Notice of November Meeting

The next meeting of the Association will take place Monday, November 19 in the Library of Colonel Gray Senior High School, 175 Spring Park Road, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Please join us from 7 p.m. for informal conversation before the meeting begins. Parking is available in the teachers' lot on the north side (Belvedere Avenue) of the school. This is a B.Y.O.C. [bring your own coffee] meeting!

On the Agenda

On our agenda is an informal numismatic evening with a special presentation. Come out and enjoy "Changing Canadian Currency", a collection of colour slides of Canadian coins, tokens and paper money from earliest times to the present, courtesy of the C.N.A. Library. Enjoy some refreshments while you try your hand at a set of skill-testing questions relating to our slides, for which valuable, semi-valuable and other prizes will be offered! We'll keep the business meeting short so we'll have lots of time for the slides.

These are the same slides which we had at the Farmers' Bank in October; unfortunately not everyone had a chance to see them so thanks to Geoff Bell we have been able to keep them a little longer for our November meeting. Please remember to bring a pen or pencil for the quiz portion of the evening.

1976-2001: PEINA Twenty-five year C.N.A. Membership Recognized

Let us record for posterity that, during the September meeting at Colonel Gray, the president of PEINA brought to the attention of members a handsome certificate signed by CNA president Tom Kennedy. This certificate recognizes PEINA for 25 years of continuous membership in the national numismatic body.

Hard to believe that it has been twenty-five years!

The certificate will be framed and displayed at the November meeting.

The October Meeting

The gathering held at the Farmers' Bank of Rustico on October 15 was a tasty event indeed! Many thanks to the volunteers of the Friends of the Farmers' Bank for the fine collection of sandwiches and sweets which they prepared to compliment our collection of coins and tokens.

As members will recall, the May tour to the Bank during the APNA show revealed to us a beautifully restored Bank building but no money! Only the original steel safe and a few reproductions of a Farmers' Bank note offered evidence that money once played a significant role in the life of this historic building. It was resolved that we would return to the Bank, perhaps to have a meeting in the spacious second-floor assembly room, also to see if we could round up examples of coins and tokens of the type used in that part of P.E.I. during the years the Bank was in operation, 1864-1894.

Not all of us collect in that numismatic area, but we were able to create a collection of Island and Maritime tokens, official pennies and halfpennies of the British North American colonies, some merchant tokens and several 1871 P.E.I. cents as well as bronze, copper and silver coins of Britain, France, Spain and the United States. All these coins, to a greater or lesser degree, once circulated in this province before standardized, officially-struck coins were introduced by the new Dominion of Canada. And yes, we had a few examples of large cents and a Victorian ten and twenty-five cent piece!

This collection, about 45 pieces in all, was presented by the PEINA to the Friends of the Farmers' Bank of Rustico. They were exhibited for all to see in two display cases, along with some colour reproduction of Rustico notes from the collection of one of our members. These reproductions were also given to the Friends.

To enhance the display, members brought along other numismatic material to admire including a collection of copper and silver coins used in New France, a complete collection of Canadian large cents, and many other items.

One special token is worth mentioning: club member Ralph brought along for display an example of the rare McCausland penny and gave a short presentation about this rare piece which was struck for use in the Rustico area, early in the 19^th century. The text of his short talk will be presented in this newsletter in the next couple of months.

We hope the relationship between the PEINA and the Farmers' Bank will continue. We do want to thank Judy MacDonald and the Friends for organizing the social side of our evening and offering us a place where we may hold future meetings. I think everyone will agree that we had a good time and the Farmers' Bank project was worthwhile.

Yarmouth A.P.N.A.

The Autumn APNA show in Yarmouth is now history. It went over very well, with a large and very active bourse as well as the largest number of member displays seen for some time. One other hit: the Saturday evening dinner, with Yarmouth Museum curator Eric Ruff and his friends who, as the informal singing group "The Shantymen", entertained us with a collection of songs of the sea which reflect the maritime heritage of Yarmouth.

APNA President Doug Shand and Sou'Western Coin Club president Gordon Simons, as well as all who helped them, deserve much praise for the enjoyable and smoothly-running weekend which they prepared. I found the venue of the Grand Hotel to be most agreeable, while the drive to and from Yarmouth, through a wonderful Nova Scotian autumn landscape, was a truly memorable experience.

One further word: it was good to see how the Yarmouth organizers worked with other groups in the community in bringing off this successful weekend. There was an interesting display from the Yarmouth County Museum, also from the R.C.M.P. of counterfeit money and money laundering, and the Friends of the Yarmouth Light and the Municipal Council worked with the local club to develop and realize a very attractive set of show medals with the famous Cape Forchu lighthouse as the feature image. I understand that some medals are still available; write or e-mail Doug Shand for details.

