The Maryland Numismatist Anti-Counterfeiting Devices Image courtesy of the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Ballot enclosed Annual meeting Nov. 19 at 3PM Baltimore Convention Center room 329 Autumn, 2011 Volume 39 – No. 3 The OFFICERS Maryland PRESIDENT State Jack Schadegg Montgomery County Coin Numismatic Club Association, VICE PRESIDENT Inc. Joe Burford The MARYLAND NUMISMATIST Baltimore Coin Club is the quarterly publication of SECRETARY MSNA and is distributed to all Bryce Doxzon members in good standing without Catonsville Coin Club additional cost. TREASURER Simcha Kuritzky, CPA http://mdstatenumisassn.org Montgomery County Coin ********************************* Club EDITOR ******************************** Simcha Kuritzky Post Office Box 13504 CLUB REPRESENTATIVES Silver Spring, MD 20911-3504 Each member club of MSNA shall [email protected] appoint a representative who will serve on the board and will exercise their ********************************* club's vote on any matter arising. The Board of Directors of MSNA is ******************************** composed of the officers, past presi- PAST PRESIDENTS: dents and club representatives as listed to the right. Frank Murphy ********************************* Simcha Kuritzky Edward L. Craig ******************************** ANA # C-73593 LC-42 Club Mailing Address: MSNA ********************************* Post Office Box 13504 LIFE MEMBER CLUBS Silver Spring, MD 20911-3504 #-1 Baltimore Coin Club ******************************** #-2 Carroll County Coin Club #-3 Maryland Token & Medal Society The Maryland Numismatist content is #-4 South Glen Burnie Coin Club copyrighted by its authors and may not #-5 Colonial Coin Club be reproduced without their consent. #-6 Bowie Coin Club The Maryland Numismatist – Autumn, 2011 Page 3 Table of Contents Officer Listing 2 President's Message 4 Anthony Swiatek Talk in Baltimore 6 Literary References to Maryland 6 A Brief History of Anti-Counterfeiting Devices 8 Local News 12 What's Your Sign? (Zodiac themed medals) 15 New Constitution and By-Laws 20 Ballot 21 Maryland Coin Show Dates 22 Club Member Listing 23 Advertising Rates 23 DAVE THAXTER & SONS METRO COIN & CURRENCY 7880-A Washington Blvd., Elkridge, MD 21075 Always buying and selling U. S. & World Coins and Paper Money Phone (410) 799-1119 Hours: Tue. – Fri. 10:00 - 6:00 E-Mail: [email protected] Sat. 10:00 - 3:00 ■ MSNA Life Member #64 ■ Page 4 The Maryland Numismatist - Autumn, 2011 President's Message Welcome to the autumn issue of The Maryland Numismatist. MSNA extends a special thanks to Anthony Swiatek, our third speaker in the MSNA Distinguished Lecturer Series. After delivering a nice lecture and slide show on buying coins, Anthony generously donated back to MSNA the honorarium we presented him, though he did enthusiastically accept the MSNA Honorary Life Membership. The success of Distinguished Lecture Series encourages us that our decision three years ago to redirect the organization away from hosting an annual show and initiatives and events like the lecture series and exhibit competitions was the right one. We look forward to the continuance of this series into 2012 and beyond. MSNA's last event of 2011 will be the annual meeting at the Whitman show in November (room 329 of the Baltimore Convention Center). Members are highly encouraged to attend our upcoming annual meeting as we will be seeking approval of some minor updates and revisions to our Constitution and By-Laws, as published in this issue and on the MSNA website. We will also be working on securing an appraisal of the John B. Henry collection and incorporating a simple but functional MSNA store on our website to benefit members and member clubs. In my last letter I addressed the need for ensuring adequate member club representation at our meetings and events. The task at hand is to simply have member clubs re-establish or confirm their representative to MSNA. I ask that all member clubs be responsive to the forthcoming letter to your club requesting this information update. The MSNA board will entertain and consider member submissions on the design of our 2012 Souvenir Card to commemorate the War of 1812. If you have design ideas or proposals for the 2012 souvenir card, please submit them for our consideration prior to November. The design selection will be announced in the next issue. Thanks again to all the member clubs and members who promoted, sold, or purchased 2011 tickets for the gold and silver prizes to be raffled in November. Please contact us if you need more tickets for friends and family. With that, I wish you the best the autumn months and this hobby can offer. I hope to see many of you at our annual meeting. The Maryland Numismatist – Autumn, 2011 Page 5 Julian M. Leidman One of America's foremost dealers in rare coins Bonanza Coin 940 Wayne Avenue Silver Spring, MD 20910 Telephone (301) 585-1480 Email: [email protected] Professional Numismatic Dealer & Consultant for over 40 Years What Have I Done? I have