From: "MPCgram" To: Subject: MPCGram 971 Date: Monday, July 21, 2003 7:44 AM =========================================== MPC GRAM =========================================== Covering the entire World of Military Numismatics Series 004 - Number 971 Monday July 21, 2003 Afterthoughts continued: By Harold Kroll In the course of trading the new DINAR notes a fake note was found, a 2 dinar note had been raised to a 20 dinar note with the zero being much smaller than the 2. If my information is correct there were two of these notes reported. It seemed that there might be a recall of the 1944 dinar issue but none was made and everything went on like nothing happened. Classes resumed with the advanced class having the afternoons free so to speak to work on their selected projects for presentation to the regular class. The first of several mock poker games started Monday evening under an archway between to of the dorms. All the players were from the military group to start but that did change. As folks strolled by to see what was going on at our table, you could see the strange looks on their faces as they stretched out their necks to get a good look at the currency we were using to bet with. Several asked what were the notes and we would stop the game and give a brief explanation, I think some understood and some did not. The notes did attract a lot of onlookers all through each night we played poker. I had to buy in with FRNs to play as most of you know I do collect the MFC and AFC issues so I had to keep most of what I received in pay to complete a set, this does get worse. After the nights game I came out fairy well but as previously mentioned the DINAR was losing its value against the dollar. I decided the only way to preserve some of the value of the dinar was to purchase a few of the Fest Bonds, by this time the conversion was 1.5 dinar to the dollar. Joe had picked out several nice projects for the class and Tuesdays program was great, studying and learning about Japanese bonds. It took a while to understand how to use the catalog and look up the bonds but as he went through the program it started to click a little. Believe me, working in this area is not a simple thing to do. It is a very fascinating area of how Japan financed the war through the use of these bonds. They even had Savings Certificates which I was not aware of, I know, Fred, it is in the book. We did find an omission in the WWII book of a chart to help calculate the dates on the bonds and I'm sure it will be included in the new book. This was crash course but it sure provided more information on how to deal with this area of collecting than I knew before. After supper we all decided to adjourn to the archway for another round of poker and the game was on again. All players returned from Monday nights game and a coupla were out to get their losses back, that is what they thought anyway. Again we had onlookers trying to figure out what we were using to bet with and lots of questions were asked and answered. A few new games were introduced and it made for interesting betting. David and I butted heads in a Lo Ball game where you could keep buying an extra card after the first five cards were dealt. The kicker to this extra card was each time you bought one it went up 5 dinars starting at 5 dinars and it kept going up. Needless to say I lost that hand but learned a valuable lesson for future games. Our class had a terrific program on detecting counterfeit notes on Wednesday morning. It is surprising what little things to look for can make all the difference in the world to aid in picking out a counterfeit note. Joe has put a collection together with a good note along with the counterfeit note. This makes it easier comparing the notes side by side. When you have the opportunity to view so many notes at one time, it is amazing how good some of these counterfeits are and then on the side how bad some of them are. The ones that are done poorly really stood out and you wonder how they were ever passed as genuine notes. The YN Auction was held Wednesday evening and there were plenty of bidders in attendance. Of special interest to David, myself and few others were 5 lots containing various pieces of AFC dinars with Specimen stamped on them. We discussed the possibilities of bidding on these