the Liberty Bill Act

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In November, Honorable Member Henry Coalter introduced us to the Liberty Bill Act, a proposal to outline the Constitution on the reverse of the $1 bill.

Of particular note is the proposal’s local origins: Randy Wright was a civics teacher at Liberty Middle School in Ashland, Va., who thought this was a practical way to familiarize everyone with the U.S. Constitution. Sadly, it hasn’t passed yet, but not for want of effort by Mr. Wright & his students. Here are several accounts of the saga…

Hutt River Province Coinage

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At our August meeting, Honorable Member Harlan Loebman presented a brief history of the Principality of Hutt River, a former enclave in Western Australia. Leonard Casley, whose farm claimed sovereignty from 1970 to 2020, used an agricultural dispute & an obscure Tudor-era law to create a micronation that issued its own passports, stamps, and money. Harlan passed around several coins, like this one…

HRP$5 Albert Spalding commemorative HRP$5 Albert Spalding commemorative
© Copasetic Coins

These images are from Numista, an online catalog which lists 306 coins from Hutt River and from the rest of the world as well–check it out. And thank you, Harlan, for an interesting presentation!

WW2 Rationing Tokens

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In April, Honorable Member Henry Coalter gave us an overview of World War Two rationing tokens. Issued by the Office of Price Administration (OPA), these were used in conjunction with books of rationing stamps, to “make change” for smaller quantities of restricted commodities in short supply (e.g., sugar, meat).

(image from Wikipedia: click here for their description.)

Henry is on a mission: he has contacted the author of a tract on these tokens, and is attempting a “census” of population & distribution of tokens by digraph (note “XU” & “HU” in the picture above). Please contact us if you have information which might contribute to his research.

Nazi Counterfeit Banknotes

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At our September meeting, unstoppable auctioneer/educator Parry Bragg gave a presentation on Operation Bernhard, the Nazi effort to counterfeit banknotes (samples of which Parry passed around). Based primarily in a concentration camp, the operation leveraged inmate expertise in chemistry (to duplicate linen & ink); cryptanalysis (to crack the Bank of England’s serial number assignment); and forgery (to reproduce design & signatures), to produce banknotes that were virtually indistinguishable from the genuine article…

Nazi forgery £5 banknote

This story was too big for one presentation: Parry promises to complete the tale at our 31 October meeting. But if he doesn’t salute Hallowe’en by appearing in costume, will I be the only one who feels somewhat disappointed?

A.C.S. Cent

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At our August meeting, ubiquitous auctioneer/educator Parry Bragg gave a presentation on the American Colonization Society featuring one of their coins. The organization sought to repatriate free blacks & former slaves to Liberia, a parallel effort to Great Britain’s establishment of Sierra Leone on the west coast of Africa. Both still exist as independent countries, although the population transfer was abandoned for a number of reasons (e.g., many acculturated English-speakers who’d been in North America for generations, were not excited to build homes in an unfamiliar climate, on unknown shores, with dubious neighbors).

A.C.S. Cent

The slabbed coin we examined resembled the one pictured (source linked here). Thanks to Parry for introducing an interesting new facet of numismatics!

Project 2013B

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At our June meeting, auctioneer/educator Parry Bragg answered a question posed by one of our members: What is Project 2013B? Back around 2013, pairs of dollar bills with identical serial numbers were created by the Federal Bureau of Engraving & Printing (BEP). Of course, that is not supposed to happen, so it presents a rare opportunity for an honest citizen to capitalize on a USG mistake.

DETAILS: Series 2013 replacement “star” dollar bills for Federal Reserve Bank “B” (New York City) were affected, being simultaneously printed in Washington D.C. & Fort Worth, Texas. This website gives more details, including the means to register your banknote, in the hopes that its twin comes to light. Good luck!