WBCC Newsmail 158, Volume 4, August 22, 1999
 --------------------------------------------------------------------
 Composed with help from members of the
 Worldwide Bi-metallic Collectors Club (WBCC)
 and this week published by Frans Dubois, Netherlands,
 Docu-Centre of the WBCC, dubois.f@wxs.nl
 --------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 Dear WBCC members and non WBCC members,
 
 For the second week I stand in for Martin who will be back next week
 (WBCC  Newsmail 159).after his trip to Belgium.
 There is news this week from the ANA, Chicago, new issues and images and
 more about bimetallic collecting.
 Enjoy it!
 Frans
 
 1 New bimetallic token…..by Frans Woons.
 
 Recently I bought through eBay a bi-metallic token that might be unknown
 to  WBCC members. The token weighs about 3 g and has a diameter of about 20
 mm. The ring is white in colour (nickel?) while the centre is yellow
 (brass?). One side reads: CONTROL TOKEN NO CASH VALUE (on the ring) and
 VB (on the centre). The other side reads also CONTROL TOKEN NO CASH VALUE
 (on the ring) and CTTM 39 (on the centre in two lines). The edge is
 smooth. I have no idea where the token originated and what it was used for.
 Information from WBCC members is welcome!
 
 2 My Visit to Finland….. by Jack Hepler.

 In early July I traveled to Finland and visited with Kari Hurskainen.
 Kari is a great guy, you can see his picture on the WBCC Webpage
 standing next to my wife. Kari is an avid collector of bimetallics and loves to
 share his knowledge and hobby with others. He gave us a tour of his
 hometown and Turku. If you have seen some of the giant tour ships, you
 can see them under construction in Turku. Some of the tour ships actually
 issued bimetallic tokens to passengers during the cruise. Unfortunately, the
 shipbuilders didn't have any bimetallics for me. Guess I'll have to
 take a cruise. Hi, to Kari and happy bimetallic hunting.
 
 3 News from the ANA, Chicago…..by Cliff Anderson.
 
 The WBCC made a surprisingly significant showing at the 108th Annual
 American Numismatic Association (ANA) Convention in Chicago. The show,
 held August 11-15, 1999, was called the "World's Fair of Money." In the huge
 Rosemont Convention Center, near O'Hare Airport, 367 dealers or vendors
 had tables, plus many who did not appear in the printed program. There were
 19 governmental mints plus several private mints represented, and 21 clubs
 or other registered organizations participated. The number of registered
 collectors must have been several thousand.
 
 One regular feature of the ANA is the convention "passport" or mini coin
 album which can be filled with a coin from each of the various mints at
 the show. Three of the 19 participating country mint coins this year were
 bimetal: Canada's new $2 Nunavut coin, San Marino's 1998 500 lire
 piece, and Mexico's 1999 one peso. And many of the mints also gave away pins,
 tokens, and other eye-catching material.
 
 The ANA had organized and cross-referenced participating dealers by
 specialty areas, and a couple of type clubs issued their own listings of
 member dealers. But, as we all know, bimetallic pieces of any
 description are not yet in great enough demand to be a separate category to most
 dealers. So the WBCC members had to hunt through all the tables to find
 bimetals. Several members reported success in finding bimetallic
 circulation currency coins and patterns, medals and tokens
 (commemorative, transportation, gambling, trade, etc.)
 
 We counted ten actual WBCC members at the convention, though others may
 have attended before Friday the 13th when we had our first informal gathering
 for chat and dinner. Then as arranged by Larry Friemel, we met on Saturday
 afternoon in an assigned room. Members who could make it were:
 
 Larry Friemel, member #3, and his wife Chris, from California, whose
 work has curtailed his availability for organizing and collecting (though he
 did well in both areas at the ANA!)
 
 Joe Kovian, member #6, from Ohio, and his wife Cynthia. Joe had several
 valuable insights and ideas as to how numismatics and the WBCC can
 contribute to teaching and involve young collectors. Joe said his
 middle school students helped put together his WBCC CD! See Joe's site at
 www.cvi-usa.com.
 
 Kyle Mutcher, member #9, from Winnipeg whose international travels as a
 telecom technician puts him in touch with many coin sources.
 
 Ray Lockwood, member #30, was another one of several member-dealers who
 manned his own table at the convention.
 
 Norm Bowers, member #42, from St. Louis, is another member who is also a
 professional dealer, doing business as Scotsman. Norm emphasized that
 he respects WBCC member requests with discounts; he passed out a bimetal
 list of his current offerings.
 
