DONATIONS ARE NEEDED FOR THE ANNUAL SHOW RAFFLE TABLE!!!

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1 . FRONT PAGE NEWS. ~PAWCATUCK VALLEY COIN CLUB MONTHLY NEWS LETTER~ ANA-C ~MARCH 2014 EDITION~ The 608 th meeting of the Pawcatuck Valley Coin Club will be held on Wednesday 19 th March 2014 in the recreation room of the Stonington Arms, Route 1 (133 South Broad Street) Pawcatuck CT. The Junior Roundtable will 6:30pm. The regular meeting will begin 7:20pm. The Bourse will 6:45pm. DONATIONS ARE NEEDED FOR THE ANNUAL SHOW RAFFLE TABLE!!! JUNIOR NEWS: Do not forget to check in with Bill Jacobik when you sign in, he has the Points sheet for each junior and will sign your point(s) for attendance! Remember, there is a $25 gift certificate awarded to each junior member who earns 10 points! Roll Junior Raffle: Senior Raffle: 1951 Norwalk Centenary Wooden Nickel 2013 S Fort McHenry National. Park Quarter 1862 Indian (C/N) Cent VG 2013 P Mount Rushmore National. Park Quarter Roll 1972 Kennedy Half Dollar BU Various City Transit Tokens 2002 One Euro Germany Coin World Ledger of U.S. Coins 2009 Lincoln Cent P & D Capital Reverse BU 2013 U.S. Mint Set Junior Door Prize: Senior Door Prizes: 2007 James Madison Dollar 24KT Gold Enriched 1921 NGC MS63 Morgan Dollar DAVE MORRISON REQUESTS SUPPLIES: He will be doing a presentation in his child's 4 th grade class, during National Coin Week in April. If anyone has any lightly used Whitman folders that they can donate Please let him know at the meeting or you can me and I will pass it along. He seeks CENT and NICKEL folders if you have any to spare. Red Books are needed too. WELCOME BACK: Daniel J. Carr PVCC #763 WEBSITES OF INTEREST: This will be a new addition to the Newsletter. I will only post those that are secure here. If you have a website you feel others may benefit from please send it along to me, I will check it out and add it here if it is safe to do so. U.S. Silver Coin Weight Conversion and Melt Value Calculator: A Guide Book of United States Coins/ Professional Edition 5 th Edition (The RED BOOK) is in pre-order status. You can call: or order it online at: either way reference Item # X. It is $29.95 plus shipping. PVCC s NEW Website!!!: pawcatuckvalleycoinclub.com Yes this is our club s new web site! Visit it and make suggestions for new content. It can be accessed by either computer OR phones & tablets. If you are flying and get bored this is one site you can access!