lots and chances of being run up on our bids so we decided to have an agent bid for us. After long and exhausting negotiations with Wendel Wolka he agreed to bid on our behalf for these 5 lots in the auction. There were 118 lots to be bid off before reaching lots 119 through 124. If you have never attended a YN auction, you will see some very strange and unusual bidding taking place, lots are sometimes resold several times to help raise funds, lots are won and donated to YN'S, last year a bottle of water was bid to $1,000.00. You have to be there to see what takes place, everyone gets involved. Anyway lot 119 is about to come up for auction, David and I are sitting to the back of the room, to our right is Mark Watson who now has Al Glaser on the cell phone, to our left is Joe Boling who will place bids for the Internet bidders. Lot 119 contained 9 Specimen notes with a 50 dinar note that had not been issued. Bidding started and between Mark, Joe and Wendel we sat there and watched and Wendel gave quite a show while bidding. Joe dropped out leaving Mark and Wendel to continue to the final bid of $725.00, with Wendel getting the fist lot. This continued with Wendel being successful for all 5 lots. The 5 lots brought $1580.00 which we found out later was 10% of all bids made for the entire auction. One of the bidders sitting in front of Wendel made a remark, "this stuff was just made last week." Quite a few people were wondering why David and I were not bidding and finally they realized what had took place. Wendel you did a super job, thank you. At some point in time David and I were discussing the possibility of purchasing more dinar notes from the finance office the next time it was open and he hit on an idea that worked out great. Being that we were in a different class and classroom we decided that according to the way things were done during the use of MPC that we were in a different theater of operation and should be able to convert MFC from our theater of operations to the new theater of operations. When the Finance Officer was approached with this query, he had to think about this request and after some thought he admitted that this was a very good request and it was honored. David and I agreed it was a very smooth move. The finance clerk was also amazed that such an idea was brought up, he gave a smile and also stated good move. Travel pay call was announced after lunch and a new series was introduced, Series 1944A DINARS. The only major difference between this and Series 1944 was the addition of the denomination in text as well as numerals. This was just like the situation with Allied military lire 1944 and 1944A! Again the frenzy of swapping and buying the new issues to complete a set had started. I was approached by one student who wanted $60.00 US for a single serial number two, 2 dinar note. He told me he was trying to recover from the previous nights poker games. We did strike a deal but not for the sixty dollars. Thursday morning was special to me, Joe had brought his Japan bond collection with him and we all gathered around to look at each page of three oversize binders filled with more bonds than you can imagine. While he described what for and why so many bonds were issued it started bringing together the real meaning of how these wars are financed and the support from the citizens, not only in Japan but all countries involved. You have to take a few steps back and try to digest in a few hours what took place over several years, quite a task to do. The evening poker games did draw a lot of attention, we even had a few new players sit in, Bob Evans instructor for the SS Central America course sat in several games, I do not think he did very well but he enjoyed and had a great time. Don Kagin even got hooked and bought in with FRN's, he did go away a winner in dinars. Both seemed to be intrigued by the use of this "FUNNY MONEY." It needs to be mentioned that the Finance Office made a mistake in issuing notes by mistake at one of the poker games that were intended for distribution at the Mini-Fests on Friday and Saturday with CSCC 03 overprinting, Colorado Sprigs Coin Club, but without the postmarks. This error was caught immediately but to late to correct, no one would have given up these notes anyway. C-Day was announced to