 Heath MacAlpine, member #44 from Ohio, admitted having kept a low
 profile up to now.
 
 Tom Galway, member #68 from Madison, Wisconsin, brought his young nephew
 Brian.
 
 Michael Doran, member #74, is also a dealer at  www.hotyellow98.com/dorannumismatics.
 See his 1996 bimetallic elongate on the website.
 
 Brian Silsbee, member #128 is a contributor to Peck's World Paper Money
 with a particular interest in, and access to Iran, Ghana, Algeria, and China.
 
 Cliff Anderson, member #38, from New Orleans.
 
 Three visitors (and prospective members?) introduced themselves:
 Mark Holmes from Alexander, NY;
 Dan Gosling, a financial advisor from Edmonton, Alberta, very active in
 his local club activities; and
 Bob Frtisch from New Hampshire, who showed a strong interest in the
 WBCC, even while he was busy winning second place as an ANA exhibitor with his
 clever presentation on Numismatica Sherlockiana (as in Sherlock Holmes).
 
 The thought occurred to one member that, with some planning, the WBCC
 could put on a very extensive bimetal presentation at the ANA next year.
 
 Martin Peeter, Frans Dubois, Rod Sell, and Paul Baker were all mentioned
 several times for their invaluable acitvities without which there would
 not be a WBCC.
 
 Larry Friemel and Ray Lockwood noted that the only previous physical
 WBCC meeting they knew of in the US was when they themselves shook hands in
 the hallway at last year's ANA. That made us realize that the very nature
 of the WBCC makes such physical gatherings rare, since we are regularly
 meeting each other in virtual contact on the internet.
 
 The best surprise was when a visitor named Allen Herbert introduced
 himself as one of two newly elected ANA governors. He was especially
 complimentary of the WBCC, repeating Heath Mac Alpine's phrase, as the "edge of the
 wave of the future" in numismatics. Mr. Herbert said that he knew of no
 other numismatic organization doing anything like the WBCC, not only being
 entirely virtual, but also in archiving its records. When Joe Kocian
 presented Mr. Herbert with a copy of Joe's WBCC CD, Herbert predicted
 that it may be a collector's item in the near future. Cliff Anderson kidded
 Joe in suggesting that he may have created a monster that would demand
 continual upgrading and revisions. (Maybe it is the same monster that has grabbed
 Martin!) Mr. Herbert gave his email as answerman2@aol.com.
 
 Ray Lockwood proudly displayed his gorgeous bimetallic collection, which
 he has restricted to only circulating coins. Ray raised the issue of how
 many bimetal categories should be handled by the WBCC. One member observed
 that if we stick to firm definitions of what is bimetallic, and as long as
 Rod Sell's software can build enough library pages, the WBCC is doing well
 to include tokens and medals that are bimetallic. Mr. Herbert said that he
 is not aware of any catalog, official or unofficial, other than Martin's
 bimonthly "The World of Bi-Metallics" (TWOB) that in any way collects
 data for the exploding interest in bimetallics. Larry Friemel of course has
 been trying to get his bimetal work published, but it sure looks good on the
 webpage and on Joe's CD.
 
 One dealer pointed out that there is a whole series of fairly common
 bimetallic pieces issued by the Papal States in or around the 1880s, but
 he has never seen them listed or attributed in any numismatic listing.
 (These may include the several Papal pieces dated between 1860 and 1903 in TWOB
 Section 4 under Italy).
 
 All ten of us who attended the ANA said we enjoyed it, and despite the
 expense, it is a unique opportunity to find things not normally available.
 
 4 New bimetallic token from Albrandswaard, the Netherlands …by Frans
 Dubois.
 
 Last week the 4th and last bimetallic token from Albrandswaard in a
 series of 4 was issued.
 The series that started in 1996 is completed now.
 The image is not available yet but will be next week.
 
5 New bimetallic 'Fijenoord' token…..by Frans Dubois.
 
 Footballclub and Champion 1999 issued another 'champion-token' with all
 dates of their championships this century. At the reverse is again a
 'Ketelbinkie'
 Available next week.
 
 6 New images …..by Rod Sell .
 The new images are:
 
 Hong Kong 1990 International Coin Expo Panda Medal
 ANA Convention in Chicago photos from Larry Friemel
 Visitor Mark Holmes with Tom Galway and his Nephew Brian
 WBCC Group from left Dan Goslin, Ray Lockwood, Cliff Anderson, Heath
 MacAlpine, Michael Doran, Brian Silsbee, Joseph Kocian, Cynthia Kocian
 and Chris Friemel,
 Canada $5 MTT from Kerrobert Saskatchewan
 Canada $5 MTT from Nanaimo British Columbia
 Croatia Money Institute Medal
 US ? Control Token VB/CT39
 ILNA elongated Canadian $2
 US Monterey Bus Line Token from Jackson Miss.
 Andora 1999 5 Diners. The first Andorra Tri-Metallic.
 
