Notice of June Meeting

The next meeting of the PEINA will take place at Colonel Gray Senior High School, 175 Spring Park Road, Charlottetown, on Monday, June 17, 2002. The meeting time remains unchanged, 7 p.m. for the early arrivals who wish to chat and the formal session starting at 7:30 p.m.! Because of renovations taking place to the Library we may have to meet in a classroom. Please look for signs posted on the doors

On The Agenda

As this is our last meeting before the summer break, let us spend our evening talking coins! If you attended the APNA Show in Dartmouth, bring along your new treasures from the bourse. If you have items in need of identification, or simply something you'd like to show off, then by all means bring it along. I know that one person will have a Canadian 1979 caribou 25 cent piece with most unusual wear on it. Is this coin struck on a foreign planchet? Is it a fake?

To make sure we are "up" on our hobby, we'll have a "Grand Numismatic Trivia Quiz" with a suitable prize(s) for the winning team! And, no one will object if you bring along cookies and other treats and goodies to munch while we enjoy ourselves.

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The April Meeting

Two videotape programmes were presented, the first on the new $5 Bank of Canada note (the video also touched upon the new $10) and the security measures incorporated into this new series of banknotes. The second video was a history of the Bank of Canada and a review of the various tasks carried out by the bank. Both were very informative, and enjoyed by members.

APNA Spring Show The annual spring meeting of the Atlantic Provinces Numismatic Association took place in Dartmouth, N.S., on Friday and Saturday, May 24 and 25, 2002, at the Senior's Service Centre, 45 Ochterloney Street.

The weekend opened with an auction of about 150 lots featuring coins, tokens, medals, books, and other numismatic items. A small crowd was on hand, and prices for lots sold tended to be at or slightly above the reserve. Yours truly bid on several items, including a token for Chile (which turns out to be made of wood, I think) and a XVIIth century liard of France.

Following the auction an informal gathering was held with a lovely spread of sweets and other goodies. We had a chance to chat with friends, and a brief ceremony was held to acknowledge past editors of the APNA newsletter. As well, certificates of participation were awarded to those who had prepared displays for Saturday's show.

Next day saw the bourse open and a goodly size crowd passed through the doors. The Seniors' Centre was an ideal place to hold the bourse, with good lighting, lots of room, and coffee and sweets being available throughout the day. There was lots of material offered, and some great bargains to be had. Also very enjoyable was the chance to continue chats with friends and admire the displays. One of the most interesting was a display of Bank of Canada specimen notes, and coins salvaged from the wrecks of the French ships Le Chameau and Le Dromedaire. The later were beautifully displayed. Also displayed was a touching collection of documents and medals relating to a soldier of the Canadian Corps, including a Mentioned in Despatches certificate signed by Winston Churchill!

The APNA lunch and business meeting was held at noon, an exceptionally long meeting as it included the minutes of the past two meetings as well as financial matters. Of particular interest was reference made to the future of the APNA. Expect to see more in the next Atlantic Numismatist newsletter, including a questionaire for members to consider. Meanwhile, this is a topic which we can begin to discuss at the June meeting.

To sum up, the Dartmouth rally was certainly enjoyed by this writer. Dealers made considerable effort to present a wide variety of numismatic items and the bourse was a great success. The Halifax Regional Coin Club is to be congratulated for a most informative and enjoyable weekend.

Autumn APNA In Moncton

The next APNA gathering takes place this autumn, to be organized by the Moncton Coin Club. What this space for details, as they become known.

The Jubilee 2002

Members will have seen the special Royal Canadian Mint supplement which appeared recently in the Charlottetown Guardian newspaper, to promote the special 50 cent coin. This coin bears the portrait of The Queen which was first used on the 1953 Coronation Medal and medallion. The 50 cent coin is meant to be a circulating coin, and it will be interesting to see if one half dollar will be generally taken up in trade to replace two 25 cent coins. The coin itself is a handsome piece of work, with the Canadian coat of arms on the reverse. Already I have received several in change but it appears the coins are being "set aside" rather than recirculated. This situation may change when the coins become more plentiful.

Meanwhile, I have found my first 1952-2002 penny and the maple leaf side does indeed look very bare without the date!

The C.N.A. Journal

Our club copy of the May C.N.A. Journal is worth a browse, with interesting articles on a variety of topics including "shinplasters", the British colonial "anchor" coinage of the early 19^th century, and several others topics. The Journal is aiming to improve the level of articles and any member with ideas of suggestions is invited to have a chat with your friendly newsletter editor!

