table in the center of the floor and said, "Good hunting! If you find something you like, bring it over and we'll talk about it." John acted as if he had known me for years, but more important, he demonstrated a trust not only in me but in all who came to his table. I thought this was unique but soon learned that most dealers present were doing business in the same way.


Penny-Wise

A Mid-West EAC Regional meeting was held on November 29, in conjunction with the Michigan State Coin Show. The following signed the roster for the evening: Don Valenciano, Jr. Steve Fischer Jim McGuigan Tom Matthews Joan Widok Rod Widok John Sype John Wright Mike Rintz Gene Braig Steve Hayden Tom Reynolds Tom DeLorey Larry Bolema Kevin Bolema Mike Sugamele Ken Mote Joseph Tomasko Dennis Mendelson John Wright led an informal discussion and then showed his collection of 1801 , 1802, and 1839 large cents which were very impressive. REGIONAL EAC MEETING, NY-NJ SECTION Robert Martin A regional meeting of EAC's NY-NJ section was held on Saturday, November 2, 1985 in conjunction with the Grand Central Coin Convention held in New York City. Those present were: Chuck Heck Frank Stillinger Doug Walcutt Vincent Manna Joel Spingarn John Brady Robert Miller Arlene Holl William Pearson Robert Matthews David Hensley Herman Halpern David Palmer Harry Colborn Roger Geary HarryJ. Rescigno Joel Geoffrey Robert Saltisiak Burnett Anderson Sal Zambuto Robert Slobbins Warren Weiss Walter Chincy Rick Leonard Kenny Kugler Rona Kugler George Cuhaj Enoch Blackwell Robert Martin The featured event of the meeting was a presentation by Chuck Heck on the various aspects of collecting the middle date (1816-1839) large cents. Chuck opened his discussion with a review of the reference works on the middle date series which had been published by Frank Andrews in 1881 and by Howard Newcomb in 1944. Recent updated articles by John Wright were also mentioned. He also recommended as useful supplements to the aforementioned reference works notable auction catalogues of sales containing major offerings of middle date cents such as Stack's Floyd Starr sale. Chuck then provided the members with a line drawing which would aid in the identification of the various middle date varieties. The line drawing illustrated the relationship of star points to the coronet tip and denticles for use in identifying obverses and the relationship of leaf points to the legends for use in identifying the reverses.


Penny-Wise

I also pay finders' fees for reliable leads. - 37 - XX /1 1 2 HISTORIC SITES IN PHILADELPHIA Leo Shane Recently, I accompanied my son's Cub Scout Park on a tour of some historic sites in Center City, Philadelphia. Along with a stop at the Liberty Bell, we toured Independence Hall. We followed the park guide (the Independence Mall area was declared a National Park in 1975) through the various rooms to a room in the East Wing called the Assembly Room. It was in this room that our Founding Fathers discussed the words of the Constitution and approved the final ve rsion . It was also in this room that George Washington presided over this Assembly during which time he was seated in a chair which caught the interest of none other than Benjamin Franklin. In his book on the Fugio cents, Alan Kessler wrote: "At the first Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, George Washington used a chair which had a sun-with-rays design carved on the back. During the conven- tion which he attended, Franklin became enthralled with the chair's design. At the successful conclusion of the convention, Franklin was heard to say: 'It is a rising sun, not a setting sun.' " This sun-with-rays design on Washington's chair is virtually identical with the pointed rays on the Fugio cent and may very well have been the inspiration and model for the sun-and-rays used on the Fugios. Although the guide knew of the chair and of Franklin's interest in it, he did not know of the connection to our first federally authorized coin. I could not resist informing him of this connection and he seemed appreciative of learning about it. Needless to say, I had to get pictures of the room and the chair and found postcards of both at the Mall's book store.