So I am going to a coin club meeting tonight for the first time in years.
SanctionII
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I went to the meetings of this club years ago, but got sidetracked with other stuff.
At a local show last week guys I remember from the club were asking me to come back. Supposedly membership is up quite a bit from the level it was years ago. So I decided to give it another try and see if I get motivated to participate or not.
At a local show last week guys I remember from the club were asking me to come back. Supposedly membership is up quite a bit from the level it was years ago. So I decided to give it another try and see if I get motivated to participate or not.
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<< <i>I've never been to a coin-collector's meeting. What is discussed there? >>
My guess is coin collecting.
Does someone give a talk? Is it a roundtable discussion of a chosen topic?
Ray
<< <i>Quantum leap in logic ...
Does someone give a talk? Is it a roundtable discussion of a chosen topic? >>
Depends on the club format...
The two I belong to, we have a presentation from a different speaker each month and a show & tell afterwords... folks bring in their newps and other coins they wish to show or learn about.
One meeting is held in a library meeting room and the club has many "well-known" numismatists in it's membership... always something of interest... kind of like this forum (the "better part", anyway) only in person...
The other is held in a class act restaurant in their large "party" room... dinner, good company, coins... again, just like here only in person...
The only "drag" is the unavoidable business part of the meeting...but we usually get that stuff out of the way rather quickly...
Also, we hold a 50-50 raffle at each meeting.
One of the clubs sponsers an annual coin show that is quite nice. We are also in the process of starting a YN program that will work with the local Boy Scouts and other YN's...
As with anything...it is only as "good" as the quality of the participants and their participation...
(edit for spelling
The club members who were present years ago all know I am a lawyer. They don't hold it against me however
-Randy Newman
<< <i>Hmmm. Probably the closest one to me would be Sacramento. It'd be neat to check out. >>
The Sac club just had a show a couple weeks back. I have never been to their meetings.
we do minutes...nominations, votes
show and tell
50/50
and a pretty lively auction
we have quite a few females and YN's in our club......
<< <i>Tell them your name is Joe and you are a plumber!
Included in the bulletin will be the discussion theme; in this month's case, "How is the numismatic marketplace being impacted by the ongoing turmoil in the economy?"; and a Show and Tell theme; in this month's case, "Items purchased from local coin dealers".
Generally club business is taken care of at the beginning, and in most cases is over and done with pretty quickly. Then the discussion theme, and general BS'ing will be opened up. After that the show and tell part will occur. While there is a suggested show and tell theme, be it Lincoln pennies or numismatic representations of Ms. Liberty, whatever someone wants to show is happily looked at by all the members. This week aside from the general generic type things like modern commems in their OGP, there were: Gold coins from medieval Europe, Israeli medals, assorted Morgan VAMs, Queen Victoria medals, minor South American coinage, Roman coinage, and some elongated cents. Yours truly brought a toned '54-S Franklin and a toned Monroe commem.
After the show and tell we'll do the 3 quiz questions and then hold a raffle. The prizes this month included a '46-D BTW in gem BU, a '04 Silver Eagle, a BU '51-S Franklin, a BU '37 Mercury, and a BU '43 Washington. The door prize (e.g. anyone who attends the meeting is entered in this one) were a group of 3 Mercs, a good '24, a fine '39-S and a fine '40-D.
After that the meeting ends, and people will socialize as they see fit for another 10-15 minutes.
U.S. Type Set
I saw some people who were part of the club when I last went years ago. We chatted and they were glad to see me again. Last night's meeting had about 40 people show up. When I attended years ago the meetings were attended by maybe 10 people, mostly middle aged and older white guys.
So, somehow, membership has increased. The people there last night were a mixture. Male and female (about 8 females), old (late 60's to early 70's at the top end of the age scale) and young (some 20s [including two women in their 20s] and a 10 year old scout at the bottom end of the age scale). White, black, asian, hispanic, middle. Some folks live in expensive neighborhoods and probably make really good money and some folks live in less expensive neighborhoods and make more modest amounts of money.
In other words, "a cross section of the community".
The format did not change. Club business first; snacks and drinks; show and tell; regular raffle; 50-50 raffle; small auction of donated items; and a speaker. At the conclusion of the meeting, pick up, clean up and put away tables and chairs. The topic for the speaker last night was the club sponsored coin show that took place this past weekend. Anyone present at the club meeting last night who attended the show was encouraged to stand up and speak about their experience at the show and what the bought or sold.
I stood up, said hello, introduced myself to the new faces, told them I had attended years ago and was returning and told them that at the coin show I bought a lovely 1911 MS RB Lincoln to upgrade my Lincoln Dansco and that I got lucky with a 1964 proof set in OGP, cherrypicking a high grade (67 or 68?) CAM or possibly DCAM half. Everyone said hello and welcome back.
I bought some tickets for the regular raffle. Some donated items were pretty cool. I had my eye on a circulated 1866 S seated liberty dollar and hoped that the first number called in the raffle was one of my tickets. I would have liked to have snagged the 1866 dollar for my Type Set Album. No such luck. Instead, I did not win until the final item was raffled. I won a 2000P and a 2000D Sacagewea dollar, both MS. They were in cardboard, stapled flips. One had started to develope rim toning. As the meeting finished, I tapped the 10 year old scout on the shoulder. He turned to me and I handed him the two Sacagewea dollars and said here is a gift for you. He got a big grin on his face, said thanks and showed them to his dad. His dad also said thanks.
Then I help pick up and put up a little bit.
Then I went home to the wife and kids.
All in all, not a bad way to spend a copule of hours on a Thursday night, especially since there were more people at the meeting than before and it was lively, compared to past meetings.
A Liberty Seated Dollar being raffled off ??? WOW !!!
The only prizes we get at my coin club are silver rounds, Morgan dollars, and dos peso gold coins...
Hope you had a great time there...
"Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
http://www.american-legacy-coins.com