convert the dinar back to current use Series 031. Issued were Series 031 with Seminar III overprinting, here we go again with the collecting frenzy. I was lucky in cards and had a total of 250 dinar to convert, by this time the exchange rate was close to 2.75 dinar to $1.00, wound up getting $92.00 MFC on conversion, still not to bad considering it was winnings. Up to this point the amount of different issues and notes was staggering and it was not over yet. There were two more issues from the Friday and Saturday Mini-Fests, both having different date postmarks for each day. With all the many series, denominations, overprints, replacements and errors the total number of will exceed over one hundred pieces for the die-hard collector of MFC and AFC notes. There were souvenir cards issued, one for the seminar, one for the Mini-Fest on Saturday and a special hand pulled proof made by Kevin Neidy on a Spyder Press with a vignette of an eagle, nice job Kevin. There may be a few of these cards available, production was limited to 25 each. Put a request in the Gram if interested. Some of the names, not really, and times may be changed but a week at the seminar is an adventure that is hard to describe, it is FANTASTIC. I could not finish this without saying something about the ANA providing this opportunity for all of us to enjoy such a great hobby and special thanks Gail Baker and her wonderful staff of people that makes all this come together, many thanks to y'all, See you next year. =========================================== Editorial/opinion =========================================== The second (expensive) book that I bought from the used numismatic book seller was Scottish Banking, A History, 1695-1973 by G. Checkland. In 782 pages of text and wonderful illustrations, it has four pages about World War II. I figured that I just had to have this book for research for Remembered. The text is a little disappointing, but I can find a few useful sentences for our work. Thereafter I will be selling the book. Anyone interested in Scottish banking? =========================================== MAIL CALL =========================================== Dear Gram, The IBNS meeting in Baltimore is at 1100 Saturday in room 317. Joe Dear Editor, How do I get a paybook and start collecting the minifest currency sign me up for the fest in port clinton as I am in newton falls just hours away. I will be in baltimore on wednesday to take the judging certification class. I am working on my newton falls ohio national bank note (my magruder note) I had fun at the summer seminar with joe and wendell as my instructors. talk to you again edward arrich Dear Ed, Great, we look forward to having you at the Fest! Collecting Fest money. Hm, now that is an interesting idea. In order to get a pay book, you must attend a major event (Fest or seminar). If you can attend the mini Fests in Baltimore, you might receive some souvenir notes. Editor [aside, have you found any Newton Falls notes?] The following letter from David Seelye was not intended for publication in the Gram, but the sales pitch is irresistible. --editor Dear MPC/AMC Collector, I will be have a bourse table at the up-coming Lyn Knight Dallas Paper Money Show August 21-24, 2004. The event is held at the Sheraton Grand Hotel 4440 W.John Carpenter Freeway Irving,TX. The auction is the catalyst for the show. There are about 30 paper money dealers in attendance. While I'd like you to spend all of you money at my table, there will be an 3 session auction held. Thursday night's session will be of particular interest to you. A large collection of MPC, AMC, POW chits, WW2 related items assembled over many years by a dedicated collector will be the highlight of Thursday's session. The collector's name has not been featured in any of the literature associated with this sale. But it is well known by the collecting community, R.A.M. of Texas. With the military collection as an excellent drawing card, there will be an official gathering of like minded collectors on Saturday. This will be a MPC MINIFEST. The unofficial schedule will be the same: introductions, show and tell, BS, and pay call. If you have a Pay book Bring, it along. Don't have one yet, they are issued at either MPC FEST V or ANA summer Seminar. But you will still receive