WBCC Newsmail 222, Volume 5, November 11, 2000
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Composed with help from members of the
Worldwide Bi-metallic Collectors Club (WBCC)
and weekly published by Martin Peeters, Netherlands,
Focal Point of the WBCC, martinp@westbrabant.net
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Dear WBCC members and non WBCC members,

A very informative WBCC Newsmail this week. I hope you enjoy reading it!!

1. New WBCC members.by Martin Peeters, WBCC Focal Point

We have a new member. Let me introduce him to you:

Name: Arno Kort (WBCC member #187), Netherlands
E-mail: kort@kabelfoon.nl
Age: 43
Hobby: World coins and tokens including many Bi- and/or Tri-metallics
Goal: Trade not buying

2. Bi-metallic Forum Page (BFP)...by Martin Peeters, WBCC Focal Point

WBCC member Larry Friemel from the US took actions to open a Bi-metallic
Forum Page. Please take a look at: http://network54/Forum/86625

3. WBCC Auction Pages (1) ...by Martin Peeters, WBCC Focal Point

WBCC member Frans Dubois from the Netherlands, took the initiative to
suggest to open a WBCC Action Page (WAP). After a week of work, Rod Sell
made it possible: The WBCC opens a new activity for WBCC members. The WBCC
Auction Page (WAP) is a fact. When you look at:
http://www.geocities.com/RodeoDrive/7513/wbccnews/auction1.html you can see
the offers and you can put your offers. Please read first the Auction Rules
first. The following Items are listed:
* Italy 1997 1000 Lire
* Italy 1998 1000 Lire
* England Charles I Rose Farthing(13mm) copper with brass wedge
* NZ 1994 50 cent a little toning
* Thailand 2000 10 Baht 80th anniversary of Ministry of Commerce
* Jordan 1997 1/2 Dinar
* Latvia 1999 2 Lati

4. WBCC Auction Pages (2).......Rod Sell, WAP Provider

You will have read above about our WBCC Auction. This current Auction 1 will
finish at 10PM 17th November Sydney time. With the WBCC Newsmail on the 18th
November there will be details of Auction 2 and each week after that, whilst
we have the material we will run an Auction. Please send details of any lots
you have for the Auction to Rod.Sell@elderwyn.com and it will be included in
the next auction. If you have a scan that would make it even better, however
please give a description of your items and your reserve, which must have a
minimum of US$1.
WBCC members are limited to 5 lots for each auction so if you have more than
5 lot save some for future auctions. The lots will be listed under members
name and will be linked to their email for ease of contact after the
auction. Members lots will be listed in the order their first item is
received, so get them in early and you will be at the start of the page.
These auctions are for fun and we do not charge any commission so have a go
with a realistic reserve. Send you lot details now for inclusion in the next
auction starting on the 18th November.

5. Winning design for Bi-metallic announced...by Paul Baker, UK

The British press have recently reported that the winning design for next
year's circulating commemorative Bi-metallic 2 Pounds coin will be the one
that on the voting "forms" was designated "A". It is the first time that the
public have had a say in which design a coin will get, all three designs
were on the theme of the centenary of Guglielmo Marconi's first wireless
transmission across the Atlantic Ocean, from Poldhu, Cornwall, England to
St. Johns in Newfoundland. It is said that the edge inscription will read
"Wireless bridges the Atlantic... Marconi 1901".
Looking up a bit more info on this I find that the historic day relevant to
this in 1901 was the 12th of December - that date could well have an
influence on the date that the coin will first appear in circulation, just
as the Bi-metallic 2 Pounds coin for the Rugby World Cup was released around
the start of the month in which this sporting event was held. But we will
just have to wait and see. No doubt this new type will appear in "collector
packs/sets" early next year.

6. Bi-metallic news from Botswana...by Paul Baker, WBCC Research Centre

It seems I was in the right site at the right time ! There are no pictures -
but if you go to:
http://bankofbotswana.bw/
The first press release in the press release section is:

--Quote
INTRODUCTION OF P5 COIN
The Bank of Botswana wishes to inform the public that, with effect from
November 1, 2000, a new P5.00 (five Pula) coin will be issued for
circulation. The purpose of this release is to explain the new features of
the coin for the information of the public.

The coin depicts the following features:-
(a) Obverse
The new coin bears the National Coat of Arms and the words "Botswana
Ipelegeng" and the year 2000.
(b) Reverse
The new coin bears an image of a "Mophane Worm" feeding on a Mophane Leaf
and the denomination '5 PULA' written on top.
(c) The new coin has a round shape and a milled edge with a thickness of
2.00 mm. Unlike the other coins currently in circulation, it is bimetallic;
that is, it has an outer ring made of aluminium-bronze alloy, and a centre
piece of copper-nickel.
(d) It has a diameter of 23.50mm and weighs 6 grams.

Posters showing enlargements of the new coin as well as giving
specifications thereof will be displayed shortly in various public places.

7. Bi-metallic G.B. 2 Pounds dated 2000 in circulation....by Paul Baker, UK

On Saturday I got a year 2000 dated 2 Pounds Bi-metallic coin from
circulation. This it he first I have heard of these being in circulation.
The coin is the same type as the standard design pieces dated 1999. To some
of you it may seem late in the year for these to have just appeared but last
year it was the begininning of December before a WBCC members got one of
these coins from change - see the report by Seung-woo Choi of South Korea in
WBCC Newsmail 173 Item 4.