handled, developed and sold many of the finest rare coin collections in the country including:  Rare Colonial issues, including several 1792 issues  Assemblage of specialized collections of all early U.S. coins by die variety  Sale of the Wilkison Gold Pattern Collection in 1973  Participation as a bourse dealer at hundreds of local, regional and national coin shows and conventions  Attendance at every major U.S. auction held since 1968, representing as many as 25 bidders at the same time  Consultation to corporations, dealers, and collectors in order to develop, build and expand collections as well as being instrumental in the promotion of the numismatic hobby  Recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Professional Numismatists Guild What Can I Do For You? With total confidentiality, I will tailor my services to fit your needs, and:  Assist in the formation (or location) of any U.S. coin or currency collection  Counsel collectors, dealers and corporations on any aspect of the numismatic business or hobby  Act as personal representative for any numismatic transaction at a maximum commission of 10%  Appraise collections or individual pieces on an hourly basis  Assist in the orderly disposition of holdings at current values LM #664 Page 6 The Maryland Numismatist - Autumn, 2011 Anthony Swiatek Talk in Baltimore Former ANA President Anthony Swiatek spoke on ―What Every Collector Should Be Aware of Before Buying Coins at a Coin Show‖ on Friday at the June Whitman Expo in the Baltimore Convention Center. This expo was held in a new hall, nearest to Camden Yards, so the talk was nearby on the west side of the hall. We had a couple dozen attendees for a talk that lasted an hour and a half. Mr. Swiatek had an old-fashioned slide show that included many counterfeits and altered coins, including coins with added mintmarks and smoothed surfaces. He also described how evolving grading standards and coin slabbing have impacted the coin market. As a recognized expert in U.S. commemorative coins, Mr. Swiatek gave the audience some pointers on which recent commemorative issues contain valuable varieties. He also included a good number of anecdotes and humorous stories. At the conclusion of the lecture, Mr. Swiatek accepted an honorary life membership in MSNA and a presentation set of MSNA medals. He also donated back our honorarium, which will help keep MSNA in the black this year. Literary References to Maryland Maryland resident David Schenkman described a visit to the St. Maries Coin Club in his column in the July Numismatist (ANA's journal). He also shows their fortieth anniversary medal and an example of their SCRIP which is given out as door prizes. Capitol Coin & Stamp Co. of Washington, D.C., Inc. 1001 Connecticut Avenue NW| Nelson Whitman, President Suite 745| Political memorabilia Washington, D.C. 20036| Bank & estate appraisals Entrance on K Street| Rare coins & paper money Phone: 202-296-0400 Fax: 0401| 10-6 Monday-Friday e-mail: [email protected]| ANA, APIC Website: www.capitolcoin.com| The Maryland Numismatist – Autumn, 2011 Page 7 Maryland Coin Exchange Free Appraisals - Top Dollar Paid! Professional Bank & Estate Appraisals Gold Coin & Silver Dollar Specialists Will Travel to Your Location Rare Coins, Currency, Stamps, Trusts, Fine Jewelry, Fine Art and More. Michael O'Higgins Since 1974 Maryland Storefront: Maryland Coin Exchange 8620 Georgia Avenue (by Colesville) Silver Spring, MD 20910 (301) 589-2278 Fax: (301) 585-2362 Florida Storefront: Steib's Sales East Coast, Inc. 800 W. Cypress Creek Road, Suite 530 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309 (866) 997-8342 / (954) 202-5858 On Line: Gobrecht Numismatics www.mdcx.net / www.gobnum.com Toll Free Ordering: (800) 322-0098 Customer Support: (301) 587-3742 Also Members F.U.N., C.S.N.S., E.S.N.A., S.P.M.C. ANA Life Member Page 8 The Maryland Numismatist - Autumn, 2011 A Brief History of Anti-Counterfeiting Devices by Scott Barman The British colonies in North America primarily used as currency coins whose value was based on their metal content. When the king taxed his colonies to pay for wars in Europe or the colonies, he removed specie from circulation, forcing the colonies to find other ways to finance services provided by their own governments. Since it was illegal for the colonies to coin money and specie was scarce, the colonies issued paper notes. These notes functioned as currency but actually were bills of credit—short-term public loans to the government. For the first time, the money had no intrinsic value but was valued at the rate issued by the colonial government in payment of debt. Every time the government needed money to pay creditors, they authorized the printing of a specified quantity and denomination of notes. Laws authorizing the issuance of notes were called emissions. Most emission laws also included a tax that was used to repay the bills of credit with interest. When citizens paid taxes with paper currency, the paper was retired. As the notes