some MFC (that's Military Fest Certificates I take at par for anything on my list) if you attend. I am asked many times if I collect MPC. No I don't, But I DO AVIDLY Collect MFC. So REMEMBER I WILL BUY/TRADE for your MFC notes! ALL Serial #1's, Replacements, errors wanted!!! $$$ This will be a Great time with 15+ other MPC Fanatics!! Fred Schwan will be there to sell and autograph his 4th edition book. Surely you can spare the time for your hobby. Please stop and introduce yourself to me. One of the great pleasures at shows is to meet and put faces with the names on my mailing list. Sincerely, David E. Seelye Dear Editor, Your tale of the Armed Forces Bond is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, I do not know what Senator’s office called you, but if I were the Senator I would have that person replaced. I would hope that a Senator’s office would know that questions on bonds should be referred to the Bureau of the Public Debt. Thankfully for you (if you can get it), they did not know that. Where they would have gotten the information to call you is curious, however. I hope you can track it down or at least get the information off of it including the face value. I, too, have been chasing another AFLB. It is possible that these are the same ones. The Senator is not from Utah, is he? I have had on again off again correspondence from a gentlemen in Utah about one that is in his family. It was awarded to his mother in a divorce sometime before maturity. She never did anything with it. Since she was no longer his wife, the Bureau would not cash it. I have made an offer for it, but he has not accepted; he thinks he can get more by cashing it in. I do not know the answer to the “what is it worth” question, but I got mine off Ebay for $75.00. That was the list price and no one else bid on it in the US currency section. I suspect that they would go for a little bit more on the open market. In an otherwise arm’s length transaction, I have always followed a piece of advice given to me by a wise collector friend about 10 years ago: “The seller gets paid for his expertise, and you get paid for your expertise.” Sage advice from a man who bought an Alaskan seal skin note for $0.50 from a dealer’s junk box. Jim Downey =========================================== CALENDAR OF EVENTS =========================================== http://calendar.yahoo.com/mpcgram American Numismatic Association Convention. Philippine Collectors Forum that Ray Czahor is putting together on Friday Aug.1 at 1 P.M. in Room 317 of the convention center in Baltimore at the ANA convention. MiniFests: On Friday, August 1 at 1300 hours (AKA 1:00 PM) there is a meeting of 'Philippine Collectors Forum' in room 317, The Mini Fest will take place there following their meeting. On Saturday, August 2 at 1100 hours (AKA 11:00 AM) the IBNS will hold their General Meeting in room 317. The Mini Fest will take place there following their meeting. The times and rooms for these meeting were taken from the convention schedule found on the ANA Internet site www.money.org. Don't forget your Pay Books. Lyn Knight Auction [including major, old-time military money collection] August 20-24 Sheraton Grand Hotel 4440 West John Carpenter Freeway, Irving, Texas 75063 (972) 929-8400. Mini Fest anticipated, take your pay books! PCDA National and World Paper Money Convention. November 19-23, 2003. St. Louis Hilton Airport Hotel, 10330 Natural Bridge Road, St. Louis, MO 63134. Lyn Knight auction, consignment deadline September 30, 2003 2004 CPMX February 26-28, Lyn Knight auction. Consignment deadline January 10, 2004. March 5-7, MPCFest V, reservations now being accepted. Reservations entered in order received: Roger Urce#$$, John Cheney#$, David Seelye, Harold Kroll, Gail Baker#, Leo May$$$, Kevin Neidy, Cuneyd Tolek, Warner Talso, Cameron Bueschel, Wendell Wolka, John V. Craig#, John Cheney#, Steve Swoish, Joe Bissell#, Sparky Watson, Nick Schrier, Ron Waddell, Robert Drew, Fred Schwan. # new Fester, $ paid. $$ paid single occupancy. Running totals: total 19, new festers 6. Standard rate $148, single occupancy $198, payments may be made by mailing paper instruments of any kind to BNR Press (or MPCFest or even Fred Schwan) at 132 E. Second St., Port Clinton, OH 43452. Payments may also be sent via PayPal (fredschawan@yahoo.com). Once you have sent your payment, monitor the above list to ensure that it has been received and posted). Show n tell: Gail Baker (education@money.org) Travel coordination: Sparky Watson (mcwatson@yahoo.com) Auction items: Larry Smulczenski (skifla@prodigy.net) Exhibits: Joe Boling (joeboling@aol.com) Masstricht April 23-25, Valkenburg, The Netherlands, contact Jos Eijsermans, Box 3240, NL 5930 Tegelen Netherlands ======================================== 2004 scholarship fund Donations of cash and numismatic material will be gladly accepted. Generally the numismatic material is auctioned at MPCFest, but might be sold via ebay or other places. Your scholarship donations help the hobby by sending qualified individuals to the ANA summer seminar military money class. Except for unavoidable charges like ebay fees, 100% of your donation goes to scholarships. Al Glaser RA Medina Warner Talso David Seelye Russ Walsh Joe Boling Harold Kroll Pam West Ed Hoffman Ron Wadell Wes Hardy Dick Freyser Robert Drew Brett Irick Kevin Neidy Brian Giese 2003 Scholarship Donors Ed Hoffman • RA Medina • Dick Freyser •Larry Smulczenski • David Seelye • Howard Daniel • Steve Feller • Warner Talso • Pam West • Mr. 691 • Leo May • John & Nancy Wilson • Max Spiegel • Gail Baker • Chris Connell • Bill Haines • Joel Shafer • Mikhail (Misha) Istomin • Gary Hicks • Robert Drew • Tom Warburton • Larry Lee • Fred Schwan • mark Watson • Harold Kroll • Ian Marshall • Marcus Turner • Neil Shafer • Keith & Sue Bauman Contact me at: "Marcus Turner" mailto: maturner@indy.rr.com Checks should be made out to the "Military Numismatists Scholarship." or Marcus Turner 8103 East US Highway 36 Suite 163 Avon, Indiana 46123 USA IMPORTANT SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION Additional information can be found at the link below. We encourage everyone to print copies of this information and distribute it to those who might be interested. Further you are encouraged to e-mail the pdf document to anyone you see fit. Thank you http://www.papermoneyworld.net/news/Military Numismatists Scholarship Fund 2003.pdf Marcus Turner Scholarships from the ANA: See the following location for an application for financial aid to the summer seminar: http://www.money.org/sumsemfin.html =========================================== MPC ANA Museum Project =========================================== ANA collection of MPC: Thanks to donations from Douglas Bell, Dick Fryser, Ed Beaman, Bruce Peacock, David Seelye, Michael Cummings, Ray Czahor, David Pitchford and Mr 691the ANA MPC collection is current as follows: Series 100 - [50 sen], [1Y, 5Y, 10Y, 20Y all A underprint] Series 461 - 5, [10] cents, [$1] Series 471 - [5, 10, 25, 50 cents, $10] Series 472 - [5, 10 cents], [$1, $10] Series 481 - 5 cents, [10, 25 cents], 50 cents, $1, [$5] $10 Series 521 - 5, 10, 25, 50 cents, [$10] Series 541 - 5, 10, 25 cents Series 591 - [5, 10, 25, 50 cents, $1] Series 611 - [5, 10, 25 cents, $1] Series 641 - 5, 10, 25, 50 cents, $1, $5, $10 Series 651 - [$1] Series 661 - [10, 25, 50c], [$5], [$1, $5] $10 Series 681 - 5, 10, 25, 50 cents, $1, [$5], [$20] Series 691 - [$1, $5, $10, $20] Series 692 - 5, 10, 25, 50 cents, $1 Series 701 - [$1, $5, $10, $20] [50c etc.] = notes donated by Gramsters --Chris Connell =========================================== RESEARCH =========================================== New modification to the database you can now retrieve your password if you have forgotten at the main logon screen. Keep in mind syntax is important. The mpc database has changed its name it now going to be referred as, WW II P a p e r M o n e y D a t a B a s e This is just a hint of things to come If you are having trouble logging on please inform Doug Bell At doug@papermoneyworld.net Papermoneyworld maintains an innovative interactive data base of all military payment certificates. Everyone is invited to enter notes in their possession or that they have observed. Visit the site at: http://www.papermoneyworld.net/user/default.asp this project is financially supported by David Seelye http://www.thempcman.net/, mailto: coinman@rochester.rr.com =========================================== Subscription information: =========================================== You can enter an email address to