8. Bi-metallic Birmingham samples from 1991.....by Paul Baker, UK

In WBCC Newsmail 119 Item 6 (nearly two years ago) I first mentioned some
1996 dated Bi-metallic sample pieces of the "IMI Birmingham Mint" as it was
known in 1996. Some time later in WBCC Newsmail 143 Item 3, I detailed the
one design that appears on both sides of these pieces and how I had two
sizes (larger pieces having 34.23mm diameter, 2.30mm nom. thickness, mass
16.75grams and smaller pieces having 25.23mm diameter, 1.55mm nom.
thickness, mass 5.87grams). Sometime in the last year or so a different
Bi-metallic piece from the Birmingham mint appeared on their website. The
image was of a slightly similar piece dated 1991, the image rotated and so
it was hard to take a good look at the piece. One could not tell for sure if
the image was of a real piece of metal, so there was no way of being sure
that I would ever be able to obtain a piece. In the last week, I was able to
acquire an example of this 1991 sample piece from a token collector here in
England. My 1991 piece has 25.6mm diameter, approx. 18.5mm inner-core
diameter, 2.3mm nominal thickness, 9.73grams mass. The materials are base
alloys, apparently Cu-Ni ring and Nickel-Brass centre, but not quite the
same as for the 1996 pieces. As with the 1996 pieces this 1991 piece has the
same design on one side as on the other. This 1991 design is different to
the 1996 design in a number of ways.
The 1991 piece I have has (a) normal raised letters on the face of the
outer-ring, (b) the mint name "THE BIRMINGHAM MINT", (c) the date on the
centre-core and divided by the central coat of arms, and (d) the date "1794"
(weakly struck) on the central section of the ribbon of the coat of arms and
the letter "H" within the coat-of-arms to the mint worker's right.
The 1996 pieces have (a) incuse letters on the face of the outer-ring, (b)
the mint name "IMI BIRMINGHAM MINT", (c) the date on the outer-ring and (d)
the letter "H", the date "1794" and the letters "KN" over the three main
sections of the ribbon of the coat of arms. The use of the letter "H" in
both designs was due to "THE BIRMINGHAM MINT" having often used this "H"
mint mark in it long past. The addition of the letters "KN" to the design of
the 1996 pieces was down to the historic link of "IMI plc" to the "King's
Norton Metal Company" and in the 1990's "IMI plc" had merged with "The
Birmingham Mint" with the company name becoming "IMI Birmingham Mint". (For
further details see WBCC Newsmail 143 Item 3.) As for the central weakness
("1794") on the 1991 dated piece, well perhaps that is down to the mint's
methods for making these coins still being "under development" You can see
images of this new 1991 dated Bi-metallic sample on the WBCC homepage
http://www.geocities.com/RodeoDrive/7513/wbcc/wbcc.html - I did a second
image to show the central detail up a little better - the colouring of the
piece for some reason was not very agreeable to the camera and so I did not
get as good an image as I would perhaps have hoped for.

9. Bi-metallics in the EU Parliament...by Fabio Guerrieri, Italy

Refering to WBCC Newsmail 219, item 3 about the set of 7 Bi-metallic Euros
"The Euro of Aligi Sassu" I want to inform all members that a set of
Bi-metallic Euro Tokens will be presented to the European Parliament.

Further I have a new Homepage: for new italian Euros (1 Euro 2000 Savoia and
1 Euro 2000 Order of S.S. Maurizio and Lazzaro). Take a look at:
http://www.xprss.com/bimetallic

10. (Bi-metallic) future 2002 Euros's...by Joe Lang, USA

I have been in contact with the Paris mint and they have contracted to
strike the Monaco (Bi-metallic) future 2002 Euro coins. The Italian Mint
will strike the Vatican and San Marino (Bi-metallic) future 2002 Euros.
Andorra has no plans to issue Euro coins yet.

11. The WBCC Bi-metallic Quiz Game (#222)...by Jack Hepler, USA

The kola tree grows about 40 feet high, has yellow flowers, spotted with
purple; leaves 6 to 8 inches long, pointed at both ends. The seeds are
extensively used as a condiment by the natives of Western and Central
tropical Africa, also by the blacks of the West Indies and Brazil, who
introduced the trees to these countries.  The nut pod from the kola tree is
featured on a circulating bi-metallic coin of which country?
a. Colombia
b. Ghana
c. Jamaica
d. West African States
Please send your answer to me: heplerl@saic.com. Next week you can read the
correct answer.

Answer to Bi-metallic Quiz Game question #221.
Nearly all modern coins of the world include a date in the design.  Usually
only one date is depicted, however, some countries use both the Christian
era and an official local dating system on their coinage.  All of the
following countries show two dates on bi-metallics coins.  Which of them
shows the Christian date using western style numbers?
a. Algeria
b. Jordan
c. Oman
d. Syria
Answer a. Although all of the countries listed portray both the Christian
and local dates, only Algeria uses western style numbers for the Christian
date. Summary of answers to Quiz Game Question #220; 75% Correct

12. New Bi- or Tri-metallic images....by Rod Sell, WBCC Homepage Provider

This weeks new pictures in the WBCC Homepage:
http://www.geocities.com/RodeoDrive/7513/wbcc/wbcc.html

* The Birmingham Mint Token

13. Visiting a coinshow...by Martin Peeters, Netherlands

Today (saterday Novermber 11th) I will attend the coinshow in the Belgium
city Tienen. It is the biggest coinshow in Belgium and many coindealers from
Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands and Great Britain will be there.
When a new Bi-metallic will show up on this show, I will report it in the
next WBCC Newsmail.

"See" you next weeks,
Martin Peeters, Focal Point of the
Worldwide Bi-metallic Collectors Club
martinp@westbrabant.net
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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@elderwyn.com
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 Developement Centre, Jack Hepler, USA, leslie.j.hepler@saic.com
WBCC Focal Point ANA 2001 Convention, Ray Lockwood, USA, sunray@comteck.com
WBCC Focal Point: Martin Peeters, Netherlands, martinp@westbrabant.net