Status: U Return-Path: Received: from web5203.mail.yahoo.com ([216.115.106.97]) by niles.mail.mindspring.net (Mindspring Mail Service) with SMTP id t85kri.lgo.37kbi1o for ; Thu, 8 Feb 2001 12:12:17 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <20010208161414.29747.qmail@web5203.mail.yahoo.com> Received: from [205.188.200.43] by web5203.mail.yahoo.com; Thu, 08 Feb 2001 08:14:14 PST Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2001 08:14:14 -0800 (PST) From: MPCgram Subject: MPC Gram 248 To: mpcgram@yahoo.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii ==================================================== MPC Gram ==================================================== Covering the Entire World of Military Numismatics ---------------------------------------------------- Series 002-Number 248 Thurski 8 February 2001 More Commentary on Philippine Notes by Larry "Ski" Smulczenski Last week, when the February Banknote Reporter arrived in my mailbox, it contained an article by Joel Shafer about a Philippine 10 centavo note printed by Jefferies Banknote Company. I was familiar with the note as I own three similar pieces printed by Jefferies and had exhibited them at the 1999 Memphis Paper Money Show along with a number of other printers proofs by Security Banknote Company, Giesecke and Devrient, and Thomas de la Rue and Co. These proofs were submitted to the Philippines Central Bank in response to a request for proposals for a series of paper fractional currency in 1950. Inflation was rampant in the Philippines and the intrinsic value of their coinage was greater than the minted value. Therefore people were hoarding the coins. In 1983, BNR Press of Port Clinton,Ohio published a book by Murray Teigh Bloom titled The Brotherhood of Money. This book tells the behind the scenes stories of the primary banknote printers of the 20th century. It's a great read and you should get hold of a copy and enjoy it. It is long out of print so you will have to try a library. The ANA library has a least one copy of the book that can be borrowed. One of the many anecdotes in this book tells the story of the competition for the Philippine fractional currency contract. Two people play a major part in this story. The first was Bill Hunt, who headed a firm that solicited banknote contracts from countries mainly in the Far East for Security Banknote Company and who later became chairman of Security-Columbian Banknote Company. The other person was Cornelius Van S. Roosevelt, the grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt and the son of the last U.S. Governor-General of the Philippines who retired in 1932. The family still had many contacts in the Philippines and was well respected. After World War II. Roosevelt went to work for the Hunt organization and opened the Taiwan office while Hunt himself opened branches in Manila and Bangkok. In 1949 Roosevelt was unhappy and resigned his position to return to the U. S., however the following year, Hunt called Roosevelt asking him to go to Manila quickly to help him bid on banknotes the Philippines soon would be needing. Remember that until 1949, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing had supplied all the Philippine currency since 1904. Now with the establishment of the Philippine Central Bank, the contracts were being competed. Roosevelt agreed to go to Manila to help Hunt. Before leaving the states, Roosevelt did some research. The following is extracted from The Brotherhood of Money. The episode is being narrated in the book by Roosevelt, so I've changed some of the pronouns to proper names to make it flow smoother. "There was a lot of inflation going on in the Philippines. To the part where their copper coins were soon going to be worth more as copper than coinage. And that meant that the Chinese would start melting down the coppers which would vanish from circulation. The only answer Roosevelt could see was that the country needed fractional currency-- 5-, 10-, 20- and 50-centavo notes. Roosevelt persuaded Hunt it would be a good investment to spend $30-40,000 in plates ahead of time. Hunt got Security to go along. When Roosevelt went to Manila, all the Central Bank people he talked to about fractional currency laughed politely. Three weeks later, the laughter stopped, they admitted maybe Roosevelt was right. Just about all the copper coins had disappeared from circulation. They quickly announced bids for fractional currency for 700 million notes. This was going to be juicy and all the banknote people gathered in Manila." "The banknote representatives submitted their bids and the Roosevelt-Hunt bid was on the high side: $2.94 per thousand for