receive the gram by using the link below. Use this to change your address (add the new one), add a friend or enemy. http://www.papermoneyworld.net/WebMailList/Default.asp ========================================= HOT CONTACT LIST - DEALER & RESOURCE LIST Below is the BNR Press Hot Contact List. This list serves several functions. Obviously it is an outreach by the dealers listed for your business. Most of them buy and sell MPC. Others organize shows or publish periodicals, or furnish information dedicated to this field. They have supported the new Comprehensive Catalog of Military Payment Certificates with their advertising. They deserve your support and patronage! Name phone fax / cell email Allens (614) 882-3937 (614) 882-0662 info@allens.com American Coins & Collectibles (800) 865-3562 American Numismatic Ass'n (800) 367-9723 ana@money.org Guy Araby (562) 945-7891(310) 508-0018 guyaraby@earthlink.net Bob Baker(713) 864-3122 Ken Barr (408) 272-3247 ken@kenbarr.com Fred Bart (810) 979-3400 Dick Balbaton (508) 699-2266 (508) 643-1154 RBalbaton@aol.com Keith and Suzanne Bauman (248) 647 8938 tnaksbauman@earthlink.net Joe Bissell (602) 440-0442 (602) 494-9103 BNR Press (419) 732-6683 (419) 732-6683 fredschwan@yahoo.com Remy Bourne (800) 789-7070 (763) 789-4747 Ed Carne (614) 882-3937 (614) 882-0662 info@allens.com Champion Stamp (212) 489-8130 (212) 581-8130 Cookie Jar Collectibles (301) 604-9225 cjcpi@comcast.net Guido Crapanzano [39] 2-8056228 [39] 2-4459856 Currency Dealer Newsletter (310) 515-7369 David F. Cieniewicz (205) 852-7015 CGC (602) 493-4758 (602) 494-9103 sales@gradedcurrency.com Mike Cummings (863) 603-9899 (863) 603-9880 mpccoin@hotmail.com Cygnet Charters (419) 734-2422 Ray Czahor (301) 604-9225 cjcpi@comcast.net Denlys of Boston (617) 482-8477 denlys@aol.com Doric Coins & Currency (508) 699-2266 (508) 643-1154 FUN (407) 321-8747 Great Lakes Bank Note Company (419) 732-6683 IBNS joeboling@aol.com Essie Kashani (909) 627-3996 (909) 627-2776 kashani10@aol.com Lowel Horwdel (765) 583-2748 (765) 583-4584 horwdel@inshightbb.com Lyn Knight (800) 243-5211 Krause Publications (715) 445-2214 (715) 445-4087 bnr@krause.com Harold Kroll(251) 649-5134 HARBONS@aol.com Leo May (305) 720-0659 LeoMayEnt@aol.com Ian Marshall (416) 445-0286 (416) 445-0286 iam@total.net Memphis Coin Club (901) 757-2515 MPCGram (419) 732-6683 MPCGram@yahoo.com Pomexport Ltd. 1-201-641-6641 / Fax: 1-201-641-1700 E-Mail: Info@pomexport.com // website: http://www.Pomexport.com Bob Reed(504) 361-5684 bobreed@rrcoins.net Fred Schwan (419) 732-6683 (419) 732-6683 FredSchwan@yahoo.com David Seelye (585) 594-1987 (585) 594-2311 coinman@rochester.rr.com Richie Self (318) 868-9077 R. M. Smythe (800) 622-1880 (212) 908-4047 www.smytheonline.com Mel Steinberg & Son (415) 897-1654 (voice and fax) melsteinberg@mindspring.com Military Trader (800) 334-7165 Scott Winslow Associates (603)472-7040 (603) 472-8773 scott@scottwinslow.com George Warner(307) 672-3700 Pam West [44] 0208 641 3224[44] 0208 641 3224 pamwestbritnotes@compuserve.com ======================================= POST / BASE EXCHANGE(PX/BX/NEX) Dump your dupes! Your classified advertisement for items for sale, purchase or trade 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. In all cases confirm your order via email first. WANTED SECTION: 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 as a reply. Wanted listings will run for a period of 1 month. WANTED 01; $4.00 Serial number 201; $5.00 Serial number 201; $10.00 Serial number 101; $20.00 serial number 101. Will buy, trade MPC, MFC, FRN notes. Put your for sale notice in the Gram. =========================================== MPC Gram Staff: Publisher, editor: Fred Schwan - MPCGram@yahoo.com Subscription Manager:Doug Bell- doug@papermoneyworld.net Tuesday Columnist : JoeBoling - JoeBoling@aol.com Thurski Columnist: Larry "Ski" Smulczenski - skifla@prodigy.net Critic:Harold Kroll - HARBONS@aol.com Scholarship Coordinator: Marcus Turner - maturner@indy.rr.com Webmaster & Technical Advisors:Doug Bell "Wiz" - doug@papermoneyworld.net Russ Walsh - russ.walsh@gte.net Fact Checker: Warner Talso -Calendar Coordinator: John & Nancy Wilson - 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!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! http://sbc.yahoo.com