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MPC Gram
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Series 001 Number 79 Aug 5, 2000
News and Views
I was under the weather for the past few days. That really put me behind schedule for the ANA convention and for the gram. I had planned a series of articles for the gram to be finished before I left for the convention. Then I would add a little commentary each day and send off a full gram. Now that I have not even started that series, I am not so sure. The grams might be a little sparse from the convetion, but then they might not be. This would be an ideal time for those of you who are working on items for the gram to send them in so that I can incorporate them during the big do. Even if you are not working on something now, you can start NOW and have it for us within a few days!
Now is the time for all good collectors to come to the aid for their gram!
Of course there is always the possiblity that I will get the series finished and have plenty of material. We will just have to wait to see.
Chat has been a little slow of late. I hope to be able to participate from the ANA and even have some live interviews. Specifically, I will try to get Joe Boling on one night. Leo May will be there so I can probably get him on chat and oh knows who else might turn up.
There were several questoins on chat about Allied military yen notes. In particular the questions were about AM 1000 yen notes. These are wonderful notes, full of interestng history and facts. Scarce/rare too boot.
I well remember the first time that I saw one of thse notes. It was at an ANA convention sometime in the 1970s (so this is some sort of annieversary coming up). Joe Boling had found it with a dealer on the floor. Neiher of us had ever even seen one!
I was stunned because it looked so different from the other denominations. That was as Joe quickly pointed out because the note is ENGRAVED rather than litho (offset). The design to be sure is modled after the lower/litho denominations, but it looks very different because of the different technology involoved.
This denomination was not introduced until late 1951 (see WWII Remembered for details on this). It was needed because of post-war inflation. In another twist, it was printed by the Japanese Finance Ministry Printing Bureau (Japanese BEP).
Between 1951 and 1958 five serial letters were used even though the capacity of lower orders were not exceeded when the next one was introduced. Not surprisingly, the earliest letters are the scarcest.
The earliest serious military money collectors were active in the early 1960s. That is only a few years after AM yen was discontinued. In fact, I am not certain when Ray Toy, Al Swails, Ruth Hill and others started collecting. Possibly they were collecting in 1958. Anyway, I believe that Swails managed to assemble a few unc or near unc sets of all five letters. I believe that he kept a set (naturaly) and sold or traded a set to Ray Toy. That set was ultimately sold to Al Menke thence to Gary Snover/Stanley Gibbons of London. From there I believe it was sold to a private collector in England who still has it.
I do not know anything about the whereabouts of the Swails set. Indeed, perhaps there was just one set. At one time I belived that Ruth Hill had one of these sets, but I now think that she did not.
One current collector has managed to assemble four of the five letters (including the letter A). I knew a collector who had the missing letter and tried to arrange a trade just so the first collector would have them all. I gave up on that deal when I had some trouble with the receipent. So much for good deeds!
One of the tantalizing questions (specifically asked on chat) is about replacements. First I should mention that the JFMPB printed other denominaitons in addition to the 1000 yen. They are listed well in WWII Rem and easily identifiable by different serial number fonts and also somewhat different tints, but these are lithographed just like the US versions.
It seems quite clear that replacements were not created for AM yen printed in Japan. While it would be possible for them to have been created and not found for the 1000 yen denomination because of its scarcity, the same cannot be said for the lower values.
We know that the printing bureau DID use a replacement system during the war, so it would not have been surprising to have replacements for AM yen, it just seems that there was not. Howver, there is a slight chance that they were use and will be found. I could suggest that everyone examine all of their 1000 yen notes for special marks, but will refrain from that attempt at humor.
Well, that wraps up what I have to say about these notes at this time. I look forward to your additional questions.
Oops. Last time when I discussed MPC position number collections. I forgot one of the best ones. MPCSki collects position 39. He says that is his age. I will let you be the judge on that, but he has done a great job with the number. He not only collects it in MPC but in many other areas and has amassed a nice collection of 39s!
======================================================== Letters
Your letters are needed, wanted, and appreciated.
========================================================
Calendar
In this section we will highlight MPC chat, MPC Fest, and MPC gram events. Other events will be mentioned as they get close. For planning purposes see the papermoneyworld.com calendar of events.
The next major show is the American Numismatic Association Convention (August 9-13). This year the convention will be in Philadelphia. 25 years ago the ANA convention was one of the major events for paper money. Now with the development of so many successful paper money shows (and of course the MPC Fest), its importance has diminished, but it is still an important show. Because it is such a big and important show, you cannot help but find some good paper there. Marv Mericle's great MPC collection will NOT be on display as promissed because of family and administration problems. We are certainly sorry to hear about that, but hope that all goes well with Marv and that we will see the exhibit again soon.
I will be there the entire time and will be pleased to chat MPC with you!
====================================================
Trading post
Your classified advertisement for items for sale will be run here for free. Send your ads to the gram.
Beautiful Konversionskasse notes for sale. These are the notes used as part of the Nazi plan to get control of their foreign exchange problems. These are listed in Pick, but if you want to really learn something about them, see 484 of the bible (World War II Remembered). I have a pair of the 5 mark notes for only $100. If you want one or the other they are $60. These are S/B 201 and 211. They are exceptionally nice uncirculated examples. You will like them. Please note also that I am studying the series letters indicated on these notes and having some good results. Please email me with the particulars of any notes that you have. Also email me to reserve the above notes and for other particulars: mpckid@papermoneyworld.com. ThpapermoneyworldONT size=2>following items for free on a first come, first served basis:11 6 month subscription coupons for world coin news available and two 6 Month subscriptions to BNR. Contact Dave at coinman@rochester.rr.com.
---------------------------------
Do You Yahoo!?
Kick off your party with Yahoo! Invites.