At the Saturday noon meeting of the APNA, Halifax Regional Coin Club president Dave Wolfe announced that his club [note the new name] would be hosting the next Spring APNA show, in Dartmouth at the Senior's Service Centre at 45 Ochterloney Street, on May 24-25, 2002. An auction to be held Friday evening is also in the works, and please contact Dave Wolfe for consignment details. I am sure we will receive auction and meeting details in good time, and we will print them in our newsletter for all to see.

November 25 Coin Show in Dartmouth

During that numismatic weekend in Yarmouth, the president of the Halifax Regional Coin Club was seen distributing notices for a Coin and Collectible Show, to take place on November 25, 2001, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Dartmouth Seniors' Service Centre, 45 Ochterloney Street, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Admission is $1 [children 15 and under admitted free] and the show will feature coins, stamps, militaria and small collectibles.

This is the second time the Halifax Regional club has organized such an event. Last year's show was an enjoyable affair with many local dealers present, collectors had a chance to chat and swap stories, and coffee and sandwiches were available through the Seniors' Service Centre.

The location is close to the Halifax-Dartmouth ferry terminal and I certainly had little trouble finding a place to park the car.

Book Review:

Richard Doty, The Soho Mint & the Industrialization of Money. London: 1998.

This quality book is a costly production, and it is not surprising to see on the title page the co-publishers listed as the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution [where the author is Curator of numismatics], Spink [the London coin and medal dealer noted for its publication programme] and the British Numismatic Society [for which this book is listed as Special Publication No. 2]. This book is a cooperative effort, and one which has deserved everyone's support.

Richard G. Doty has an impressive track record. He is author of five other books on numismatics, including a popular encyclopaedia of numismatics, as well as over one hundred articles. He mentions that this book began in 1983 and the text wasn't finished until 1996. To call this book thorough and well-researched is an understatement. The illustrations are excellent.

Most of us have seen a "cartwheel" penny at one time or another, and we all know that many colonial and bank tokens, as well as the 1871 P.E.I. cent, came from a private mint in England. Well, what was the Heaton mint, and what is its history?

Doty's The Soho Mint answers the questions, by a detailed and fascinating account of entrepreneur Matthew Boulton, who partnered with engineer James Watt to apply the steam engine to the striking of coins. Later, Boulton's son continued the business, which eventually was wound up and acquired by Ralph Heaton where, through his sons and descendants, it would continue to operate well into the 20^th century.

This book is informative and entertaining on several levels. From personal letters, from business papers and financial documents, Doty recreates the character of Boulton, his family, his partners, his employees and clients, and he tells too the story of how Boulton revolutionized the minting of money, instituting new security measures to make money safer than before, and how Boulton not only made money by minting money but also by manufacturing and selling mints! It is this part of the book that tends to frustrate, as governments drag their feet in this process of change. Get on with it, the reader shouts, but bureaucrats move slowly and circumstances conspire to throw up many roadblocks. Nothing can be more upsetting than change, and the Boultons faced many challenges, technical and human, as they introduced minting processes and techniques which we now take for granted.

In 350 pages, we are given a superbly illustrated history of coin manufacturing in the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries. Boulton's genius lay in his ability to see how technology could be adapted to new purposes, and his long struggle to achieve success is the significant story in numismatic development at that time.

This book is not without humour, especially in the tale of the Russian adventure, when Boulton sold a mint to the Czar's government and sent out employees from Birmingham to help set up the mint. One problem after another after another appeared and had to be solved, many having nothing to do with coinage and everything to do with human weakness from alcoholism to sloppy building design to sheer bloodymindedness! Other mints sold abroad encountered challenges from shipwreck to "red tape" and employees who inconveniently die on the job! That Boulton and Watt persevered is a major theme in this story, and makes this book so readable. Boulton's legacy is still with us: coins of quality design, of uniform size and thickness, machine made and economical, secure against counterfeiting.

The quality of the production of this book is high. Fine paper, super photography, excellent reproductions of coins and medals, and first class printing and binding make this a book to be treasured.

As a reference work it is very useful, providing information [in chapter 10, "Enduring Impressions: What Soho Struck"] on the coins and tokens made by Boulton father and son over the years including the penny tokens of New Brunswick [1843 is illustrated] and the Bank of Montreal ["front view" type, 1842] as well as the Quebec Bank, the City Bank and the Banque du Peuple. These bank tokens alone amounted to over 7.6 million pieces struck. Add to this the New Brunswick tokens, and some 8.8 million colonial Canadian pieces alone come from the Soho mint. Doty argues that these New Brunswick and Montreal pieces show the design standard to which Boulton always aspired, and represent the swan song of this venerable institution which disappeared shortly thereafter.