2 Is America ready for a brown nickel? By Caroline Fairchild. Reprinted with permission Fortune Magazine visits the U.S. Mint's R&D lab in Philadelphia to learn more about what's in store for future coinage. The Deputy Director of the U.S. Mint is telling me that I am holding in my hand what could be a future nickel. I don't believe him. Standing in the Mint's research and development lab in central Philadelphia, I look down at a brown piece of metal that is the size of a nickel, but about the color and weight of a cent. I am immediately thrown off by both its light feel and dark hue. There is no way anyone would ever think this is a real, I keep thinking. Since 2011, Mint officials in this lab have been looking into alternative metals for coins that could bring down the agency's growing production costs. After spending $8.1 million on research, scientists discovered six potential metal alloys for cents, nickels, dimes and quarters that could save the government between $30 and $40 million a year. The copper-plated zinc option for nickels that I have in my hand is just one of them. (Researchers here refer to it as the "nonsense nickel.") But before any cost-saving alternatives are pursued, the Mint must figure out if Americans will reject a brown nickel -- or other cost-saving changes to U.S. coins -- just like I did. The government arm is embarking on an extensive coin usage study this year to find out how, when and why in a digital age we still pay for things with coins and if the size, color and feel of them really matter. "There could be a new metal that could work that would have transition costs, but it is really all about how people use their coins," Deputy Director Richard Peterson told me when we sat down for an interview. "What will people say when they feel what you felt [in that lab]? That's what we need to go and figure out. "The broad mission of the Mint is to facilitate commerce with trusted American coins. Changing the weight, color or thickness of the coins we touch everyday could jeopardize the American people's confidence in coinage. That's partly why the Mint hasn't altered its currency significantly for nearly 50 years.in 1965, rising silver prices forced the Mint to switch the dime, quarter and half to a mostly copper composition. Today, the Mint is facing a similar dilemma with copper. The cent and the nickel have cost more to produce than their face value for eight years. In 2013, the Mint lost $105 million just producing those two coins. The absurd cost of production has led some to conclude that the Mint should just stop producing these small forms of currency all together. After all, the Royal Canadian Mint announced in 2012 that it would phase out its cent, saving taxpayers $11 million a year. But even in an age when more and more people pay for goods with plastic cards and smartphones, the demand for cents and nickels is still growing. Last year, circulating coin production increased nearly 18 percent. About 62 percent of that production came from 6.6 billion cents. As the economy expands there are more transactions. More transactions always means more small change, Peterson explained. Even in 2013, cash still accounts for at least 45 percent of all exchanges under $25. Although Peterson acknowledges that technologies like mobile wallets and Square are shaping the future of payment, he said he has to plan as if coins -- even cents -- are going to be here for a long time. "How we can [make coins] most cost effectively has become the real issue," he added. The American public is not the only stakeholder wary of altering or eliminating U.S. coins. The $40 billion a year vending industry, which relies on coins as its principal form of payment, would also be heavily impacted by any changes at the Mint. By taking away the copper base of some coins, all coin accepting machines would have to be recalibrated to accept currency with a new metal signature. The National Automatic Merchandising Association estimates it could cost as much as $3.5 billion to upgrade every piece of equipment. Even as payment technology advances, only about 7 percent of machines were equipped with cashless readers in 2012, said Eric Dell, NAMA senior vice president of government affairs. "The majority of our members in the industry are small businesses," said Dell. "Whatever the financial impact is, it would be on small business, which are creating many of the jobs in the country." This December, the Mint must outline in a report to Congress the progress of its research into alternative metals and perhaps make a recommendation about what should be done. The organization plans to work closely in 2014 with all coin accepting industries as well as survey the American people. Ultimately, the Mint's recommendation will be dictated not necessarily by what plan will save the government the most money, but by what the American people and vending machine industry will most readily accept. "I give the American public a lot of credit," Peterson said. "If we gave them a proper public relations campaign about what we are going to do and why we are going to do it, people will get on board and support the program." Despite Peterson's optimism, I can't help but think about the bizarre brown nickel I held in my hand last week. Change is hard -- figuratively and literally. After 50 years of little modifications made to coinage, is America really ready to see a brown nickel? What about a smaller one -- or none at all? Based on my jarred reaction last week in the Mint's lab, Peterson and his colleagues have their work cut out for them.

3 SHOW DATES OF NOTE: AUBURN MA: 13 th April Elks Lodge, 754 South Bridge Street (Route 12) 46 Tables. Free Admission CHEEKTOWGA NY: 20 TH April Knights of Columbus Hall, 2735 Union Rd., 56 tables DEDHAM MA 6 th April Holiday Inn, I-95 exit 15A, Dedham MA. 29 tables, free admission WESTFORD MA 23 rd March Route Westford Massachusetts Exit 32 off I dealers, $1 admission, 3 door prizes REMEMBER, OUR COIN SHOW IS 4 TH MAY 2014 Please download the flyer and post it anywhere you can get permission to do so! Editor: Carol Young PVCC #739 ANA # R Remember our NEW website is: pawcatuckvalleycoinclub.com, check it out. Click on the Contact Us tab to make inquiry. If you have anything you would like to add to the monthly letter, please contact me before the first of every month. The Newsletter will be on the website on the 1 st of every month. To avoid hacking difficulties I will no longer the newsletter. All parts of the newsletter & auction list are printable from the site.