 
 7 Bimetallic Dealer's ANA Report ………….. by Norm Bowers
 The Chicago ANA Show demonstrated a consistent and comprehensive growing
 interest in bimetallics. There were more dealers offering a wider array
 of bimetallics and there was a greater interest in bimetallics by the
 visitors to the show. However, for me, a high point in the event was the WBCC
 meeting and the dinner the following night. I counted 19 members and
 associates. This is a very respectable showing for our young club. And
 based on the interest shown by visitors at the ANA show, there will be
 more folks wanting to join the World Bimetallic Collectors Club.
 I have acquired numerous new items which are available to members of the
 WBCC. I still have some of the older specimens as well. You can send
 your want list to me either by mail, fax or eMail:
 Eagle Coin and Stamp Co.
 1001 S. Lincoln,
 O'Fallon, IL 62269, USA
 Or FAX (618) 624-2972
 Phone (618) 624-4418/(314) 275-8995
 E-Mail Ron@scotsmancoin.com
 
 8 Bimetallics wanted…… by Francisco Yabar, Peru.
 
 Saludos desde Perú.
 Excuse my English, in my country we only use spanish and I don´t know
 how to write in these language very well.
 I´m coin collector and I wil like to buy some bi metallic coins of Perú
 (my country) that I can not found here. What can I do if I want the 20 soles
 coins that are listed in your web?.
 Best regards
 Francisco Yábar
 Email address: <dirintem@marina.mil.pe>
 
9 Bimetallic MTT's from Canada…….by Cliff Anderson.
 
 Canada has been issuing municipal trade tokens since 1958 but the first
 of these that are bimetallic have just been issued this year.
 The Chamber of Commerce of Kerrobert, a small town in western part of
 Saskatchewan province, has issued the first bimetallic Canadian MTT.
 The scan shows that it is good for $5 and is "valid at participating
 merchants until Dec. 15, 1999." The piece shows a nice line drawing of
 Kerrobert's Canadian Pacific Railway Station bult in 1911.
 Another bimetallic Canadian MTT is from the city of Nanaimo, British
 Columbia, which calls itself the "bathtub capital of the world." (I
 don't know how that claim to fame could be challenged!) It bears a fine
 looking town crest and commemorates "125 years of foresight and fortitide." The
 reverse shows two cartoon characters sailing in a bathrub marked
 "Nanaimo, BC", under a British Columbia provincial flag. But this piece also
 commemorates the 30th anniversary of "man's first steps on the moon."
 It too is worth $5 and is "valid at participating merchants until September
 30, 1999."
 Both pieces are 39mm, but only the Nanaimo one is reeded. The
 mintage on both of these collector versions is just 100. There may be some still
 available at Bonavita, Ltd., P. O. Box 11447, Station H, Nepean, Ontario
 K2H7V1, Canada, phone and fax 613 823-3844. Ray Desjardins is most helpful
 in fulfilling orders; he is charging $17.50 US for each one. Try him at
 ray_desjardins@hotmail.com .
 He accepts both VISA and MASTERCARD.
 Ray has also mentioned that he expects a third bimetallic MTT to be
 issued in September from Kindersely, SK, which will be Canada's first
 circulating MTT.
 
 Cliff Anderson
 
 Martin will "See" you next week,
 Thanks for all contributions that helped me to compose the last 2
 Newsmails!
 Frans Dubois, Docu-Centre of the
 Worldwide Bi-metallic Collectors Club
 dubois.f@wxs.nl
 --------------------------------------------------------------
 The Worldwide Bi-metallic Collectors Club
 was established September 14, 1996 and is the very first Worldwide
 Collectors Club using the Internet. Goal of the WBCC is exchange
 Bi-metallics and exchange knowledge about Bi-metallics
 WBCC Organisation:
 WBCC Homepage Provider: Rod Sell, Australia, Rod.Sell@hlos.com.au
 WBCC DoCu-Centre: Frans Dubois, Netherlands, dubois.f@wxs.nl
 WBCC Public Relations: Cliff Anderson, USA, chander@mciworld.com
 WBCC Research Centre: Paul Baker, UK, 113076.167@compuserve.com
 WBCC Focal Point: Martin Peeters, Netherlands, martinp@westbrabant.net