notes which were to be about 4 1/2 inches by 2 inches each. Of course, at that price the notes were going to be lithographed, not intaglio printed." "Security Banknote was the high bidder but one of the requirements was fast delivery. The coin problem was out of hand. Because Security had already made the plates as Roosevelt suggested, they were able to promise first-batch delivery ten days after signing the contract. The others asked for 24 hours to get in touch with their home offices to see when they could deliver. Ordinarily, first delivery is never less than three months after contract signing. Roosevelt knew the other company representatives would pull this trick. It was an old one in the business: first find out what your competitors bid; then, if you lost, ask for 24 hours to see if you could improve your bid." "One of the good connections Roosevelt had in Manila was the head of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company which maintained a 9-hour open circuit to New York and London. When the circuit opened at 7 AM, Roosevelt was on it immediately with a collect call to Bill Hunt in New York. Roosevelt knew it was the only circuit. So Roosevelt talked to Hunt in New York and Hunt talked to Roosevelt. Hunt read Roosevelt the Wall Street Journal, word for word and when he finished, Roosevelt read Hunt the Manila Times right down to the classifieds. When the circuits closed at 4 PM, they had run up an $11,000 phone bill but it meant that the other representatives had to get in touch with their home offices by cable. The trouble with cable for a situation of this kind was that there was no quick give and take. A lot of things like banknote shipment schedules are very difficult to transmit that way. Roosevelt knew he had them. None of them could possibly come up with anything that could beat him in time, and Security had the contract. It was worth about $2 1/2 million. American Banknote was the most affected because they had the lowest actual bid. Actual deliveries began ten days later by chartering Northwest Orient planes." How's that for an interesting behind the scenes story. This book is full of interesting anecdotes about Banknote Printers and their principals. I highly recommend it to you. ==================================================== Editorial ---------------------------------------------------- The addition of William E Yanchick to the Fest list pushes the total to twenty. That is great. I think that we have double last year's attendance virtually in the bag. If you have not reserved your spot, the deadline for the lowest rate is approaching. It will still be a bargain, but registration goes up by $50 on February 15! Get your resrevations in soon. =================================================== Mail Call --------------------------------------------------- Dear Gram, Nancy and I enjoy the gram. We are afraid that this is too much for you. We suggest that you go to every other day to add some years to your life. In addition, you might be able to read your snail mail. That might not help you answer it, but you might at least read it. John Wilson Hello Festers! I will be remitting my money soon for Fest. I can't believe it is right around the corner! I am also very interested in finding out what it takes to qualify for the ANA Seminar scholarship this summer. It would be a dream of mine to attend this seminar. Thanks Fred, see you at Fest!! William E Yanchick =================================================== Departments --------------------------------------------------- WWII numismatics seminar at ANA Summer Seminar 2001 --------------------------------------------------- Not only does the scholarship fund have an official identity but also has a bank account! Any further donations should be paid to the order of "Military Numismatists Scholarship" and sent to: Military Numismatists c/o Marcus Turner 8103 East US Highway 36 Suite 163 Avon, IN 46123 THE UPDATED LIST OF SCHOLARSHIP BENEFACTORS 2/2/01. These folks have generously provided money or material to finance scholarships to the ANA WWII Numismatics seminar. Your contributions will help promote collecting WWII material and be greatly appreciated. Mr. Anonymous Donor Mike Cummings Ed Beaman Doug Bell R. A. Medina Harold MPCKid Kroll Leo "Paymaster" May Mrs. R.C. Matherne Denly’s of Boston Bill McNease Marcus Turner Larry Smulczenski Fred Schwan Bruce Potter Joel Shafer World Wide Ventures John & Nancy Wilson Neil Shafer ----------------------------------------------------- MPC Fest II ----------------------------------------------------- MPC Fest is the annual feast of MPC. After some difficulties of coordination we have