--0-1957747793-965511963=:4249
Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii
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MPC Gram
=======================================================
Series 001 Number 79 Aug 5, 2000
News and Views
I was under the weather for the past few days. That really put me behind schedule for the ANA convention and for the gram. I had planned a series of articles for the gram to be finished before I left for the convention. Then I would add a little commentary each day and send off a full gram. Now that I have not even started that series, I am not so sure. The grams might be a little sparse from the convetion, but then they might not be. This would be an ideal time for those of you who are working on items for the gram to send them in so that I can incorporate them during the big do. Even if you are not working on something now, you can start NOW and have it for us within a few days!
Now is the time for all good collectors to come to the aid for their gram!
Of course there is always the possiblity that I will get the series finished and have plenty of material. We will just have to wait to see.
Chat has been a little slow of late. I hope to be able to participate from the ANA and even have some live interviews. Specifically, I will try to get Joe Boling on one night. Leo May will be there so I can probably get him on chat and oh knows who else might turn up.
There were several questoins on chat about Allied military yen notes. In particular the questions were about AM 1000 yen notes. These are wonderful notes, full of interestng history and facts. Scarce/rare too boot.
I well remember the first time that I saw one of thse notes. It was at an ANA convention sometime in the 1970s (so this is some sort of annieversary coming up). Joe Boling had found it with a dealer on the floor. Neiher of us had ever even seen one!
I was stunned because it looked so different from the other denominations. That was as Joe quickly pointed out because the note is ENGRAVED rather than litho (offset). The design to be sure is modled after the lower/litho denominations, but it looks very different because of the different technology involoved.
This denomination was not introduced until late 1951 (see WWII Remembered for details on this). It was needed because of post-war inflation. In another twist, it was printed by the Japanese Finance Ministry Printing Bureau (Japanese BEP).
Between 1951 and 1958 five serial letters were used even though the capacity of lower orders were not exceeded when the next one was introduced. Not surprisingly, the earliest letters are the scarcest.
The earliest serious military money collectors were active in the early 1960s. That is only a few years after AM yen was discontinued. In fact, I am not certain when Ray Toy, Al Swails, Ruth Hill and others started collecting. Possibly they were collecting in 1958. Anyway, I believe that Swails managed to assemble a few unc or near unc sets of all five letters. I believe that he kept a set (naturaly) and sold or traded a set to Ray Toy. That set was ultimately sold to Al Menke thence to Gary Snover/Stanley Gibbons of London. From there I believe it was sold to a private collector in England who still has it.
I do not know anything about the whereabouts of the Swails set. Indeed, perhaps there was just one set. At one time I belived that Ruth Hill had one of these sets, but I now think that she did not.
One current collector has managed to assemble four of the five letters (including the letter A). I knew a collector who had the missing letter and tried to arrange a trade just so the first collector would have them all. I gave up on that deal when I had some trouble with the receipent. So much for good deeds!
One of the tantalizing questions (specifically asked on chat) is about replacements. First I should mention that the JFMPB printed other denominaitons in addition to the 1000 yen. They are listed well in WWII Rem and easily identifiable by different serial number fonts and also somewhat different tints, but these are lithographed just like the US versions.
It seems quite clear that replacements were not created for AM yen printed in Japan. While it would be possible for them to have been created and not found for the 1000 yen denomination because of its scarcity, the same cannot be said for the lower values.
We know that the printing bureau DID use a replacement system during the war, so it would not have been surprising to have replacements for AM yen, it just seems that there was not. Howver, there is a slight chance that they were use and will be found. I could suggest that everyone examine all of their 1000 yen notes for special marks, but will refrain from that attempt at humor.
Well, that wraps up what I have to say about these notes at this time. I look forward to your additional questions.
Oops. Last time when I discussed MPC position number collections. I forgot one of the best ones. MPCSki collects position 39. He says that is his age. I will let you be the judge on that, but he has done a great job with the number. He not only collects it in MPC but in many other areas and has amassed a nice collection of 39s!
======================================================== Letters
Your letters are needed, wanted, and appreciated.
========================================================
Calendar
In this section we will highlight MPC chat, MPC Fest, and MPC gram events. Other events will be mentioned as they get close. For planning purposes see the papermoneyworld.com calendar of events.
The next major show is the American Numismatic Association Convention (August 9-13). This year the convention will be in Philadelphia. 25 years ago the ANA convention was one of the major events for paper money. Now with the development of so many successful paper money shows (and of course the MPC Fest), its importance has diminished, but it is still an important show. Because it is such a big and important show, you cannot help but find some good paper there. Marv Mericle's great MPC collection will NOT be on display as promissed because of family and administration problems. We are certainly sorry to hear about that, but hope that all goes well with Marv and that we will see the exhibit again soon.
I will be there the entire time and will be pleased to chat MPC with you!
====================================================
Trading post
Your classified advertisement for items for sale will be run here for free. Send your ads to the gram.
Beautiful Konversionskasse notes for sale. These are the notes used as part of the Nazi plan to get control of their foreign exchange problems. These are listed in Pick, but if you want to really learn something about them, see 484 of the bible (World War II Remembered). I have a pair of the 5 mark notes for only $100. If you want one or the other they are $60. These are S/B 201 and 211. They are exceptionally nice uncirculated examples. You will like them. Please note also that I am studying the series letters indicated on these notes and having some good results. Please email me with the particulars of any notes that you have. Also email me to reserve the above notes and for other particulars: mpckid@papermoneyworld.com. ThpapermoneyworldONT size=2>following items for free on a first come, first served basis:11 6 month subscription coupons for world coin news available and two 6 Month subscriptions to BNR. Contact Dave at coinman@rochester.rr.com.
Do You Yahoo!?
Kick off your party with Yahoo! Invites.
--0-1957747793-965511963=:4249--