This is not an inexpensive book. For the serious numismatist and well as the collector interested in maintaining an up-to-date library, this book is an absolute must have. It is available for $80 U.S. from various sources, including dealer George Manz whose address appeared in last month's PEINA newsletter, and Charles Davis Numismatic Books [numislit@aol.com] in the United States. I'm sure others have it too. It is not the sort of book you would see at your local bookstore, so if you want your own copy, bite the bullet and get in touch with Manz or Davis. You'll be glad you did. This is a super book.

Book Review:

Coin Collecting for Dummies, by Ron Guth. New York: Hungry Minds Books, 2001. $29.99 at Chapters in Halifax.

Usually in this newsletter we print one review at a time, but this is a special case. You've probably seen books in this series before: Computers for Dummies, Car Repair for Dummies, I'm sure of you look hard enough you'll find snake-charming or bungy-jumping for dummies! Coin Collecting for Dummies, I guess, just had to happen!

I know the title may offend some. I have a friend who refuses to touch, let alone buy, what she considers this insulting-to-the-reader title. However, thick-skinned, I plunked down my money as I am always interesting in learning more about numismatics and this book looked interesting.

The author certainly knows his stuff. A former accountant turned coin dealer and auctioneer, he is familiar with coins but his knowledge is strongest in American coins. This is the bias of the book that must be factored in to its eventual use: it's good for the US collecting scene, and from less useful to positively weak elsewhere.

However, in the section of collecting profiles, the author is quite correct: the U.S. coin collecting market is the most advanced and active and the most populous in the world, with extensive buying and selling, a network of clubs, publications, standards, educational opportunities, and so on. Most of the buyers of this book will be American. Few will be Canadian. Our small market probably would not support such a book, much as we would like to see a Canadian or British or ancient coins edition. In other words, the bias is not unexpected.

The book opens with a common sense section, with chapters giving some background data, arguing that knowledge is the most valuable asset to any collector and offering a few suggestions regarding what to collect and some few tips on storing collections (which includes cleaning, security, insurance, as well as how to keep coins safe while in your home). This section sets the tone for the book: intensely practical, friendly, experience-backed, no-nonsense advice tinged with a few "thou shall" and "thou shall not" suggestions. The writing style is conversational, and the book is a very pleasant read.

Other Parts (note the capital P) of this book -- each Part has several Chapters -- is very clearly laid out, with a useful Table of Contents, Part and Chapter headings, and an index at the end of the book.

Part II on buying coins touches upon fakes (chapter 4), price guides and related matters (chapter 5), scams (chapter 6), as well as dealers, auctions, condition, grading, and so on. The layout is step-by-step, and if a chapter is not news to you then you can skip ahead. I found that almost every chapter, however, contains something new to me, usually a reflection of the perspective brought to the subject by this particular author.

As I mentioned before, the book has a tendency toward the U.S.A. Section III on Choosing Coins for Your Collection is short, with only a nod toward ancient or world coins, while Section IV, Focusing on U.S. Coins, elaborates upon chapter 12, titled "Making a Safe Bet with U.S. Coins". The book overs an excellent overview of U.S. coins, from the half cent up into the gold pieces, as well as American colonial, commemorative, pattern ("oddball"), error and pioneer gold pieces. The last coin section deals with selling coins, directly and via consignment, auction and so on.

The last section of the book reflects that which can make coin collecting so interesting and enjoyable. The Part of Tens includes the 10 most valuable U.S. coins, the ten favourite U.S. coin designs, and (chapter 26) ten great numismatic web sites. The book closes with a glossary of numismatic phrases and an index.

Final thoughts? It would indeed be nice to see a Canadian version following this Dummies format, with a wealth of information gathered between two covers. And, even though the book has a strong U.S. numismatic presence, it has much to offer all collectors.

PEINA Newsletter

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For Sale:

One copy, in excellent condition, of the Krause-Mishler reference book "World Coins, 1901-present", 8^th edition (1999), 767 pages and 16,000 illustrations. Yours for $35, see Mark H. for further details.

Wanted:

A 20-cent coin, Canada or provincial issue, for the PEINA's Farmers' Bank collection. Worn but readable condition would be acceptable. "Newfie shillings" also welcome. Coin must be dated 1894 or before.