not changed the dates and tentatively scheduled 9-11 March 2001 for MPC Fest II. Confirmed participants in MPC Fest II Doug Bell Sam Feeback$$ Al Glaser$$ Phil Goldstein Harold Kroll Jack Lippincott Ian Marshall Larry Smulczenski Bill McNease Leo May Kevin Maloy Marv Mericle$ Bruce Potter David Seelye$$ Nick Shrier Fred Schwan Dan Swartz Warner Talso (and Jane)$ Marcus Turner William E Yanchick (We are well past last year's participation level. Can we double it, triple it, more?) If you have made a reservation and your name does not appear above, please contact the gram immediately (MPCgram@yahoo.com). PayPal and PayDirect are available, the associated email address is fred@papermoneyworld.com. If you are using a credit card, you will have to use PayDirect instead of PayPal. Tentative schedule as of 15 January 2001 Friday March 8 1500-1900 Arrivals at Comfort Inn 1900-2030 no host dinner at Cisco and Charlies 2030-2300 bull session at Comfort Inn 2400 lights out Saturday breakfast at Comfort Inn 0730-0845 breakfast at Service Club 0900-1000 equipment issue (supply sergeant) 1000-1100 pay operations (pay master) 1100-1230 show and tell, session I 1230-1330 pizza party at Service Club (mess sergeant) 1330-1800 swap session (dealer surcharge, TBD) 1800-1930 spaghetti dinner at Service Club (mess sergeant) 1930-2030 secret operations 2000-2345 commemorative poker game at Comfort Inn 2200 MPC chat (simultaneous with poker game) 2400 lights out Sunday 0830-0900 breakfast at Service Club 0900-1000 research updates 1000-1230 show and tell 1230-1330 lunch at Service Club 1300-1500 field trip to WWII POW camp 1530 closing ceremonies Monday (optional, weather permitting) 0600-0630 breakfast at Service Club 0700-1400 Walleye fishing trip Remarks: registration is $139 per person (for reservations after February 15 $164, after March 1, $189). This includes two nights lodging (double occupancy, room assignments by first sergeant the only possible exception is married couples), Meals as indicated (Friday evening not included), equipment and amenities. The value of souvenirs and goodies distributed will likely exceed the cost of the entire Fest. Reservations accepted now at MPCGram@yahoo.com, deposits ($50 minimum) accepted at MPC Fest, 132 East Second Street, Port Clinton, Ohio 43452. Confirmed reservations will be listed daily in the gram—make your reservations now! Additional information; the Comfort Inn is located at 1723 East Perry Street, Port Clinton, Oh 43452, you may use one of the online map services to get exact driving directions. DO NOT make your own reservations or inquiries. The best airports in order of distance are Toledo (45 mins), Cleveland (90 mins), Detroit (100 mins). We will try to coordinate ground transportation, but there are no guarantees here. Questions: send your questions to MPCgram@yahoo.com. In most cases the questions will be answered in the letters section of the gram. After all, if you have the question, someone else probably does too. ==================================================== Post/Base Exchange (PX/BX/NEX) Dump your dupes! Your classified advertisement for items for sale will be run here for free. Send your ads to the gram. This service is for everyone, most humble dealer or most advanced collector. The point is to make the gram more interesting. Send in a list of items for sale and we will list them here in the gram. In all cases confirm your order via email first. WANTED Collectors may submit lists of items wanted for their collections for listing here. Dealers and collectors who have these items are then encouraged to list them for sale in the above section. This is a trial, if you like it, send your list. =================================================== Staff: publisher and editor: Fred Schwan - fred@papermoneyworld.com; assistant editor - Phil Goldstein IWANTMYMPC@aol.com critic: Harold Kroll - MPCKid@papermoneyworld.com; index manager: Ed Beaman webmaster & technical advisor: Doug Bell - (Wiz): doug@papermoneyworld.com; The Boss: Judy Schwan ===== MPC Gram is published by BNR Press and papermoneyworld.com as a free service to the community of military money collectors. Your suggestions, criticisms, complaints, editorial contributions, letters, and even praise are very welcome. The entire contents including linked illustrations are copyright protected by the publishers. In the case of contributors, the copyright is protected on behalf of the creators. Please send all correspondence regarding the gram to MPCgram@yahoo.com. Thank you very much for your participation. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? 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