Metal detectors

A recent national auction included a nineteen century Newfoundland token, very rare, which was found in P.E.L. with a metal detector.

This raises some interesting questions. Detectors can locate metal objects on or under the earth's surface which otherwise would be missed by the casual observer. Often, these "finds" help tell a historical story, of exploration and human settlement and the growth and development of trade. Unfortunately, unless information about the discovery is shared, and the location known, this important information is lost.

In Great Britain, where historical finds can go back some 5000 years, a voluntary scheme is in place whereby finds are reported to a "finds reports officer". According to an article in the Guardian (of London) newspaper, "More than 30,000 objects have been reported and new sites found which have redrawn the map of British history." (April 22, 2002)

Britain has advanced to the point where it has a "Federation of Independent Detectorists" for what it calls "any responsible detectorist" and more information can be gained at www.newbury.net/fid/

Meanwhile, the government has established the "portable Antiquities Scheme" and its on-line newsletter is worth reading. Check it out at www.finds/org/uk/index

Behind all this interest is the 1996 Treasure Act which came into force in 1997. Details are available at www.britarch.ac.uk/cba/potant15 and there are links from this site which I have not had time to explore. The article in the Guardian, quoted at the top of this column, pointed out that government funding to date has been ad hoc and lottery funding may be a possibility to finance this scheme in the future.

Meanwhile, can we in P.E.I. learn from the British experience? This province's history is no less important to us, and one wonders what historical and cultural knowledge is being lost when discoveries and not officially reported.

This topic of metal detecting bears further study, and certainly is a topic of investigation for some concerned numismatists, history buffs, and an interested writer.

Oops!

Elsewhere in this newsletter is a clipping, from the Globe and Mail newspaper of Toronto, regarding the new British 5 Pound banknote. Seems the ink isn't holding up very well and the serial number can be removed in some circumstances. Until the problem is resolved, the new notes are being recalled.

Your editor should have been more on the ball, but I have misplaced a recent item regarding our new Canadian notes. The writer pointed out the fact that he has seen a considerable number of our new notes, in quite terrible condition. Your editor too has noted this, with some rather straggly new notes being offered in change. Frayed and torn, these notes look "tired" and one wonders if this state of decrepitude is arriving "before their time" due to lesser quality paper. Anyone with information on this topic is asked to get in touch.

Roman Mintmarks

Anyone collecting Roman ancient coins may encounter a series of letters in the exergue of the reverse of some coins. As a relative newcomer to this area of collecting, one who labours as yet without a large personal reference library to cover this area, information on miontmarks is available on the web.

Starting at www.ancientcoinmarket.com there is a great deal of information for the beginner thanks to the host pages and a number of links. A general overview of mintmarks is at www.bitsofhistory.com/ info/mints and explains that the "mintmarks" includes not only the mint but the type of money it is and the specific workshop from which the coin actually came. The latter was an early form of quality control: it would be easy to discover those responsible for less-than-acceptable coins!

One other site to mention, is www.ancientcoinmarket.com/ coinu/mintmarks provided by "Ancient Coin University". This site features "Mint Marks from the Age on Constantine", this being Constantine the Great who was on the scene from 307 to 337 A.D. His coins were struck in great number, and good quality common coins of this period are not too hard to find nor are they very expensive ($20 or thereabouts). The interest in Constantine, and mintmarks, , came about thanks to the acquisition of two almost-identical (except for the mintmarks) bronze folli (which I think is the plural of follis). One of the pleasures of collecting is the research carried out to identify each coin, and certainly Roman coins can give you a good run for your money!

Other news

Elsewhere is a photocopied reproduction of the photograph which appeared in the November 2001 edition of the Northern Star. Not everyone has seen this, and I thought it might be fun to included it here. Many thanks to our Treasurer for passing this on. There are also a few clippings related to the $100 and $1000 bills.

Also, for bimetallic fans, there exists the World Bi-metallic Collector's Club. The club produces a catalogue of new and old issues, every other month, runs a documentation centre, has produced a CD about bimetallic coins, and offers other services as well. If you are interested, start at www.wbcc.fsnet.co.uk and follow the links.

I was going to mention this earlier, but ran out of both and energy!

This newsletter

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

Don't Forget

Our next PEINA meeting on Monday, June 17^th. Our last meeting before the summer break. Come along and enjoy a pleasant evening. If we don't see you, have a great summer and be sure to look us up on Monday, September 16. Until then, take care.