Notice of January Meeting

Happy New Year! The next meeting of the PEINA will be held on Monday, January 20, at 7:30 pm in the Library of Colonel Gray Senior High School. The informal chat session begins around 7 pm. To celebrate the new year, bring along some cookies or sweets which we can share during our meting. We'll open at 7:30 with a draw for "valuable prizes" including a rare Canadian $1000 banknote!

Storm Warning!

It's that time of year again, when Mother Nature can interrupt our activities. Should Colonel Gray be closed due to bad weather, our meeting will be postponed to the following Monday. Should that date also see the school closed, then we shall hold our meeting at the next regular date.

On The Agenda

Our regular meeting on January 20 will include an auction of donated items from Harry Eisenhauer, a video on the Oak Island Treasure, and an update on plans for the APNA spring show which we are hosting. Also, we must put in motion the process of selecting a design for the May 2003 show medal. Bring your ideas to the meeting.

At The Last Meeting

We thank Gloria Houston for hosting the December potluck dinner which many members enjoyed just before Christmas. From all reports, it was a most pleasant evening.

Dues Due

Membership dues are now due! In the case of the PEINA, dues remain unchanged from last year, $15 for a single membership, $20 for a family, and $10 for a student.

APNA members are reminded that dues are also due to that organization. First timers are offered a $5 special introductory rate. See the sheet included with this newsletter.

Finally, members who want a wider perspective should consider joining the Canadian Numismatic Association. Their monthly Journal makes very good reading. For more information, see Mark Holton.

Spring Show Reminder

The APNA Spring Show is set for Friday May 16 and Saturday May 17 at Rodd's Royalty Inn. We are looking to make this a memorable event. In the next few months you will be contacted to volunteer an hour or so of your time during our event. We'll need people to handle the sale of show medals, look after the club reception table in the bourse and sell our raffle tickets. We'll also need volunteers to provide security and assist the judges of the numismatic displays. Have I left out anything? See or call Mark Holton to place your name on the dotted line!

Revised Club Website

The new look of our website was mentioned only briefly last time, and deserves fuller mention in this newsletter.

The "new look" is the work of our "bimetallic" computer guru Gary Woodhouse and we thank him for taking on this task. If you have not seen out website lately, check it out, the address appears below under the list of names of the executive. At the site you'll find past newsletters, articles, and links to other numismatic pages.

Our website has brought us expressions of interest from outside Canada in PEINA membership; we will have to discuss this at our January meeting.

Banknotes of Bulgaria

An e-mail message has been received from Ivo Shahanov who saw our website and wrote to ask if any member is interested in old Bulgarian banknotes. If you are, contact him directly at <ivoshahanov@yahoo.com>

New from Charlton Press

Charlton Press has sent out a flyer announcing their 2003 releases, which include the standard guidebooks to Canadian coins, tokens, government paper money, banknotes of the chartered and other banks 1792-1943, as well as a host of other items popular with collectors. See them at <www.charltonpress.com> or ask to see a copy of the flyer at the January meeting.

Best Numismatic Newsletter

This is the second year that your busy editor has sent copies of this newsletter to the annual C.N.A. "Best Numismatic Newsletter" competition. In a field of four we placed fourth, after the London Numismatic Society, the Societe Numismatic de Quebec and the City of Ottawa Coin Club .

I have not received any of the other newsletters, but last year I did receive -- and passed around at one of our meetings -- a copy of the winning newsletter. It was interesting to see this impressive and very professional publication, but it would be nice to see all the other newsletters and how we compare. Any club wishing to exchange newsletter is more than welcome to write to the editor, at the PEINA address given below.

Wayne Gretzky on the new $5 banknote?

I am sure that readers of the Friday, December 6 edition of the Globe and Mail did a double-take when they saw Wayne Gretzky, in colour, taking the place of Wilfrid Laurier on the $5 note. This illustration was certainly eye-catching, and designed to draw attention to an article about leading sports personalities in Canada. I case you did not see it, you will find it reproduced (in glorious black-and-white) elsewhere in this newsletter.

Pros and Coins

The December 2002 newsletter from the Halifax Regional Coin Club mentions that not everyone wants the "new" 50 cent coins issued for the Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. There is also a cute story of the thief in the USA who threw back a fat wallet containing Canadian paper money, considering this money to be "worthless".

It can't all be bad, however, as the number of counterfeit notes being apprehended by the police appears to be increasing. The Halifax newsletter mentions some 105,000 false notes seized in 2000 and over 135,000 seized in 2001.

Finally, the newsletter mentions that a treasure hunter has announced the discovery of the wrecks of two 17th century vessels off the east coast of Cape Breton Island. I am sure we'll be hearing more about these wrecks, once the summer dive season gets underway.

Numismatic Articles of Interest

This newsletter is always looking for articles and items of numismatic interest. If you are moved to write, be assured that you contribution will be warmly welcomed.

On that note, let me point out articles by PEINA member George Manz of Regina. His articles may be read at his website, <www.georgemanzcoins.com>.

One other site that is worth a visit is <www.cointoday.com> which has a variety of articles about numismatics around the world.

Prince Edward Island Numismatic Association

c/o 10 Edinburgh Drive

Charlottetown, P.E.I.

C1A 3E8

(902) 566-5837

Member of the Canadian Numismatic Association

(# 12576) since 1976 and

the Atlantic Provinces Numismatic Association (# 64)

Club Executive 2002

President

Mark Holton

<holton@islandtelecom.com>

Vice President

Ralph Dickieson

Secretary

Harley Ings

Treasurer

Gloria Houston

Website

Gary Woodhouse

Club web site

www.angelfire.com/art/peina

This newsletter

...is published every month except July and August by the P.E.I. Numismatic Association. Submissions are always welcome.