4 Free Introductory Seminar: How to Buy Precious Metal For Physical Possession A public Service of the Pawcatuck Valley Coin Club Have you wanted to buy gold or silver and Not known how? This is your chance to learn! And it s FREE! Tuesday March 18 th 6:30 PM Westerly Library Auditorium 4 Broad St, Westerly Nothing will be SOLD And your private information will not be asked for. Contact us at: pawcatuckvealleycoinclub.com

5 MARCH 2014 AUCTION LIST #: Jr. Auction Description: Bid: Sold: #: Jr. Auction Description: Bid: Sold: P Lincoln Cent CH BU Canadian Mint Set BU P Lincoln Cent PROOF Canadian Mint Set BU P Two Cent GOOD US Mint Set BU P Three Cent Nickel VG US Mint Set BU Chicago Cubs Baseball Medal US Mint Set BU 2.00 #: Sr. Auction Description: Bid: Sold: #: Sr. Auction Description: Bid: Sold: Indian Cent w Love token US $1 Silver Certificate VG/F Canadian Large Cent BU C US $5 Silver Certificate F/VF US Half Cent ALMOST GOOD G US $2 Note VF/XF Indian Cent AU Confederate $10 CU w/signatures P Half Dime XF Austrian Maria Theresa Thaler AU P Buffalo Nickel BU Canadian Dollar 80% Silver BU P Jefferson Nickel BU Canadian Dollar 50% Silver BU P Jefferson Nickel BU Canadian Dollar 50% Silver BU S Twenty Cent XF & 1971-S US PROOF Sets P Barber Quarter VF D Mint Set BU S Barber Quarter VG Canadian PROOF Like Set P Liberty Seated Quarter FINE Canadian PROOF Like Set S Wash Qtr. Louisiana Silver PR US Bi-Centennial 3pc Mint Set S Wash Qtr. Oklahoma Silv. PR S Statue of Liberty Dollar & ½ PR P Barber Half VG S US Congress Dollar & Half PR S Barber Half GOOD D White House Dollar BU S Barber Half VG S Military Academy Dollar PR S Barber Half GOOD th Century US Type Set 24pc Cir-BU D Barber Half FINE Liberty Walking Halves BU P Liberty Walking Half BU Barber Half Historic Coin & Stamp VG S Franklin Half BU Lib. Walking Hist. ½ Coin & Stamp AU D Franklin Half CH BU Franklin Half Historic Coin & Stamp BU D/D Franklin Half BU Kennedy Half Historic Coin & Stamp PR P Morgan Dollar 7 tail AU Silver Mint Ingots 6pc 20 gram O Morgan Dollar BU Presidents Mini Coin Set 36pc.999 Silv P Morgan Dollar XF/AU Legacies of Freedom 3 coin set P Peace Dollar CH BU Canadian Nickels S Peace Dollar XF/AU Canadian Type Set Cent to Dollar P Peace Dollar BU US Capital PROOF set block 7 sets S Ike Dollar 40% PROOF Cabinet with 3 BU Silver Dollars If you bring your iphone or tablet to the meeting you can go to our website and see this Auction List there. This saves paper while letting you enjoy the auction! Let s be Green folks!

6 Celebrating 52 years in the Numismatic Hobby Member of the American Numismatic Association Pawcatuck Valley Coin Club Presents it s ANNUAL COIN SHOW ~SUNDAY, MAY 4, 2014, 8:30 AM to 2:30PM~ HOLIDAY INN HOTEL, CHELSEA ROSE ROOM 10 LAURA BOULEVARD, NORWICH CONNECTICUT Visit the ANACS Coin Grading Service Booth LSCC/BCCS Booth Five Hourly Raffles, wonderful prizes! The best little Coin Show in Connecticut! Directions from I-395: Take exit 80; turn left at bottom of ramp. Go to the next light on Route 82 and turn right Questions? Reach us on our website at:

7 ~YE OLDE TRADING POST~ Use zoom to enlarge an image. MEMBERS MAY POST HERE FREE! Display case for sale. Asking $20.00 Contact: Frank Wawrzynowicz Leave Message.