were removed from circulation, that meant less interest the government had to pay. On the maturity date, people brought their notes to authorized agents who paid off the loan. The agents then turned the notes over to the colonial government for reimbursement plus a commis- sion. Sometimes, colonies could not pay back the loan. They instead passed another emission law to cover the debt owed from the previous emission plus further operating expenses, buying back mature notes with new notes. The colonists accepted this system since it was easier than barter and there were never enough coins to meet commercial needs. Counterfeiting was rampant by the mid-Eighteenth Century. In order to combat the problem, Benjamin Franklin devised the nature print, an imprint of a leaf or other natural item with unpredictable patterns, fine lines, and complex details, making it difficult to copy. To create a nature print, Franklin placed a leaf on a damp cloth. The cloth was placed on top of a bed of soft plaster to press the leaf into the plaster. Once the plaster hardened, it had a negative impression of the leaf. Molten copper was then poured over the plaster to make the printing plate. Franklin first used nature prints for the 1737 New Jersey emission. He also used different leaves for different denominations and elaborately engraved borders to further thwart the efforts of potential counterfeiters. The Maryland Numismatist – Autumn, 2011 Page 9 Franklin partnered with David Hall to print notes for New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Along with his nature print, Franklin also included the phrase ―Tis Death to Counterfeit.‖ Aside from trying to scare away potential counterfeiters, the penalty for counterfeiting in the Eighteenth century really was death, though no convictions for counterfeiting colonial currency have been recorded. Later, Hall partnered with William Sellers to print Pennsylvania currency when the Pennsylvania assembly sent Franklin to England as their colonial agent. Other printers tried different methods to thwart counterfeiters. James Parker of Woodbridge, New Jersey printed notes in two colors. Printing was a labor-intensive process, so it was thought requiring two printings per note would be too cumbersome for counterfeiters. Also, Parker used red ink as the second color, which then was more expensive than black. In Maryland, William Green of Annapolis used other anti-counterfeiting measures including random wavy (indented) borders that had to match the original stub book, elaborate engravings, random punctuation, and superfluous characters. The example below is a ―Half a Dollar‖ from the Maryland emission of March 1, 1770. On this example, the engraver’s initials ―TS‖ (Thomas Sparrow) appear at to the top, a small ―a‖ was inserted between ―half‖ and ―dollar‖, and there is an accent mark over the ―a‖ in ―Exchange.‖ Image courtesy of the Coins and Currency Collection at the University of Notre Dame. Page 10 The Maryland Numismatist - Autumn, 2011 Anti-counterfeiting technology has become very advanced since the colonial days. When Congress created the National Currency Bureau in 1861, they chose green ink for the original ―greenbacks‖ because it would not photograph properly. When small-size notes were introduced in 1928, they included intricate geometric patterns produced by specialized engraving machines that are difficult to replicate by hand. Today, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing has introduced the new $100 Federal Reserve Note with anti-counterfeiting technology including a watermark, security thread, color-shifting ink, micro printing and a new security ribbon that appears to animate as the note is tilted. Rather than threatening death, today’s currency is protected under laws enforced by the U.S. Secret Service, formed in 1865 as part of the Department of the Treasury following the Civil War to stop counterfeit currency that was printed in an to attempt to wreck the Union economy. Up to half of the currency in circulation is estimated to have been counterfeit then. The responsibility to protect the president and other national officials and their families was added to their responsibilities in 1901 following the assassination of President William McKinley and expanded over time. Today, the U.S. Secret Service is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security with the same mission to protect U.S. money from counterfeiting. They reported making 2,506 domestic arrests for counterfeiting as well as assisting with 360 foreign arrests during fiscal year 2009. This helped remove $182 million in counterfeit currency from circulation, making them one of the world’s premiere law enforcement organizations. LOPEZ & ASSOCIATES INTERNATIONAL P. O. Box 59 Timonium, MD 21094 Full Service Numismatist (Buying, selling, appraisals, consulting, investments) Authorized dealer for Eagle supplies and certified coin albums Miguel A. López (410) 302-1807 www.LAINumismatics.com e-mail: [email protected]